Mr. Tomohiro Fukuzawa is a pioneering Japanese entrepreneur, engineer and aviation innovator, and the Founder and CEO of SkyDrive Inc., a company he established in 2018 with the ambition of transforming the way people move through the sky. A graduate of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, Fukuzawa began his professional career at Toyota Motor Corporation in 2010, where he worked in global procurement of automotive components and received Toyota’s Cost Improvement Award for applying the Toyota Production System to improvement initiatives across multiple workplaces. His experience in automotive manufacturing, procurement and operational improvement provided a strong foundation for his subsequent entrepreneurial journey into advanced air mobility.
His defining passion is to make air mobility accessible as part of everyday life rather than limiting aviation to conventional aircraft and airports. In 2014, while still associated with Toyota, Fukuzawa became involved with CARTIVATOR, a volunteer engineering initiative pursuing the idea of a flying car. In 2015, he expanded the group and helped build a team of more than 100 people, supported financially by 15 Toyota Group companies. This early work eventually led to the creation of SkyDrive in July 2018. The company achieved a landmark in 2020 when its SD-03 successfully completed a piloted flying-car demonstration, an important milestone in Japan’s development of the advanced air-mobility industry.
Under Fukuzawa’s leadership, SkyDrive has evolved from an ambitious start-up into an international advanced-air-mobility company developing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and heavy-lift cargo drones. His vision extends beyond developing an aircraft to creating an ecosystem for commercial eVTOL operations, including certification, infrastructure, partnerships and practical applications. SkyDrive has pursued international opportunities across the United States, Middle East and Asia, including a 2026 understanding with Dubai-based AeroGulf Services for up to 20 aircraft, with anticipated deliveries beginning in 2028, and a proposed emergency medical-evacuation application in Taiwan’s Penghu Islands.
Fukuzawa is also contributing to the institutional development of the sector as a member of Japan’s government-led Public-Private Council for the Air Mobility Revolution, working with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on the regulatory framework required to bring flying vehicles into practical use. His contribution to innovation has been recognised through MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 Japan 2020, while Forbes Japan selected him among its Top 20 Entrepreneurs in the Japan Entrepreneur Ranking 2023. In 2026, SkyDrive was also recognised at the Global AAM Awards for its efforts to build awareness and public confidence around advanced air mobility.
Through his combination of engineering knowledge, Toyota-derived operational discipline and entrepreneurial ambition, Tomohiro Fukuzawa has positioned himself at the forefront of Japan’s emerging advanced-air-mobility industry. His larger mission is to turn the once-futuristic concept of everyday flight into a safe, commercially viable and globally accessible mode of transportation.
