Japan – Woven Capital Invests in Ridecell to Accelerate Global Growth in IoT-driven Automation for Mobility and Fleet Businesses

Woven Capital, L.P. today announced that it has made an investment in Ridecell Inc., a leading platform powering digital transformations and IoT automation for fleet-driven businesses. Woven Capital is an $800 million global investment fund that supports innovative, growth-stage companies in mobility, automation, artificial intelligence, data and analytics, connectivity, and smart cities. It is the investment arm of the Woven Planet Group, a Toyota subsidiary which is dedicated to building the safest mobility in the world. Along with the investment, Ridecell and the Woven Planet Group will explore collaborative opportunities in mobility service operations.

“Ridecell is accelerating the digital transformation of a key part of the mobility industry–creating a comprehensive platform that connects fleets and automates workflow at scale,” said Michiko Kato, Principal, Woven Capital. “We are excited to invest in Ridecell and explore collaborative opportunities together, as we continue to focus on innovative technology that delivers safe, secure, efficient, and seamless mobility for all.”

“This investment with Woven Capital will be highly strategic as Ridecell continues to expand into new markets,” said Aarjav Trivedi, founder, and CEO of Ridecell. “We are excited to have Woven Capital as our investor to bring Ridecell automation and mobility innovations that use automation and digital vehicle control to help create safe and secure mobility.”

Ridecell’s automation and mobility platform allows businesses to create a unified view of their vehicle fleets from deployed telematics, fleet management, and internal systems and use the consolidated insights to automate business and operational workflows. The platform furthers digital transformation and turns data overload into automated and efficient business operations.

About Woven Capital

Woven Capital is an $800 million global investment fund that supports growth-stage companies focused on technology and innovation in mobility. It was founded in 2021 as the corporate venture capital investment arm of the Woven Planet Group, a group of subsidiaries of Toyota. Woven Capital invests in mobility technologies, automation, artificial intelligence, data and analytics, connectivity, and smart cities globally.

About the Woven Planet Group

The Woven Planet Group is on a mission to design a happier planet through secure, connected mobility solutions. Originally founded in 2018 as Toyota Research Institute – Advanced Development, the company was expanded to the Woven Planet Group dedicated to bringing its vision of “Mobility to Love, Safety to Live” to life. Under this shared goal the four companies of the Woven Planet Group, Woven Planet Holdings, Woven Core, Woven Alpha and Woven Capital are transforming how people live, work, and move through new innovations and investment in automated driving, robotics, smart cities, and more. For more information, please visit: https://www.woven-planet.global/

About Ridecell

Ridecell Inc. is leading the way in the digital transformation of fleet businesses and operations. Our IoT-driven automation and mobility platform helps businesses modernize and monetize their fleets by combining data insights with digital vehicle control to turn today’s manual processes into automated workflows. The result is unmatched levels of efficiency and control for shared services, motorpool, rental, and logistic fleets.

Today Ridecell powers some of the most successful fleet businesses in cities across Europe and North America, including Gig Car Share from AAA. Ridecell is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Madrid, Paris, Berlin, and Pune, India.

Copyright ©2021 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network.

Japan – Woven Alpha, Isuzu and Hino Begin Exploring the Use of Automated Mapping Platform

Woven Alpha, Inc., a group company of Woven Planet Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, Isuzu Motors Limited, and Hino Motors, Ltd. announced today an agreement to proceed with talks to utilize the Automated Mapping Platform (AMP) developed by Woven Alpha.

AMP is a connected crowdsourced software platform that supports the creation, development and distribution of high definition (HD) maps–a key enabler for smart and safe automated mobility. AMP provides high-precision data driven maps by utilizing vehicle fleet data and advanced satellite imagery technology. AMP HD map includes several layers of data rich information of road objects such as lanes, road signs, traffic lights, and other objects, as well as that of road curves and topography creating an accurate representation of the road while keeping it updated. The Woven Alpha team plans to develop AMP to become the most globally comprehensive road and lane network HD map platform enabling high-precision localization support to automated driving vehicles.

With the aim of realizing smarter and safer logistics through automated driving and Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) using HD maps, Isuzu and Hino will examine the potential application of AMP on the domain of small commercial-purpose trucks. The initiative aims to contribute to the dissemination of safer automated driving and ADAS with Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies Corporation that intends to accelerate CASE responses, which Toyota announced with Isuzu and Hino.

Copyright ©2021 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network.

