Toyota’s Woven Capital Names New CIO and COO, Marking Unusual Female Leadership Sweep

Toyota’s growth-stage investment arm Woven Capital elevated Michiko Kato to chief investment officer and also tapped her to lead Toyota Invention Partners, making her the first woman to run a wholly owned Toyota subsidiary. At the same time, Mia Panzer has been promoted to chief operating officer of Woven Capital. The two appointments put women in both of the firm’s top operational posts and signal a notable change for a sector long dominated by men.

Woven Capital, spun out of Toyota’s internal tech group, focuses on later-stage bets in mobility areas such as space systems, vehicle cybersecurity and self-driving technology. The unit unveiled a second fund of $800 million last August — matching the size of its initial pool launched in 2021 — and has said it plans to back roughly 20 new Series B-stage companies. The group’s portfolio includes satellite and defense-related firms, and Kato said Woven plans to be adaptable in how it invests, ranging from small stakes to co-leading rounds, while prioritizing startups that can partner operationally with Toyota.

Kato, who joined Woven in 2020 as an early team member, brings about 15 years of investment experience. Her résumé includes M&A work at Unison Capital and a finance chief role at the Japanese artificial intelligence firm ABEJA. Since arriving at Woven she has led six deals, including investments in reusable rocket technology and autonomous vehicle projects, and has said she wants to be deeply engaged with founders — particularly in areas she views as ripe for change, like aeromobility, embodied AI and hardware-driven manufacturing.

Panzer will take responsibility for finance, human resources, day-to-day operations and legal strategy at the venture unit. She comes to the role after a stint on the business strategy team at one of Toyota’s technology subsidiaries and a career that included positions at Goldman Sachs and at a consumer-focused pet wellness startup. Panzer’s path crossed with Ro Gupta, Woven Capital’s managing director, while the two were at a mapping startup; she later helped with that company’s sale into Toyota’s tech division. Both Kato and Panzer will report to Gupta, who took the managing director job in December 2025 and has been building the investment team since.

Industry observers say corporate venture capital has offered somewhat more openings for women than traditional VC, though imbalances remain. A report from 2014 found fewer than one in five top corporate VCs had women on their investing teams, while around one in 14 partners at the largest independent venture firms were women at the time. Today, the proportion of women partners in venture sits at about one in seven. A venture analyst interviewed for this story noted that corporate-backed funds can create clearer internal career paths and resource support, but cautioned that meaningful change requires shifts in firm culture and promotion practices.

Both new executives framed their moves as a mix of opportunity and pragmatism. Kato described her approach as being a practical partner to entrepreneurs and said she plans to roll up her sleeves on deal work and alliance building. Panzer spoke about deciding to accept higher-profile roles despite self-doubt — pointing to a pattern she’s seen where women often underestimate their readiness — and said she intends to use her position to smooth the friction points that can slow corporate-backed deals, such as parent-company budget cycles and strategic misalignments.

For startups courting corporate capital, the leadership changes at Woven could change conversations beyond check sizes. Investors and entrepreneurs say leadership diversity and operators with startup experience can speed introductions, shape co-development projects and make collaboration with industrial parents more predictable — outcomes Woven will likely try to cultivate as it deploys its second fund.