Joby Aviation has reached a temporary agreement with the Saudi Arabian Arab Arab Group Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) to distribute up to 200 electric aircraft worth about $ 1 billion in the coming years.
If finalized, the partnership could offer Joby a quick path to generating revenue from electric vertical take -off and landing vehicles in Saudi Arabia.
“A question asked by peoples is how to create revenue and how fast will this happen?” Paul Sciarra, the executive chairman of the Joby Board of Directors, who is best known for co -founder Pinterest, told TechCrunch. “And I think what it shows is that with immediate sales, there is a way to get to a scale earlier for lower costs, thinking of distributors in specific geographical areas, and this is the first of what we hope are enough announcements on this front.”
The two companies signed a memorandum of agreement on Tuesday to investigate a distribution agreement. And while a memorandum of agreement is not exactly a signed and sealed agreement, sources familiar with the deal say they can share more specific details later this year.
The agreement would be among the first cases of an Evtol start -up that landed a distributor for their aircraft. Joby also plans to own and exploit its own aircraft in the US and other markets and to work with airlines and other carriers to countries such as Japan.
Sciarra said Alj is an ideal partner for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the company’s relationship with Toyota – which just closed the first dose of $ 250 million in the total investment of $ 500 million in Joby – is deeply running. Alj became Toyota’s exclusive distributor in Saudi Arabia in 1955 and grew up to be one of the largest independent Toyota and Lexus distributors in the world. Alj also participated in Joby of Joby 2020 of Toyota Series C Series C Round.
In addition to their mutual ties, Sciarra says that Alj has “many infrastructure on the spot, not only for the sales process, but also for support, training and maintenance”.
“All this will be critical to really ensure that sales are not only cut, but they are successful in the long bow,” Sciarra told TechCrunch.
He noted that as an 80 -year network of differentiated businesses, Alj is also close to the Saudi Arabian government and many potential customers, including rehabilitation and tourism projects such as the Red Sea project and the project Alula.
Despite the promising collaboration in Saudi Arabia, Joby’s Go-To-Market strategy will still be starting in Dubai next year, with an American market following.
“What shows this is how we deepen the funnel beyond some of the original markets,” Sciarra said. “And this kind of structure, where we find the right local partner that can help us sell and support, will be a way to reach the geographical areas that may not be first on our list, but allow us to create them faster.”
Joby’s agreement with AFJ comes amid unprecedented levels of cooperation between the US government and Saudi Arabia on the spheres of AI, technological infrastructure and energy. Last month, Saudi Arabian company Datavolt agreed to invest $ 20 billion in AI data centers and energy infrastructure in the US, and US technology giants such as Google, Oracle, SalesForce, AMD and Uber have been committed to $ 80 billion in According to the White House.
