Sakana AI raises approximately $200 million Series A
NEA, Khosla Ventures and Lux Capital led the financing, with Japanese strategic investors joining the round.
Sakana AI announced its Series A on 4 September 2024 and expanded the announcement on 17 September with Japanese investors. The updated English announcement put the round at approximately $200 million; its Japanese update described a completed total of approximately ¥30 billion.
NEA, Khosla Ventures and Lux Capital led the round. Participants included TransLink Capital, 500 Global and NVIDIA, together with Japanese banking and industry groups including MUFG, SMBC, Mizuho Financial Group, NEC, SBI Group, Dai-ichi Life Insurance, ITOCHU, KDDI, Fujitsu, Nomura Holdings, ANA Holdings and Tokio Marine Group. Global Brain, JAFCO and Miyako Capital also participated.
The Tokyo AI research company planned to hire researchers and expand infrastructure for nature-inspired model development. Alongside the funding, Sakana AI announced a collaboration with NVIDIA spanning research, access to accelerated computing and Japan’s AI community.
Use of funds
Hire research talent
Build AI research infrastructure
Develop nature-inspired AI models