Japanese space robotics company GITAI secures $15 million
GITAI, a startup from Japan, has secured an additional $15 million in funding to further its research on lunar robotics technologies. This latest funding comes just three months after their initial funding round of $30 million.
On August 29th, the company announced that it had obtained additional funding as an extension of its Series B round. The company’s offices are located in Tokyo and Torrance, California. The original Series B round, which took place in 2021, raised $17 million, with an additional $30 million added in May.
The funding was secured through a combination of debt and equity. MUFG Bank provided a loan of $7 million, while Green Co-Invest Investment Limited Partnership, Pacific Bays Capital, and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital invested the remaining funds. The total amount raised supported the company’s growth and expansion plans. The funding sources were carefully chosen to ensure a mix of financial stability and strategic partnerships.
GITAI’s founder and CEO, Sho Nakanose, stated that the company has secured additional funding to support the development of space robotics systems and expand its presence in the U.S. market. He emphasized that this move was necessary to ensure the company’s long-term growth, especially in light of recent financial market conditions.
According to the CEO, the additional funding secured by the company will facilitate its expansion of the U.S. workforce and enhance its cooperation with government agencies and firms interested in its robotic technologies. GITAI has been developing a lunar rover and an “inchworm” robotic arm to construct infrastructure such as solar arrays and antennas on the moon. The company has tested prototypes of these systems in the desert and a chamber filled with simulated lunar regolith. GITAI’s objective is to conduct a mission that showcases the rover and robotic arm on the moon by 2026.
The company has plans to showcase a robotic arm on the International Space Station. According to Nakanose, the arm has passed all the NASA safety tests and was recently handed over to the agency. The launch of the NG-20 Cygnus cargo resupply mission, scheduled for December, will carry the arm to the station where it will be installed on the exterior of Nanoracks’ Bishop airlock module.