Toyota is Getting Ready to Present Its New Software Company
On Friday, January 29, Toyota will launch a virtual opening event dubbed “The Genesis” that will introduce four new companies under the Woven Planet Group.
Just over a year ago, Toyota unveiled details for a prototype city of the future called Woven City. By mid-2020, the Woven name had grown well beyond the scope of that 175-acre patch of land under Mount Fuji. In late July, Toyota had announced that TRI-AD (Toyota Research Institute – Advanced Development), the TRI branch working on Woven City, would expand its operations.
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Effective January 2021, TRI-AD was newly established as Woven Planet Group. This new organization has two operating companies (Woven Core and Woven Alpha) as well as an investment fund (Woven Capital) under a holding company, Woven Planet Holdings.
During “The Genesis” opening event, Toyota will introduce the leaders of the four companies as well as their mission and how they plan to improve people’s lives by enhancing their mobility.
However, we don’t need to wait till Friday to know some of what Toyota is cooking up. According to the automaker, these will be the Woven companies’ primary focuses:
- Woven Alpha will explore new areas for business expansion and incubate new projects like Woven City
- Woven Capital is an $800 million global investment fund that will invest in growth-stage companies developing AI, machine learning, autonomous driving, connectivity, and other such technologies
- Woven Core will develop, implement, and scale automated driving technologies
- Woven Planet will act as the strategic decision-making arm for the whole group, create new business opportunities, and collaborate with partners
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“Reorganized under the name ‘Woven,’ TRI-AD will endeavor to become the type of organization that will allow those involved to step on the accelerator in helping realize a future where people can be more happy,” said Toyota president Akio Toyoda.
Toyoda added that the Toyota branding had been carefully left out from the new companies in an attempt to make it more open and collaborative. “Regardless, these companies will clear the path for the future of Toyota, as they carry on the legacy of ‘for the happiness of others’ that Toyota has so carefully woven into its own DNA,” he concluded.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.