At times, Michiko Kato reflects on the significant obstacles she has faced in her life. 

She once left everything behind in her hometown of Tokyo to enroll at Harvard Business School in Massachusetts. One day, she chose to step away from her secure career in finance to plunge into the uncertain world of startups. That leap is what altered her path entirely. 

On Wednesday, Kato officially takes on her most significant challenge to date — CIO of Toyota’s Woven Capital and CEO of Toyota Invention Partners. This role makes her the first female CEO of a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota. 

Woven Capital serves as the growth-stage venture capital division of Toyota, dedicated to supporting founders innovating in mobility (which includes areas like space, cybersecurity, and autonomous vehicles). The company recently announced an $800 million Fund II last August (Fund I, also at $800 million, began in 2021), with intentions to finance at least 20 new Series B investments. Its portfolio includes companies like satellite provider Xona and the defense manufacturing firm Machina Labs. 

The firm aims to discover the “future leader of mobility,” she mentioned, and seeks to select companies that will serve as “collaboration partners with Toyota.”

“We can co-lead, make smaller investments, or undertake aggressive investing; we strive to remain adaptable,” she stated. And regarding her approach? “I aim to be involved. I want to bring value to startups. And, I want to concentrate on building partnerships.” 

This week, Kato is not the only one receiving a promotion at the firm. Mia Panzer is transitioning from her role in business strategy at one of Toyota’s technology subsidiaries to become COO of Woven Capital. This means that two key positions at this corporate VC (CVC) firm will be occupied by women, marking a notable shift in a traditionally male-dominated finance and investment industry.

Historically, women have experienced (a slight advantage) in ascending the ranks at CVCs compared to traditional venture firms. However, the latest concrete data stems from a 2014 CBI report indicating that just under 20% of leading CVCs included women on their investment teams. This figure was contrasted at the time with the mere 7% of partners at the top 100 venture firms being women.

Currently, in venture capital, that percentage is around 15.4%, suggesting that the proportion of women in investment roles at CVCs has also risen. 

Kato joined the company back in 2020 as one of the first recruits for what was then the newly established Woven Capital. (It was spun out from an internal subsidiary of Toyota.) 

She has amassed 15 years of investing experience overall, including time spent on the M&A team at Unison Capital and serving as CFO for the Japanese AI startup ABEJA. Since coming on board at Woven, she has spearheaded six investments (including one undisclosed) in startups such as the reusable rocket venture Stoke and the autonomous vehicle company Nuro, marking her initial investment. She is particularly passionate about aeromobility, physical AI, and hardware. “I believe we can fundamentally redefine the manufacturing process,” she shared regarding her vision for the CVC. 

Collaborating with her will be Panzer, in the newly created COO position. She will oversee finance, operations, HR, and legal strategy. She noted that there are two main concerns every CVC has — a corporate slowdown that hinders deals and misalignment with the parent company. “My role is essentially to help navigate this,” she stated. 

She has been partnering with Ro Gupta, Woven Capital’s managing director, since his days of establishing the mapping firm Camera in 2019. She joined that startup while three months pregnant with her first child to lead finance. Before that, she was at Goldman and then at the pet wellness company Independent Pet Partners (IPP). She explained that she was not actively seeking to leave her position at IPP but decided to give Gupta and Camera a try. 

“I genuinely enjoy being engaged in the startup ecosystem,” she expressed. 

Toyota’s tech division subsequently acquired Carmera (a sale she played a role in facilitating), resulting in Gupta and Panzer joining that sector. In December 2025, he took on the role of managing director of Woven Capital and chose to bring Panzer along with him. Kato and Panzer report to Gupta.

Initially, Panzer didn’t believe she was fully equipped for the role, but then remembered how often women feel they need to meet every qualification for a job, while men tend to dive right in. She recalled a career filled with assumptions about her capabilities, from a college recruiter doubting her technical expertise because she was female to a Goldman colleague saying she didn’t see her as competition for promotion due to her gender. 

She resolved to take the plunge as well.

“We discuss a lot about the Japanese concept of ikigai, where one seeks to identify what they are good at, what they love, what the world requires, and what they can earn a living from,” she stated, noting that it feels like a full circle moment as generations of her family have worked in automotive parts. “I always advise other women, ‘Let them have low expectations,” she said. “It’s easy to exceed them.’”