Participated · Series B · Mar 2021

EDGEMATRIX Co., Ltd. announced a Series B round on March 23, 2021. The company raised approximately ¥1,000,000,000 in the round. Participants included Sony Innovation Fund, DG Ventures, and returning investors NTT DOCOMO and Shimizu Corporation. The financing was completed via a third-party allotment. To date the company has raised ¥1,900,000,000 in total. The articles do not disclose the company's product details, future plans, or other operating metrics. Edgematrix is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cloudian that develops AI software and hardware to perform edge analytics on large-scale data sets. The unit uses Cloudian's Hyperstore platform for storing large-scale datasets and combines that with its own processing stack to enable real-time analytics nearer to data sources. Edgematrix's solutions target scenarios requiring real-time decisioning—TechCrunch cites an example detecting the make, model and year of cars for targeted billboard ads. The company was launched after Cloudian co-founder and president Hiroshi Ohta and a team spent two years developing the underlying technology. Edgematrix is launching first in Japan and will focus on the Japanese market for at least the next year before planning expansion to North America and Europe. It raised a $9 million Series A from strategic investors including NTT Docomo, Shimizu Corporation, Japan Post Capital, and Cloudian executives Michael Tso and Jonathan Epstein, with proceeds earmarked for product development, deployment, and sales and marketing. Cloudian itself has raised a total of $174 million—including a $94 million Series E announced last year—which provides the corporate backing for the new subsidiary.

Participated · Equity · Jul 2019

Synspective develops and operates the StriX series of small SAR satellites (100kg-class) and provides SAR-based data analytics to governments and enterprises. Its SAR sensors use microwaves to enable all-weather, day-or-night observation, and the small-satellite approach reduces weight and costs versus traditional SAR platforms. The company offers analytics products including ground deformation monitoring (LDM), flood-damage assessment, and disaster-damage evaluation. Synspective launched its fourth small SAR satellite, StriX-3, on March 13, 2024, with successful orbit insertion, communications, and antenna deployment. It aims to build a 30-satellite constellation in the late 2020s to enable wide-area, high-frequency Earth observation. Financially, Synspective reported a Series C raise of ¥7.0 billion and cumulative funding of about ¥28.19 billion (281.9億円), and plans to use proceeds for satellite development, manufacture, launch and operations, mass-production facility preparation, and global expansion of its data solutions. Synspective is a Japanese startup that provides satellite data solutions using small Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites. Its SAR data and solutions are used by governments and private companies. The company raised $100M in funding. It intends to use the funds to strengthen SAR satellite and solutions development and manufacturing systems. Synspective is led by co-founder and CEO Motoyuki Arai. Its core technology was developed under the ImPACT program led by the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan, enabling the company to build small SAR satellites and a constellation to allow frequent observation of areas of interest.

Participated · Series A · Dec 2017

iSpace builds and operates robotic lunar landers aimed at transporting scientific and commercial payloads to the Moon. Although it has flown two missions, the company has yet to achieve a successful soft landing. Management is now focused on Mission 3 (target launch 2027) and Mission 4 (target launch 2028), which incorporate hardware upgrades intended to improve landing reliability. The firm recently secured new contracts, including a ¥6.4 B deal with JAXA for a lunar water-sensing satellite, a $22 M payload agreement with Magna Petra for Mission 3, and an $8 M delivery contract with the Taiwan Space Agency for Mission 4. Financially, iSpace reported first-quarter FY2025 net losses of ¥2.88 B ($19.2 M), nearly double the prior-year period, and ended the quarter with ¥26.4 B ($175.6 M) in cash—of which ¥15 B ($99.8 M) came from short-term loans. To fund upcoming missions and offset widening losses, the company is turning to the equity markets for additional capital. Proceeds are earmarked for ¥4.8 B to Mission 3 development, ¥9.5 B to Mission 4 work, and ¥4 B for general working capital.