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DealFrontierFinanceJapanReported

Sakana AI raises ¥20bn at a valuation of about $2.65bn

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Source: TechCrunchAlso reported by AI Business

Tokyo-based Sakana AI raised ¥20 billion (about $135 million) in a Series B round announced on 17 November 2025, at a post-money valuation of about $2.65 billion. Investors include MUFG, Khosla Ventures, Macquarie Capital and NEA, and the company said it would expand from finance into industrial, manufacturing and government work in 2026.

Why it matters

Sakana AI gained funds to build models for Japanese banks, manufacturers and government buyers, a domestic alternative to US model providers.

When
17 Nov 2025
ID
WTA-N-2025-0161
Where
Japan
Who
Sakana AI, MUFG, Khosla Ventures

Summary by wheresthe.ai, from TechCrunch and the reporting credited above. We could not open the primary document, so it is marked Reported. Checked against the source on 9 Oct 2026.

Read the original at TechCrunch

Source copy: download the page as saved on 18 Oct 2026 (PDF). Also held by the Internet Archive.

Next stop on this Storyline: What happened nextSakana AI opens a recursive self-improvement lab in Tokyo with Schmidhuber as adviser

Cite this story

WTA-N-2025-0161: “Sakana AI raises ¥20bn at a valuation of about $2.65bn.” wheresthe.ai, 17 Nov 2025. https://wheresthe.ai/d/jp-sakana-ai-series-b-2025-11/ (source: TechCrunch).

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