Toyota's growth-stage venture capital arm, Woven Capital, has appointed Michiko Kato as its Chief Investment Officer and CEO of Toyota Invention Partners, making her the first woman to lead a wholly owned Toyota subsidiary. The firm also named Mia Panzer as its new Chief Operating Officer, placing two women in senior leadership positions at the corporate venture capital (CVC) firm.
The appointments, effective this week, represent a significant shift within the traditionally male-dominated fields of finance and venture capital. Woven Capital, which manages two $800 million funds focused on mobility technology, seeks to identify and partner with future leaders in sectors including autonomous vehicles, aerospace, and cybersecurity.
New Leadership for Future Mobility
Michiko Kato, who joined Woven Capital in 2020 as one of its first hires after it spun out from a Toyota subsidiary, brings 15 years of investment experience. Her career includes roles on the M&A team at Unison Capital and as CFO for the Japanese AI startup ABEJA. At Woven, she has led six investments, including in companies like reusable rocket firm Stoke and autonomous vehicle company Nuro.
“We can co-lead, we can make small investments, or we can do an aggressive investment; we try to be flexible,” Kato stated, outlining the firm's strategy. She emphasised her hands-on approach, adding, “I want to be valuable to startups. And, I want to really focus on the partnership creation.” Her investment interests are centred on aeromobility, physical AI, and advanced hardware.
Operational Strategy and Historical Context
Mia Panzer assumes the newly created COO role, overseeing finance, operations, HR, and legal strategy. She previously worked on business strategy at a Toyota technology subsidiary and has a background in finance at Goldman Sachs and the pet wellness company Independent Pet Partners. Panzer highlighted the perennial challenges for CVCs: “a corporate slowdown that kills deals and misalignment with the parent company.”
Panzer's career path included joining the mapping startup Carmera while three months pregnant with her first child. Toyota's tech subsidiary later acquired Carmera, leading her to join the automotive giant. She reflected on overcoming self-doubt, noting the tendency for women to hesitate. “I always say to other women, ‘Let them have low expectations,” she said. “Easy to overdeliver.’”
Progress in Venture Capital Diversity
The dual appointments underscore a slow but notable trend toward greater gender diversity in investment roles. Historical data from a 2014 report indicated that fewer than 20% of top CVCs had women on their investing teams, compared to just 7% of partners at the top 100 traditional venture firms at the time.
Today, women represent approximately 15.4% of partners in the venture capital industry, suggesting a parallel increase within the CVC sector. Both Kato and Panzer will report to Ro Gupta, Woven Capital's Managing Director, who brought Panzer into the firm in December 2025.
Firm's Mandate and Future Direction
Woven Capital's mission is to find the “future leader of mobility” and act as a collaboration partner for Toyota. Its second $800 million fund, announced in August last year, plans to back at least 20 new Series B-stage companies. Its current portfolio includes satellite company Xona and defence manufacturing infrastructure firm Machina Labs.
With the new leadership in place, the firm aims to deepen its strategic investments and partnerships, focusing on technologies that can fundamentally transform manufacturing and mobility. The appointments mark a strategic push to leverage venture investment in shaping the automotive giant's future.