Gitai Raises Additional US$15.5M in Funding
Summary
The round was led by Maezawa Fund, a venture capital fund established and operated by Japanese entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Yusaku Maezawa. Led by CEO Sho Nakanose, Gitai operates in two business areas: on-orbit services and lunar infrastructure construction. To reduce the cost of space operations by 100 times, the company is developing robotic satellites for on-orbit services, lunar robotic rovers for infrastructure construction, and inchworm-type robotic arms that can be used in both areas. In late 2023, the company relocated its headquarters from Japan to the United States, with all non-U.S. national management team members obtaining permanent resident status, officially establishing Gitai as a U.S.-based company. Since then, they have expanded their space robotics business and production capabilities in the U.S. space and defense market, achieving key milestones such as selection for NASA SBIR, orders from DARPA, a technology demonstration outside the ISS, AS9100 and NIST SP800-171 certifications, and the expansion of headquarters and production facilities.