Sakana AI in Talks to Raise $100 Million at $2.5 Billion Valuation

Oct 21, 2025
Tokyo-based AI startup Sakana AI is negotiating a $100 million funding round with U.S. and Japanese investors, which would value the company at $2.5 billion, according to The Information. The funds will support expansion of its engineering, sales, and distribution teams.

Sakana AI, a Tokyo-based artificial intelligence developer, is in discussions with investors in the United States and Japan to raise $100 million at a valuation of $2.5 billion, according to The Information. The figure represents a 66% increase from the company’s valuation a year ago.

The company, founded in 2023 by former Alphabet researchers David Ha and Llion Jones, plans to use the new capital to expand its engineering, sales, and distribution teams. Sakana currently employs about 70 people.

Sakana’s investors include major Japanese corporations such as Fujitsu, NEC, Itochu, and KDDI, along with banks including MUFG. U.S. venture capital firms New Enterprise Associates, Khosla Ventures, and Lux Capital are also backers, as is Nvidia. The startup has previously received government grants to support AI training infrastructure.

Sakana develops AI systems inspired by natural processes rather than the transformer architecture used by companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. The company recently released an open-source framework called ShinkaEvolve and has signed multiyear partnerships with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Daiwa Securities to build custom AI solutions for Japan’s financial sector.

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