Sakana AI
Native name | Sakana AI株式会社 |
|---|---|
Company type | Private |
| Industry | Information technology |
| Founded | July 2023 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | , Japan |
Number of employees | 20 (2024)[1] |
| Website | sakana |
Sakana AI Co, Ltd. is a Japanese artificial intelligence company based in Tokyo.
Overview
[edit]Sakana AI's main research fields are evolution and collective intelligence of AI. The company's name is derived from the Japanese word for fish. This represents the idea of a school of fish coming together and forming a coherent entity from simple rules, which is an analogy for collective intelligence.[2]
The company was founded by David Ha, Llion Jones and Ren Ito. Llion Jones co-authored the famous paper "Attention Is All You Need" when he was working for Google in 2017. The company raised $30M in its seed funding round from Lux Capital and Khosla Ventures.[3] The company raised approximately $200M from companies such as Mitsubishi UFJ, SMBC, Mizuho, Itochu, KDDI, Nomura and Nvidia in its series A funding round in 2024.[4]
In January 2024, Sakana AI developed a method to build new AI models by 'breeding' multiple existing models, which it sees as a means to democratise AI development, as this process does not require large computational resources.[5] Sakana AI is also developing a model called the AI Scientist, which automates the entire process of scientific research.[6] The Nikkei estimated the company's value at 19 billion yen in 2024.[7] As of late 2025, Tokyo-based Sakana AI is valued at approximately $2.6 billion to $2.65 billion (¥400 billion), cementing its position as one of Japan's most valuable AI startups. This valuation follows a ¥20 billion ($135 million) Series B funding round announced in November 2025, which saw participation from major investors including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Lux Capital, and In-Q-Tel.[8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Lee, Min Jeong; Ahn, Shery (2024-09-17). "AI Startup Sakana Hits $1.5 Billion Value as Japan Inc. Piles In". Bloomberg News.
- ^ AI, Sakana (2024-01-16). "Sakana AI". sakana.ai. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ "AI開発､｢シリコンバレーに限らず｣ サカナAIに投資のVC - 日本経済新聞 (AI Innovation Isn't Just Coming from Silicon Valley, Says VC Partner)". 日本経済新聞 電子版 (The Nikkei) (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ 浦中美穂 (2024-09-17). "サカナＡＩに3メガバンクなど出資 一連の資金調達約300億円". Reuters (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ AI、複数技術の「掛け合わせ」で進化 Sakana AIが新手法. 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2024-03-21. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ Dignan, Larry (2024-08-14). "Sakana AI aims to automate scientific research with genAI". Constellation Research Inc. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ "リージョナルフィッシュ､企業価値400億円超に 関西未上場スタートアップで首位". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2024-12-26. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ AI, Sakana (2025-11-17). "Sakana AI". sakana.ai. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
