LinkedIn, Zynga founders to take Joby Aviation public in $6.6B SPAC deal

By Cromwell Schubarth
Silicon Valley Business Journal

February 24, 2021 — Santa Cruz, CA

[Editor’s note: For more, read Joby Aviation to List on NYSE Through Merger With Reinvent Technology Partners.]

(Photo above: Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation plans to go public in a merger with “blank check” company Reinvent Technology Partners. Credit: Bradley Wentzel)

Joby Aviation Inc. today became the second Bay Area air taxi startup to announce plans to go public in a major “blank check” merger.

The 12-year-old Santa Cruz company, which has partnered with Toyota Motor Corp. and Uber Technologies, plans a $6.6 billion reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Reinvent Technology Partners Corp., which is led by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Mark Pincus.

Joby plans to use the $1.6 billion in capital it expects to get from the deal to begin a commercial passenger service in 2024, using its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. It plans to begin construction on a 450,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at the Marina Municipal Airport later this year, designed in conjunction with Toyota.

Continue reading here: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2021/02/24/joby-aviation-to-go-public-in-66b-spac-deal.html

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Tagged Joby Aviation