Participated · Series B · Jun 2026

Founded in June 2019, MENOU offers "検査AI MENOU," a no-code visual inspection AI platform that enables on-site personnel to encode inspection know-how without programming. The company supplies end-to-end inspection solutions including imaging hardware, conveyance and ejection mechanisms, and integration with robotics, and reports deployments at more than 200 companies across industries such as auto parts, medical devices, food, and consumer goods. Investors and the company state that license counts and revenues have grown substantially year over year. MENOU plans continued software improvements based on customer feedback and aims to increase the system's generality and long-term usability. The company is using new funding to enhance product and service capabilities, expand office space in Tokyo and Osaka, strengthen its team, and open a showroom to bring MENOU closer to customers. Financially, the firm has accumulated about ¥890 million in equity financing and about ¥1.06 billion in total funding including loans.

Participated · Series B · Nov 2025

Ascend’s core product, Logix, is a SaaS transport management platform launched in 2022 that unifies order receipt, dispatching, billing, labor, and vehicle management while automatically turning daily operational data into actionable management insights. The software’s signature “Partner Company Collaboration” function enables transport firms to exchange cargo and vehicles on the cloud, creating network effects across the industry. Ascend reports nationwide adoption by carriers ranging from small operators to listed enterprises and claims platform expansion exceeding 250% year-on-year; some customers have achieved up to a 20% sales uplift through data-driven pricing negotiations. Looking ahead, the company is executing a “Vertical Conglomerate Strategy” that will branch into 4PL/3PL services, M&A, and BPaaS offerings to optimize joint delivery, inventory balancing, and relay transport across the supply chain. The new capital will fund aggressive engineering hires, implementation and customer support expansion, and the rollout of additional services. Including its prior Series A in 2023, Ascend has now raised approximately ¥1.8 billion in total.

Participated · Series B · Apr 2022

Sumutasu (株式会社すむたす) operates an iBuyer service focused on condominium resale, using AI appraisal to reveal a sale price in as little as one hour. The service lets homeowners sell at their preferred timing, simplifying the sales process and reducing psychological and time-related stress. Sumutasu runs a real estate purchase-and-resale business (不動産買取再販業) and positions its product as a new, streamlined condominium sale experience. The company highlights an emphasis on customer experience and leveraging deep operational knowledge to support its service. Sumutasu was founded in January 2018 and is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. The company is led by representative 角 高広. The article does not disclose revenue or other operating metrics. Sumutasu operates a direct online real estate purchase service using an iBuyer model: it buys houses from homeowners, renovates them at scale, and resells them. The company says its platform can provide a fair house valuation in an hour and it does not charge seller commissions or processing fees. Sumutasu has purchased approximately 100 properties, currently lists about 30 properties, and partners with more than 20 banks and remodeling companies; the team totals 30 people. With the latest funding, the company plans to buy more houses, launch a mortgage brokering service next year, expand into Osaka and Nagoya, increase sales five-fold compared to 2021, and grow its headcount. Financially, Sumutasu secured $8.2M in equity and $1.6M in debt in the most recent financing and has raised $16M in total since its 2018 inception.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2017

Loft Orbital provides mission-as-a-service, buying standard satellites from vendors like Airbus and LeoStella and configuring them with customer payloads rather than designing bespoke spacecraft. The company offers “virtual missions” that let customers deploy software apps onto Loft satellites to leverage on-board sensors and compute, and it has launched YAM-6 dedicated to running AI in space. Loft says it has sold over 30 satellites and deployed over 25 customer missions across five satellites launched to date; customers include NASA, Microsoft, Anduril and BAE Systems. The company declined to disclose hard revenue figures but reported 100% revenue growth for two consecutive years and has logged over $500 million of bookings on only $160 million of capital raised prior to this Series C. Loft has raised a total of $330 million in its lifetime after the new round. It plans to use the new capital to scale from a handful of launches per year to 10+ annually, expand its virtual missions and AI business, and grow an ecosystem of AI application partners. Loft Orbital provides space‑infrastructure‑as‑a‑service, building and operating spacecraft that host customer payloads so customers do not need to design or operate their own satellites. The company has launched two spacecraft (YAMs) that currently carry multiple customer payloads and has more than 20 customers including NASA, DARPA, the U.S. Space Force and Honeywell. Loft says it speeds customers’ time to orbit by keeping satellites in inventory and integrating payloads rapidly, shortening deployment from years to months. The company currently has about 70 employees and plans to grow to roughly 160 by the end of 2022 as it scales operations. Loft operates from San Francisco and also has manufacturing and facilities in Denver, Colorado and Toulouse, France. As part of its scaling plans it intends to use the new capital to expand the team and business operations. Loft Orbital develops a constellation of small satellites purpose-built to carry a mix of customer payloads on shared satellite buses. Its model is to buy satellite buses from vendors, integrate customer payloads in-house, and sell space on Loft-owned-and-operated satellites for a fee. The company is integrating YAM-2 on a Blue Canyon Technologies bus and expects YAM-2 to launch mid-2020, with YAM-3 and YAM-4 slated for 2020 and 2021. YAM-2 will carry five payloads, including an IoT telecom for Eutelsat, a methane sensor for Orbital Sidekick, a positioning payload for Fugro, an imager for the UAE government, and a blockchain payload for SpaceChain. Loft Orbital plans to place a batch order of 10–20 satellite platforms by April and has an established partner network that includes LeoStella, Maxar, OHB/LuxSpace, Satrec Initiative and Blue Canyon. The 30-person San Francisco startup raised $13M in this Series A, bringing total funding to $20M in equity and non-dilutive capital. YAM-3 is reported as 85% booked, and YAM-4 is reserved by a Fortune 100 company on behalf of a national space agency. Loft Orbital leases space on satellites and provides access for commercial, academic, and government organizations to collect Earth data. Its services support applications including environmental monitoring, water resources management, disaster assessment, and global security. The company is co-founded by Antoine de Chassy (CEO), Pierre-Damien Vaujour and Alex Greenberg. Loft Orbital is based in San Francisco, CA. The firm intends to use new funding to expand its global presence and to further build out its software products. The company secured $3.2M in seed funding to support these plans.