Woven Capital appoints new CIO and COO to lead mobility investments

On Wednesday, Michiko Kato officially assumed her roles as the Chief Investment Officer of Woven Capital and Chief Executive Officer of Toyota Invention Partners. Her appointment as CEO of Toyota Invention Partners makes her the first female CEO of a wholly owned Toyota subsidiary. Joining her in the leadership expansion is Mia Panzer, who has been named the new Chief Operating Officer of Woven Capital. Woven Capital is the growth-stage venture capital arm of Toyota, focusing on backing founders in the mobility sector.

Woven Capital operates with an $800 million Fund II, which was announced in August last year, following its $800 million Fund I launched in 2021. With its second fund, the firm plans to back at least 20 new Series B investments. The firm’s investment strategy focuses on mobility, which includes space, cybersecurity, and autonomous driving.

Kato, who joined Woven Capital in 2020 and has led six investments, emphasized her commitment to active collaboration. “I want to be hands-on. I want to be valuable to startups. And I want to really focus on the partnership creation,” said Kato, who previously served as CFO of Japanese AI startup ABEJA and worked at Unison Capital. Panzer, who will oversee finance, operations, HR, and legal strategy, previously worked with Woven Capital’s managing director, Ro Gupta, at the mapping startup Carmera starting in 2019. Gupta became managing director of Woven Capital in December 2025. Panzer noted that her career transition aligns with the Japanese concept of ikigai—a Japanese concept regarding finding purpose in work—where one focuses on finding what they are good at, what they love, what the world needs, and what they can get paid for.

The appointments of Kato and Panzer represent a notable shift in corporate venture capital (CVC) leadership. Historically, women have done better at climbing the ranks at CVCs than at traditional venture firms. According to a 2014 CBI report, a little less than 20% of the top CVCs had women on their investing teams, compared to only 7% of partners at the top 100 venture firms. Today, the percentage of women in venture roles hovers around 15.4%, indicating that while traditional venture representation remains low, CVCs have historically offered a slightly more viable path for female leadership.

Why it matters

Woven Capital is appointing two women to top leadership roles, signaling a shift in the male-dominated venture capital landscape while continuing its focus on mobility-sector investments.