Japanese space startup ElevationSpace raises $2.7M of Seed-funding

ElevationSpace Inc., a Japan-based space startup company that develops a space environment utilization and recovery platform to replace the International Space Station (ISS), announced Tuesday it has raised seed funding of $2.7 million from six investors, bringing its total raise to approximately $3 million.

In addition, Masafumi Kawai, Partner/Chief Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Officer of Genesia Ventures, Inc. has been newly appointed as an outside director to strengthen the management structure and corporate governance.

Its seed round investors included Genesia Ventures, Inc., Plug and Play Japan, Tohoku University Venture Partners Co. Ltd, Innovations and Future Creation Inc, MAKOTO Capital Co., Ltd. and Leave a Nest Capital, ElevationSpace said in a statement.

With this funding, the startup will accelerate the development of the ELS-R100, a technical demonstration satellite that is scheduled to be launched in 2023, and focus on building an organizational structure for the research and development and business development of the ELS-R1000, a service providing satellite scheduled for 2026.

ELS-R100 is around 150kg satellite for acquiring atmospheric re-entry technology, and it will conduct a space experiment to cultivate euglena provided by Euglena Co., a renowned Japanese biotechnology company, to utilize it as a future food and energy source in space. If this experiment is successful, it will be the first case of a Japanese spacecraft bringing back living organisms from space and be a major step toward Japan’s crewed space development.

“Genesia Ventures has extensive connections not only in Japan but also in Asia, and we asked them to join us as a lead investor to accelerate our business development globally, including in Asia. Developing countries like Asian countries do not have enough opportunities to use ISS while their economies are growing rapidly and space development is gaining momentum. We believe it is necessary to provide opportunities to conduct experiments and demonstrate technologies in space in such regions,” said Ryohei Kobayashi, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ElevationSpace Inc.

ElevationSpace is a Japanese space startup company established in February 2021 based on the technology of Yoshida and Kuwahara Laboratory at Tohoku University in Japan, which has developed more than 10 small satellites. The company is developing a platform “ELS-R” which can conduct space experiment, test and manufacturing inside satellite to replace ISS. The company’s first launch is planned for 2023, this satellite called “ELS-R” to acquiring atmospheric re-entry technology. Next satellite is “ELS-R1000” which is a service providing satellite around 1000kg. The first launch of the ELS-R1000 is scheduled for 2026, with the aim of six launches per year by 2030. ELS-R are much cheaper, more frequent, and easier to use than the ISS because the company’s service uses small uncrewed satellites.

Since its establishment, it has raised funds from prominent Japanese angel investors in pre-seed funding, conducted joint research on a hybrid thruster with the world’s highest performance, and appointed Dr. Yasuhide Watanabe, who has led the development of re-entry technology at JAXA, as a technical advisor.

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