As a Contributing Sponsor to the Female Founders in Mobility innovation competition, we know Toyota remains committed to eco-friendly mobility innovation while supporting an inclusive environment. In fact, just last year, Toyota AI Ventures announced a new $100M fund dedicated to investing in early-stage startups developing technologies and business models focused on the autonomous mobility and robotics markets. This type of investment sparked the advancement of autonomous vehicle technology over the last decade, and we’ve seen this reflected in our competition submissions among our female founders. For example:
HUMANISING AUTONOMY (London, England) is building a real-time prediction product (powered by artificial intelligence (AI)) able to predict the intentions of pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users.
Hand in hand with autonomous vehicles is the realm of clean energy and eco-friendly technology. Our applicants are at the cutting edge:
INFRASOLAR (São Paulo, Brazil) offers recharging points with renewable energy for light electric vehicles (scooters, bicycles, motorcycles, etc.) and connects users via an app that enhances efficiencies with AI software.
POINTZ (Providence, RI) provides an app that utilizes road data and crowdsourced route information to determine and present the safest routes for bicyclists based on factors such as the type of bike, preference for elevation gain, and ride purpose.
POPULUS (San Francisco, CA) helps cities and private mobility providers by empowering users with a platform that delivers a comprehensive digital solution for the management of streets, sidewalks, and curbs.
We asked Colleen Casey, Senior Manager of Mobility, Toyota Motor North America about the company’s goals of reducing carbon emissions:
“Having a positive impact on society is more than just a corporate goal, it’s part of the Toyota culture. That’s why as part of the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050, we have committed to both reducing and eliminating carbon emissions through multiple sources. By reducing CO2 emissions from new vehicles by 90% and eliminating emissions in our supply chain, at our dealers and within our operations we can help to build a foundation for a healthier, more sustainable future.
'Carbon’ is one of Toyota’s four environmental focus areas in North America. Climate change is a significant challenge facing the global community. Our carbon strategy includes reducing CO2 emissions from new vehicles, eliminating CO2 emissions from our operations, and sharing our know-how to help suppliers, dealers and other stakeholders eliminate their CO2 emissions. We are working at every stage of the vehicle life cycle to help the world build a low carbon future.”
And what technologies and startups are Toyota investing in to meet their environmental goals?
“Toyota and Kenworth are rolling out 10 hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric heavy-duty trucks (FCETs) in southern California as part of the Zero-and-Near-Zero Emission Freight Facilities project. The project will increase zero emission trucking capacity at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and is expected to reduce emissions by 453 metric tons of CO2. Toyota is also entering into Virtual Power Purchase Agreements (VPPAs), which will be used to reduce GHG emissions from our North American operations by up to 40 percent over the next three years.”
While Toyota is championing an eco-friendly future for the mobility industry, we can also attest to the efforts of our startup community toward these environment-first initiatives. Here are some informative statistics related to building an eco-friendly industry with autonomous vehicles (derived from submissions to Quesnay’s Female Founders in Mobility 2020 competition):
-80% of the autonomous vehicle startups in our applicant pool were founded in the last 3 years
-On average, startups focused on autonomous vehicles raised $5,081,250 in funding
-100% of the autonomous vehicle solutions are building B2B solutions KPIs that startups use to measure success (number of autonomous kilometres driven per customer; number of orders delivered per customer; ability to prevent accidents)
-Fortune 500 companies, fleet operators, and automotive OEMs are all customers of autonomous vehicle applicants
Which of the following technologies will be most important for the development of autonomous vehicles in the next 2-3 years?
For more information about the Female Founders in Mobility 2020 innovation competition, click here.
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