JOBY News & Events

Joby Aviation and Air Space Intelligence announced a partnership to accelerate the integration of advanced air mobility, AAM, into the U.S. National Airspace System. "America has long set the global standard for aviation, and modernizing our airspace is key to maintaining that leadership," said Greg Bowles, Chief Policy Officer, Joby Aviation. "By combining Joby's operational capabilities with ASI's advanced AI-driven Flyways platform, we're helping build the intelligent infrastructure needed to integrate electric air taxis seamlessly into the NAS - one of America's most important national assets."

Media reports say Elon Musk's SpaceX has confidentially submitted its draft registration to the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering. Meanwhile, Anthropic executives have reportedly discussed an IPO as early as the fourth quarter of this year.This week's private company news:OpenAI said in a statement, "we closed our latest funding round with $122 billion in committed capital at a post money valuation of $852B… The round was anchored by our strategic partners Amazon, NVIDIA, and SoftBank, with continued participation from our long-term partner, Microsoft. SoftBank co-led the round alongside a16z, D. E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, TPG, and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc." OpenAI added: "AI is driving productivity gains, accelerating scientific discovery, and expanding what people and organizations can build. This funding gives us the resources to continue to lead at the scale this moment demands."Anthropic executives have discussed an IPO as soon as Q4, and bankers vying to take the company public expect it to raise more than $60B, The Information's Valida Pau and Sri Muppidi.Intelis planning to invest another $15M in SambaNova, a chip startup chaired by Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Jeffrey Dastin and Max Cherney of Reuters, citing a Reuters review of corporate records. This investment would increase Intel's ownership in SambaNova to 9% and follows a $35M investment Intel made in the company in February.Some of the biggest capital raises by private companies this week include:Shield AI– The company announced it raised $1.5B in Series G funding at a $12.7B post-money valuation and $500M in fixed-return preferred equity financing. The Series G is led by Advent International and co-led by the Strategic Investment Group of JPMorganChase's Security and Resiliency Initiative, with participation from existing investors. Publicly traded companies in the space include Kratos Defenseand AeroVironment.Saronic- The company said it closed $1.75B in Series D funding round led by Kleiner Perkins and values the company at $9.25B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Huntington Ingallsand L3Harris.WHOOP– The human performance company raised $575M in Series G funding at a $10.1B valuation. The round was led by Collaborative Fund and includes global participation from 2PointZero Group, Qatar Investment Authority, Mubadala Investment Company, Abbott, Mayo Clinic, Macquarie Capital, Glade Brook, B-Flexion, IVP, Foundry, Accomplice, Affinity Partners, Promus Ventures, and Bullhound Capital alongside athletes and individual investors. Publicly traded companies in the space include Garmin, Apple, and Fitbit.Starcloud– The company building data centers in space said it raised a $170M Series A, led by Benchmark, at a $1.1B valuation. Publicly traded companies in the space include Snowflake, Datadog, and MongoDB.ScaleOps– The company announced it has raised $130M in Series C funding at a valuation exceeding $800M, "reinforcing its position as a category leader in Autonomous Cloud and AI Infrastructure Resource Management." The round was led by global software investor Insight Partners, with participation from all existing investors, Lightspeed Venture Partners, NFX, Glilot Capital Partners, and Picture Capital. Publicly traded companies in the space include Nvidia, IBM, and C3 AI.Unicorns to watch this week:Fundamental– The AI lab building foundational models for large-scale data analysis recently raised a $255M Series A. Publicly traded companies in the space include Microsoftand Meta.Anduril Industries– The autonomous defense systems, AI-powered surveillance, and drone tech company continues to win major government contracts and expand international. Anduril is valued at about $12B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Palantir, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin.Rippling– The HR and IT automation company has an estimated valuation of $13B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Workday, Paycom, and Paylocity.Zipline– The autonomous delivery drone company is scaling medical and retail drone delivery networks globally. It is valued at about $4.2B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Joby Aviation, Blade Air Mobility, and Amazon.Glean– The AI enterprise search company has recently joined the $5B-plus ultra-unicorn club. Publicly traded companies in the space include Elastic, Alphabet, and Microsoft.IPOs to watch:SpaceX- Elon Musk's rocket, satellite and AI company SpaceX has confidentially submitted its draft registration to the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg's Bailey Lipschultz and Ed Ludlow. The filing puts it on track for a June listing, which would see SpaceX come public ahead of OpenAI and Anthropic PBC, the report stated.AEVEX– The company filed an initial public offering of shares of Class A common stock. The company applied to list its Class A common stock on the NYSE under the symbol "AVEX." Goldman Sachs, BofA, Jefferies, J.P. Morgan, RBC Capital, Baird, William Blair, Raymond James, Needham & Company, Academy Securities, Capital One Securities, and PNC Capital Markets are acting as the underwriters for the offering.Yesway– The company has filed with the SEC for an initial public offering of shares of Class A common stock and applied to list its shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "YSWY." Yesway is a U.S.-based convenience store operator that operates primarily under two brands, Yesway and Allsup's. "Our geographic footprint consists of stores located in attractive rural and suburban markets across the Southwest and Midwest, where we often are the convenience retail destination of choice and, effectively, the local grocer. We have a successful track record of growing through new store development and 27 acquisitions and believe we are well-positioned to continue to solidify our market position and grow our store count," the prospectus states.Student Living EduVation– The company filed with the SEC for an initial public offering by the company of 3.75M ordinary shares. The company stated, "We are offering 3,750,000 Ordinary Shares on a firm commitment basis. We anticipate that Offering price of the Ordinary Shares will be between $4.00 and $6.00 per Ordinary Share. The Resale Shareholders are also offering 5,880,000 Ordinary Shares to be sold pursuant to the Resale Prospectus."Liftoff Mobile– The company announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The total number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The offering is subject to market and other conditions and the completion of the SEC's review process.Cerebras Systems– The AI chipmaker Systems has picked Morgan Stanley to lead its initial public offering, which could raise about $2B in a listing as soon as April, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg's Ryan Gould, Bailey Lipschultz and Anthony Hughes. Cerebras, which withdrew its previous IPO registration in October, has filed fresh paperwork for an IPO and is set to meet with analysts and prospective investors this month, the report added."Private Markets" is The Fly's recurring series of stories on the latest moves in the private sector, largest unicorn companies and initial public offerings to watch. Fly subscribers, add $PRIVATE to your portfolio for alerts on breaking news in the startup and venture capital space.

Joby Aviation announced the completion of a series of demonstration flights across the San Francisco Bay Area. The company said, "With one of the world's most recognizable skylines as a backdrop, the company showcased its operational readiness in a region defined by traffic congestion, demonstrating that the future of quiet, emissions-free flight, is not just a concept, but nearing commercial readiness."

Joby Aviation announced it has begun flight testing its first FAA-conforming aircraft for Type Inspection Authorization, a major step on the path to type certification. Initial testing by Joby pilots will pave the way for FAA pilots to visit Joby's Marina, CA, facility later this year to conduct the rigorous TIA testing required to validate the aircraft for commercial service. "Seeing this aircraft fly means everything to our team. It's the validation of years of hard work and marks our entry into the final phase of bringing this aircraft to market," said Didier Papadopoulos, President of Aircraft OEM at Joby. "After focusing on 'for credit' testing at both the equipment and system levels, we're now moving into the final phase of aircraft-level evaluations. This is evidence that our rigorous design and certification process is paying off, and we look forward to welcoming FAA pilots to Marina in due course."