Air-Taxi Startup Joby Aviation Raises $100 Million

Joby's website says, "More than a billion people on planet Earth spend more than an hour a day in traffic. Transportation emissions are one of the largest sources of pollution." Thanks to the $100 million Joby just raised from a variety of investors, including the venture capital arms of JetBlue, Toyota and Intel, the startup might be well on its way to creating the safe, affordable and sustainable air taxi the company's engineers have been dreaming of for a decade.

When added to earlier funding rounds, Joby now has approximately $130 million on hand to lead the development of the new air taxi.

With a dozen and a half other electric or hybrid vehicles now planned for the future, Joby’s strategy has been different over the near decade of the company’s existence by traditionally keeping plans for its vehicles out of the public eye.

Joby does report its electric vehicle is “absolutely all new,” however, and that in addition to zero emissions the aircraft will be ultra-quiet and just fast enough to convince people not to drive.

The new vehicle is reportedly being crafted to fly as many as five people as far as 150 miles on a single electric charge.