GoKawiilSometimes, Michiko Kato thinks back on the great challenges of her life.
She once dropped everything in her native city of Tokyo to attend Harvard Business School in Massachusetts. One day, she decided to leave her career in the stable world of finance to enter the rocky terrain of startup life. That jump is what changed everything.
On Wednesday, Kato officially assumes her greatest challenge yet — CIO of Toyota’s Woven Capital and CEO of Toyota Invention Partners. The latter appointment makes her the first female CEO of a wholly owned Toyota subsidiary.
Woven Capital is the growth-stage venture capital arm of Toyota, focused on backing founders building in mobility (including space, cybersecurity, and autonomous driving). It last announced an $800 million Fund II in August last year (Fund I, also at a $800 million, launched in 2021), with plans to back at least 20 new Series B investments. Companies in its portfolio include the satellite company Xona and the defense manufacturing infrastructure company Machina Labs.
The firm seeks to find the “future leader of mobility,” she said, and aims to pick companies that are “collaboration partners with Toyota.”
“We can co-lead, we can make small investments, or we can do an aggressive investment; we try to be flexible,” she said. And as for her? “I want to be hands-on. I want to be valuable to startups. And, I want to really focus on the partnership creation.”
Kato this week is not alone in her promotion at the firm. Mia Panzer is also moving from her business strategy role at one of Toyota’s technology subsidiaries to become COO of Woven Capital. That means not one but two of the top roles at this corporate VC (CVC) firm will be held by women, a signal of how the male-dominated world of finance and investments is progressing.
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