Joby Aviation is turning science fiction into science fact

When it comes to safe, clean, super-convenient and technologically amazing transportation options, why should the sky be the limit?

Founded in 2009 by JoeBen Bevert, Joby Aviation has been working under the radar at a base in Santa Cruz, California to develop an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The latest version of zero-emissions aircraft, which is quiet on takeoff and nearly silent in flight, can complete a 150-mile trip in less than an hour. Take a look at this video clip that shows Joby’s aircraft taking off so noiselessly that JoeBen doesn’t even have to raise his voice to compete with it.

But Joby’s quest includes even more than the amazing hardware it’s developing. Indeed, what Joby ultimately envisions is a new human mobility network that takes short-hop transit from 2D to 3D. Picture yourself leap-frogging miles of rush-hour gridlock, for the price of a taxi. Eventually, JoeBen’s dream is to eliminate one billion hours of commute time a day.

That’s why I think of Joby as “Tesla meets Uber in the air.” And that’s why I’m so excited that Reinvent Technology Partners (RTP), the SPAC I co-founded with Mark Pincus and Michael Thompson, has proposed a merger with Joby. It’s a chance to turn science fiction into science fact, in a way that I believe will have massive benefits for human productivity, environmental sustainability, and urban quality of life.

At first glance, Joby may not seem like a typical investment for me. I’m best known for my work in the consumer Internet space -- founding LinkedIn and investing in platforms like Facebook and Airbnb.

In recent years, however, I’ve also been focusing on autonomous vehicles and 21st century human mobility start-ups like Aurora, Nauto, Nuro, and Convoy. And like I said above, Joby’s vision goes well beyond its amazing hardware. It wants to re-define the networks that human beings use to live and work most productively. Which, of course, is the same dynamic underlying global platforms and marketplaces like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Airbnb.

So ultimately Joby offers a new way to advance the themes around improving human ecosystems that I've been pursuing my entire career. That’s why I will also become a Joby board member upon completion of the proposed merger with RTP.

From its inception, Joby has taken a pragmatic and holistic view of its quest. How do you build a flying car that’s not just safe enough to fit into the complex architecture and busy rhythms of a city, but also so quiet and so clean it becomes a beneficial asset on multiple fronts? And then after that, how do you create an aircraft that is not just safe, quiet, and clean, but also so affordable it eventually becomes a daily transit option for millions of users?

To achieve this hugely ambitious vision, Joby has always sought key strategic partners. For example, Joby works with the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime program to accelerate testing and development, and last year, it became the first eVTOL company to achieve “airworthiness” approval from the Air Force. Similarly, Toyota is both a major investor in Joby and a key partner, bringing its legendary expertise in precision manufacturing, exacting quality control, and efficient mass production to Joby’s design and production processes.

As Joby’s latest prospective key partner, we at RTP believe a SPAC merger serves Joby’s goals and growth in a number of ways. Our model here at RTP is to deliver “venture capital at scale.” That means we’re both a source of patient capital to the companies we merge with and also function as long-term hands-on advisors, drawing on our own deep networks to help meet the ongoing needs for talent, partners, and additional investment that a company in major scale-up mode requires.

For Joby, a SPAC merger also offers an efficient way to become a public company, a shift in status that has major strategic value for Joby at this point in its evolution. Because Joby’s goal is to completely re-define human mobility in between and within existing urban centers, earning trust from the public is a fundamental part of its successful path forward -- and upward! As a public company, Joby will increase its transparency and accountability, and best position itself for ongoing collaboration with the communities it will serve.  

Joby plans to start taking paying customers in 2024. When that happens, highly efficient air mobility networks will start to become a viable choice for thousands, then millions, then even billions of users if our vision is true. By augmenting existing regional transit options with all-electric air taxis, we'll reduce urban congestion and carbon emissions while increasing our overall mobility and productivity.

A quiet revolution in human mobility is already well under way. We have vertical liftoff! 

On Wednesday, March 3rd, at 10:30AM Eastern, I'll be discussing Joby Aviation's future with Joby's executive chair Paul Sciarra on LinkedIn News Live. I hope you'll join us! Click here to set a reminder.

In addition, you can read more information about the merger here.