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Orbits and racetracks have something fundamental in common.<\/p>\n
Yes, one\u2019s celestial and the other\u2019s terrestrial, populated by spaceships and satellites versus race cars. But both environments are also wildly unforgiving places: On racetracks, cars must withstand heat, collisions, and relentless mechanical stress. Meanwhile, satellites in orbit face radiation exposure and an airless landscape\u2014hardware must stand alone against temperature and time, with no help on the way. For both satellites and race cars, tiny miscalculations become calamitous.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOrbits and racetracks are very inhospitable environments,\u201d said Jim Adler, founder and general partner at Toyota Ventures, the $251 billion automaker\u2019s corporate venture arm.<\/p>\n
Adler\u2019s been considering the parallels between space and racing since 2024, when Apex CEO and cofounder Ian Cinnamon (who\u2019s devoted his life to the complex challenge of mass-producing satellites) came to him with a pitch: Could Toyota Racing Development\u2014which builds Toyota and Lexus\u2019s race cars, including for NASCAR\u2014help Apex with manufacturing certain satellite parts?<\/p>\n
\u201cApex is really built around the premise of thinking about building satellites using automotive skills,\u201d said Cinnamon. \u201cRace cars are the prime example, in everything from how you manage your supply chain, to how you think about the quality bar. When you\u2019re dealing with a race car going 100-plus miles per hour, carrying a human, that thing cannot fail. And you need to be building them at some scale. Scale, I think, is the keyword.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adler\u2014who spearheaded Toyota Ventures\u2019s 2023 investment in now-$2.3 billion Apex\u2014quickly connected Cinnamon with Jack Irving, Toyota Racing Development USA\u2019s general manager, who\u2019s been working with the division since 2010. It was a surprising but fast philosophical match.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s ever an issue with our engine, it\u2019s a pretty big deal,\u201d said Irving. \u201cAll of the details have to matter. If your satellite suddenly has an issue in orbit, it\u2019s a monstrous problem\u2026 Their measurement of a catastrophe is exactly like ours.\u201d<\/p>\n
The result is a space mobility partnership that\u2019s a first of its kind for Toyota. Toyota Racing Development, or TRD, has been working with Los Angeles-based Apex since 2025 to build structural components for the startup\u2019s satellites. This includes key parts like top decks, base decks, bulkheads, pass-through cylinders, and smaller pieces that demand \u201cridiculous tolerances,\u201d according to Irving.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This partnership, yes, has the hallmarks of something cool. Space, satellites, and race cars! But underneath, it derives from Cinnamon\u2019s longstanding criticism of traditional aerospace: He says that aerospace manufacturing norms are too low-volume and bespoke, and that the encroaching future demands satellites that are standardized, high-quality, and produced closer to the scale of cars.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTRD is the perfect middle ground,\u201d said Cinnamon, who cofounded Apex in 2022. \u201cFor a race car, it\u2019s a much higher quality bar than for a normal automotive vehicle, and you\u2019re still working at a much higher [manufacturing] volume than aerospace. It\u2019s the exact right middle ground for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s in that middle ground that the Alice In Wonderland-esque \u201cwhy is a race car like a satellite\u201d riddle is answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the highest echelons [of racing], you\u2019re all within thousandths of a second of each other, and you\u2019re just trying to eke out an extra 100th or 1,000th every lap to try to advance,\u201d said Irving. \u201cIt\u2019s to the point of just buffing parts, as insane as that sounds\u2026And you\u2019re going to find [that precision] is necessary in all extreme engineering endeavors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zooming out, there\u2019s a lot here that\u2019s not about Apex at all. For one, Adler has identified space as Toyota\u2019s next growth area: \u201cWith 100,000 satellites that need to be built over the next five years, it\u2019s not just what space can bring to automotive, but what the automotive industry can bring to the space industry,\u201d Adler told Fortune. \u201cSpace may be the next mode of mobility that Toyota moves into.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are also the broader societal questions the U.S. faces about the future of onshore manufacturing\u2014government officials, entrepreneurs, investors, and more have in recent years been grappling with the decline of the country\u2019s industrial base, and what a resurrection might look like. (Japan-based Toyota has a substantial manufacturing footprint in North America.) To Cinnamon, there\u2019s an intellectual shift that has to happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to think about manufacturing from the perspective of not just how we build something, but how we build it when we\u2019re factoring in all the variables that matter\u2014quality, speed of production, and affordability,\u201d said Cinnamon. \u201cToo often we say, \u2018Oh, we can build a bunch.\u2019 Well, how long does it take? Or, \u2018We can build them really cheap.\u2019 Okay, but are they high-quality? We need to find the middle ground between those core elements. And if we can do that, the U.S. manufacturing base can really fall into its stride.\u201d<\/p>\n
See you tomorrow,<\/p>\n
Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com<\/p>\n
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Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today\u2019s newsletter. Subscribe here.<\/p>\n
VENTURE CAPITAL<\/p>\n
– Flex, a San Francisco-based AI-native private bank, raised $70 million in Series B1 funding. Halo Fund led the round and was joined by Portage, Wellington, Crosslink Capital, 53 Stations, Titanium Ventures, and others.<\/p>\n
– SONATA, a New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles-based membership-based preventive-care provider, raised $7 million in funding from Lux Capital, BoxGroup, Sunflower Capital, and others.<\/p>\n
– Prolo, a London, U.K.-based AI-powered procurement platform for construction firms, raised \u00a34.2 million ($5.6 million) in seed funding. Triple Point Ventures led the round and was joined by Anamcara, Concrete VC, Love Ventures, and Portfolio Ventures.<\/p>\n
PRIVATE EQUITY<\/p>\n
– ARCHIMED took Esperion Therapeutics, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on LDL-cholesterol-lowering therapies, private for up to $1.1 billion in equity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
– AE Industrial Partners\u00a0acquired Powder Alloy Corporation, a Loveland, Ohio-based manufacturer and distributor of metallic, ceramic, and thermal-spray powders. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n
– Ardian agreed to acquire a majority stake in Munich Electrification, a Munich, Germany-based battery technology company. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n
– Marco Sealing Solutions, backed by Align Capital Partners, acquired Rocket Seals, a Denver, Colo.-based distributor of O-rings and sealing products. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n
– Presidio, backed by CD&R, acquired LookingPoint, a Pleasant Hill, Calif.-based IT solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n
– Safety Management Group, backed by Gryphon Investors, acquired CrossSafety, a Markham, Ontario-based health, safety and environmental services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS<\/p>\n
– Citation Capital, a Dallas, Texas and Greenwich, Conn.-based private equity firm, raised $1.1 billion for its first fund focused on middle-market businesses in the services, industrials, and consumer sectors.<\/p>\n
PEOPLE<\/p>\n
– Paradigm, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, promoted Katie Biber to Chief Operating Officer.<\/p>\n
– Sofinnova Partners, a Paris, France-based venture capital firm, hired David Evans as Partner. Previously, he was with Roche Venture Fund.<\/p>\n
#satellite #race #car #Apex #Toyotas #racing #division #answer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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