Japan-based space robotics startup Gitai has raised $17.1m in series B funding from a consortium including printer producer Seiko Epson’s EP-GB fund and insurance firm Dai-ichi Life, TechCrunch reported yesterday.
The round was led by Sparx Innovation for the Future and included DCI Venture Growth Fund. It boosted the company’s overall funding to more than $22m.
Gitai is developing robotics system for use in space, and will use the funding for hiring and the development of an in-orbit demonstration of its technology expected to take place in 2023.
Spiral Ventures Japan led a $4.1m series A round for Gitai in August 2019 that also featured energy utility J-Power, the Development Bank of Japan-owned DBJ Capital and Coral Capital. It had previously raised $1.25m from investors including Coral Capital (then known as known as 500 Startups Japan) in 2017.
