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Total amount raised
$379M
Latest funding date
2026-03-25
Location
Sakana AI has successfully raised funds through three distinct funding rounds, with the latest being a Series B round. The company has attracted a total of 37 investors, including notable names like Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and New Enterprise Associates.
What Is Sakana AI?
Sakana AI is a research-oriented artificial intelligence company based in Tokyo, Japan. The company focuses on developing biologically inspired and nature-driven AI architectures.
Operating within the AI and IT sectors, Sakana AI has a workforce of 11-50 employees. The company is dedicated to creating AI solutions tailored to Japan's needs and aims to democratize AI within the country.
How Much Funding Has Sakana AI Raised?
- Seed Round
- Amount Raised: $30 million
- Date: January 16, 2024
- Lead Investors: Lux Capital, Khosla Ventures
- Other Investors: NTT Group, KDDI CVC, Sony Group, 500 Global, Miyako Capital, Basis Set Ventures, JAFCO, July Fund, Geodesic Capital, Learn Capital, Noam Shazeer (angel), Aidan Gomez (angel)
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To research and develop new foundation models based on nature-inspired intelligence.
- Series A Round (Initial Close)
- Amount Raised: $100 million
- Date: June 2024
- Lead Investors: New Enterprise Associates, Lux Capital, Khosla Ventures
- Other Investors: NVIDIA, Translink Capital, 500 Global
- Valuation at Round: ~$1 billion (post-money)
- Motivation Behind the Round: To invest in talent and infrastructure development for advancing sustainable and energy-efficient AI technologies.
- Series A Round (Extended Close)
- Amount Raised: ~$114 million (additional, bringing Series A total to ~$214 million)
- Date: September 4–17, 2024
- Lead Investors: KDDI, NEC, ITOCHU
- Other Investors: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Mizuho Financial Group, Fujitsu, SBI Group, Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Nomura Holdings, ANA Holdings, Tokyo Marine Group, Global Brain, JAFCO, Miyako Capital
- Valuation at Round: ~$1.5 billion (post-money)
- Motivation Behind the Round: Expansion of AI capabilities and deepening of partnerships with Japan's leading financial, corporate, and technology institutions.
- Series B Round
- Amount Raised: $135 million (~¥20 billion)
- Date: November 17, 2025
- Lead Investors: MUFG, Khosla Ventures, Macquarie Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Lux Capital, In-Q-Tel (IQT)
- Other Investors: Factorial Funds, Mouro Capital, Mitsubishi Electric, Salesforce Ventures, Google, Datadog, Citi, CCI Group, Geodesic Capital, Ora Global, Fundomo, MPower Partners, JAFCO, Shikoku Electric Power (STNet)
- Valuation at Round: ~$2.65 billion (post-money)
- Motivation Behind the Round: Accelerating R&D in frontier research, scaling applied AI (finance, defense, manufacturing), and building a global ecosystem through strategic investments and partnerships.
- Corporate Round (Google Strategic Investment)
- Amount Raised: Not publicly disclosed
- Date: January 23, 2026
- Investor: Google (Alphabet)
- Motivation Behind the Round: Strategic partnership to advance Gemini AI model adoption in Japan and accelerate Sakana AI's R&D using Google's foundation models.
- Corporate Round (Citi Strategic Investment)
- Amount Raised: Not publicly disclosed
- Date: February 24, 2026
- Investor: Citi (Citigroup — first strategic investment in a Japanese company)
- Motivation Behind the Round: To advance AI-driven innovation in global financial services and support Sakana AI's international expansion.
- Corporate Round (Mitsubishi Electric Strategic Investment)
- Amount Raised: Not publicly disclosed
- Date: March 25, 2026
- Investor: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
- Motivation Behind the Round: To create new solutions using Sakana AI's expertise in foundation models for Mitsubishi Electric's Serendie™ digital platform, targeting manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.
Total Amount Raised: At least $379 million based on disclosed funding (three 2026 corporate rounds are undisclosed in amount). Current Valuation: ~$2.65 billion (as of Series B, November 2025).
Key Investors
- New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
- Details: NEA is a global venture capital firm that invests in technology and healthcare sectors. It is one of the largest and most active venture capital firms in the world.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, healthcare
- Notable Investments: Coursera, Robinhood, Uber
- Khosla Ventures
- Details: Founded by Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures focuses on impactful technology investments. The firm is known for its early-stage investments in transformative technologies.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, healthcare, sustainability
- Notable Investments: Square, DoorDash, Impossible Foods
- Lux Capital
- Details: Lux Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in emerging science and technology ventures. The firm is known for backing companies that are pushing the boundaries of innovation.
- Investment Focus Areas: Emerging science, technology
- Notable Investments: Auris Health, Zoox, Planet Labs
- Nvidia
- Details: Nvidia is a technology company renowned for its graphics processing units (GPUs) and AI computing. The company also invests in AI startups and collaborates on various AI research initiatives.
- Investment Focus Areas: AI computing, graphics processing
- Notable Investments: Investments in AI startups and technology companies
- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)
- Details: MUFG is Japan's largest banking group and one of the world's largest financial institutions. It participated in both the Series A and Series B rounds, serving as a lead investor in the Series B.
- Investment Focus Areas: Financial services, technology, AI
- Notable Investments: Multiple fintech, AI, and technology companies globally
- Google (Alphabet)
- Details: Google made a strategic investment in Sakana AI in January 2026, forming a partnership to promote Gemini AI model adoption in Japan. The investment amount was not publicly disclosed.
- Investment Focus Areas: AI, cloud computing, technology
- Notable Investments: Anthropic, Waymo, DeepMind
- Miyako Capital
- Details: Miyako Capital is a venture capital firm based in Japan. The firm focuses on investing in innovative startups within the country.
- Investment Focus Areas: Various sectors, primarily in Japan
- Notable Investments: Various Japanese startups
What's Next for Sakana AI?
With a robust partnership with Nvidia and significant funding, Sakana AI is poised to revolutionize Japan's AI landscape. The collaboration with Nvidia will accelerate the development of sustainable and energy-efficient AI technologies, leveraging Nvidia's advanced computing platforms. This partnership, combined with Japan's supportive regulatory environment, opens up vast opportunities for Sakana AI to expand its research capabilities and market reach.
Future fundraising looks promising as the company continues to attract interest from major venture capital firms and strategic investors. The success of their Series A round, which raised over $100 million, sets a strong precedent for subsequent funding rounds. However, Sakana AI will need to navigate challenges such as competition from global AI hubs and the complexities of developing nature-inspired AI systems. Balancing innovation with sustainability will be crucial as they move forward.
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