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Joby Aviation has reached a tentative deal with investor and Saudi Arabian conglomerate Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) to distribute up to 200 electric aircraft valued at about $1 billion over the coming years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If finalized, the partnership could provide Joby<\/a> with a fast path to monetizing its electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles in Saudi Arabia.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA question that folks have asked is, how are you going to monetize, and how quickly is that going to happen?\u201d Paul Sciarra, the executive chairman of Joby\u2019s board who\u2019s most known for co-founding Pinterest, told TechCrunch. \u201cAnd I think what this shows is that with direct sales, there is a way to get to scale earlier for lower cost by thinking about distributor partners in given geographies. And this is the first of what we hope are a number of announcements on that front.\u201d<\/p>\n The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore a distribution agreement Tuesday. And while an MoU is not exactly a signed and sealed deal, sources familiar with the agreement say they\u2019ll be able to share more concrete details later this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n The deal would be among the first instances of an eVTOL startup landing a distributor partner for their aircraft. Joby also plans to own and operate its own aircraft in the U.S. and other markets, and partner with airlines and other carriers in countries like Japan.<\/p>\n Paul Sciarra, executive chairman of Joby\u2019s board and co-founder of Pinterest, said ALJ is an ideal partner for a number of reasons. First, the company\u2019s relationship with Toyota \u2013 which just closed the first $250 million tranche of its total $500 million investment into Joby<\/a> \u2013 runs deep. ALJ became the exclusive distributor of Toyota in Saudi Arabia in 1955 and grew to be one of the world\u2019s largest independent Toyota and Lexus distributors. ALJ also participated in Joby\u2019s 2020 Toyota-led Series C<\/a> funding round.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Beyond their mutual ties, Sciarra says ALJ has \u201ca lot of the infrastructure on the ground, not only for the sales process, but also for the support, pilot training, and maintenance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s all going to be critical to actually making sure that the sales are not just cut, but are successful over the long arc,\u201d Sciarra told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n He noted that as an 80-year-old network of diversified businesses, ALJ is also close with the Saudi Arabian government as well as a number of potential customers, including restoration and tourism projects like the Red Sea Project and the AlUla Project.<\/p>\n Despite the promising partnership in Saudi Arabia, Joby\u2019s go-to-market strategy will still be to launch in Dubai next year, with a U.S. market to follow.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat this shows is how we deepen the funnel beyond some of the initial markets,\u201d Sciarra said. \u201cAnd this sort of structure, where we find the right local partner that can help us sell and support, is going to be a way that we get to geographies that may not be first on our list, but allow us to monetize them more quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Joby\u2019s deal with AFJ comes amid unprecedented levels of cooperation between the U.S. government and Saudi Arabia in the realms of AI, technology infrastructure, and energy. Last month, Saudi Arabian firm DataVolt agreed to invest $20 billion in AI data centers and energy infrastructure in the U.S., and American tech giants like Google, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD, and Uber have pledged $80 billion toward transformative technologies in both countries, according to the White House<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n