Japan – Woven Planet Holdings, a Subsidiary of Toyota, Announces Acquisition of Lyft’s Level 5 Division to Accelerate Software Innovation for Automated Driving Mobility

Woven Planet Holdings, Inc. (“Woven Planet”), a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, has agreed to acquire Level 5, the self-driving division of Lyft, Inc. one of the largest ride-hailing companies in the world. This marks the first major deal for the newly established Woven Planet.

The deal will bring together world-class scientists and software engineers from Level 5, Woven Planet, and researchers from Toyota Research Institute, Inc. (“TRI”) already working together with Woven Planet. The resulting combined “dream team” of approximately 1,200 will represent one of the most diverse, well-resourced and talented groups in this field.

Today’s announcement places Woven Planet at the center of the connected and automated driving movement by providing

Talent

an international team of top-tier engineers, research scientists, and domain experts in mobility services.

Technology

a robust set of sensing, computing, and software assets, and strategic capabilities in automated driving systems.

International Footprint

once the acquisition is complete, Woven Planet will have an expanded footprint beyond its Tokyo headquarters, with offices and engineering teams in Palo Alto, CA and London, UK.
In addition to the acquisition of Level 5, Woven Planet and Lyft have signed commercial agreements for utilization of the Lyft system and fleet data to accelerate the safety and commercialization of the automated-driving technology that Woven Planet will develop.

Lyft will receive approximately $550 million in cash, with $200 million paid upfront subject to certain closing adjustments and $350 million of payments over a five-year period.

As a result of this transaction, Woven Planet will accelerate revolutionizing the world of mobility and realize its mission of “Mobility to Love, Safety to Live,” fueling a broader vision of human happiness and well-being on the planet Earth.

Comment from James Kuffner, CEO, Woven Planet

“This acquisition advances our mission to develop the safest mobility in the world at scale. The Woven Planet team, alongside the team of researchers at TRI, have already established a center of excellence for software development and technology in the Toyota Group. Bringing Level 5’s world-class engineers and experts into the fold―as well as additional technology resources–will allow us to have even greater speed and impact. This deal will be key in weaving together the people, resources, and infrastructure that will help us to transform the world we live in through mobility technologies that can bring about a happier, safer future for us all.”

Comment from Logan Green, CEO, Lyft

“Today’s announcement launches Lyft into the next phase of an incredible journey to bring our mission to life. Lyft has spent nine years building a transportation network that is uniquely capable of scaling autonomous vehicles. This deal brings together the vision, talent, resources and commitment to advance clean, autonomous mobility on a global scale.”

Comment from George Kellerman, Head of Investments & Acquisitions, Woven Planet

“With the acquisition of Level 5, Woven Planet is driving towards its mission to combine the innovative culture of Silicon Valley with world-renowned Japanese craftsmanship to create the mobility solutions of the future. This acquisition significantly accelerates our ability to bring technology solutions forward with an influx of exceptional engineers and leading-edge technology. It also provides a solid foundation for international expansion and future hiring efforts in the world’s strongest talent markets. We aim to become the center of interconnected mobility systems, weaving together a variety of technologies and partnerships extending far beyond the automotive industry. This acquisition marks the first in a coordinated strategy to consolidate leading technologies and talent to help realize this vision.”

Comment from Luc Vincent, Executive Vice President, Autonomous Technology, Lyft

“Both Woven Planet and Level 5 are focused on improving mobility through technology, bringing about a future that benefits people around the world. With this deal in place, I am very excited that the Level 5 team will be better positioned than ever to deliver on its long term mission to bring autonomous vehicles to market. As part of Woven Planet, we will be able to leverage exceptional automotive engineering expertise as well as the considerable resources of an iconic business, while continuing to move with the energy and speed of a start-up. It is exhilarating to be part of this new venture, expanding our mission and building the foundational technology that will support mobility and the smart cities of tomorrow.”

About Woven Planet Group

At Woven Planet Group, we are on a mission to design a happier planet through secure, connected mobility solutions. Starting business in January 2021, Woven Planet Group is an expansion of the operations of Toyota Research Institute – Advanced Development, Inc. dedicated to bringing its vision, “Mobility to Love, Safety to Live” to life. Under this shared goal, our four companies, Woven Planet Holdings, Woven Core, Woven Alpha and Woven Capital are transforming how people live, work, and move through new innovations and investment in automated driving, robotics, smart cities, and more.

For more information, please visit https://www.woven-planet.global/

About Lyft

Lyft was founded in 2012 and is one of the largest transportation networks in the United States and Canada. As the world shifts away from car ownership to transportation-as-a-service, Lyft is at the forefront of this massive societal change. Our transportation network brings together rideshare, bikes, scooters, car rentals and transit all in one app. We are singularly driven by our mission: to improve people’s lives with the world’s best transportation.