Toyota's Woven Planet holds $800 million for investment in new tech

TOKYO -- Woven Planet, Toyota's high-tech spinoff, has established a $800 million investment fund to cherry pick up-and-coming technology companies around the world.

The fund, named Woven Capital, was outlined Jan. 29 in a kickoff event for the Woven Planet venture that included an overview of the new company's upcoming products and strategies. Among the announcements was the Feb. 23 groundbreaking for its Woven City town of tomorrow.

James Kuffner, the American CEO of Woven Capital and a director at Toyota Motor, outlined the company's ambitions in an online briefing from Woven's headquarters in downtown Tokyo.

The creation of Woven Planet was announced last year as a holding company to subsume the subsidiary that handles Toyota's automated driving development, Toyota Research Institute - Advanced Development, or TRI-AD.

The entity now oversees two new companies, Woven Core and Woven Alpha.

Woven Core focuses on automated driving.

Woven Alpha pioneers news businesses in field such as connectivity, onboard software and high-definition mapping.