Joby Aviation has concluded a preliminary deal with investor and Saudi Arabic Conglomerate Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) to distribute a maximum of 200 electrical aircraft with a value of around $ 1 billion in the coming years.
If it is completed, the Joby partnership could offer a fast path to make money with its electric vertical start and landing vehicles in Saudi Arabia.
“A question that people have asked is: how are you going to make money, and how quickly will that happen?” Paul Sciarra, the executive chairman of Joby’s Board, who is best known for co-founder of Pinterest, told Techcrunch. “And I think this shows that with direct sales there is a way to scale earlier for lower costs by thinking about distributors partners in given regions. And this is the first of what we hope that a number of announcements are on that front.”
The two companies signed a memorandum of agreement to explore a distribution agreement on Tuesday. And although a MOU is not exactly a signed and sealed deal, sources that are familiar with the agreement that they can share more concrete details later this year.
The deal would be one of the first cases of an Evtol startup that a distributor partner lands for their plane. Joby is also planning to possess and exploit his own plane in the US and other markets, and to collaborate with airlines and other carriers in countries such as Japan.
Paul Sciarra, executive chairman of Joby’s Board and co-founder of Pinterest, said that Alj is an ideal partner for a number of reasons. Firstly, the relationship between the company with Toyota – which has just made the first $ 250 million tranche of its total investment of $ 500 million in Joby – deeply. Alj became the exclusive distributor of Toyota in Saudi Aarabia in 1955 and became one of the world’s largest independent Toyota and Lexus distributors. Alj also participated in Joby’s 2020 Toyota-conducted series C Financing Round.
In addition to their mutual tires, Sciarra says that Alj has “has a lot of the infrastructure on site, not only for the sales process, but also for support, pilot training and maintenance.”
“That is all of crucial importance to ensure that the sale is not only cut, but also successful on the long arch,” Sciarra told Techcrunch.
He noted that as an 80-year network of diversified companies, Alj is also close to the Saudi Arab Government, as well as a number of potential customers, including restoration and tourist projects such as the Red Sea Project and the Alula Project.
Despite the promising partnership in Saudi Arabia, Joby’s Go-to-Market strategy will still be launched in Dubai next year, with an American market to follow.
“What this shows is how we deepen the funnel beyond some of the original markets,” said Sciarra. “And this kind of structure, where we find the right local partner who can help us sell and support us, will be a way that we get to geographies that may not first be on our list, but enable us to earn them faster.”
Joby’s Deal with AFJ comes in the midst of unprecedented levels of cooperation between the US government and Saudi Arabia in the AI, technology and energy technology. Last month, Saudi -Arabic Company DataVol agreed to invest $ 20 billion in AI data centers and energy infrastructure in the US, and American technical giants such as Google, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD and Uber have promised $ 80 billion in both countries, According to the White House.
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