Zero Industries raises $3M in record Japanese pre-seed for orbital power
What's the deal? Zero Industries, PBCDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised $3 million (about ¥470 million) in a pre-seed round to build power infrastructure in space. The round was led by Maezawa FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, with participation from UntroD CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Japan, NOWDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, MidtownDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, KZM & Company, h plus holdings, and individual investors.
A record round. In the company's survey of major publicly disclosed pre-seed rounds by Japanese startups, this is the largest to date. The San Francisco-based company closed the raise six months after being founded.
What's the endgame? Zero's first product, Helios, is a laser-based service that beams power generated in space to satellites in orbit. Current satellites rely on their own solar panels and lose power when passing through Earth's shadow; Zero aims to supply energy externally, freeing up weight for instruments, computing, and propulsion.
Who's behind it? The founding team is unusually young: chief executive officer Kai Sugihara is 16, chief technology officer Yusei Fujii is 19, and chief operating officer Hirono Tani is 20. The company is also running a joint research program with the Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries in Hamamatsu on laser wireless power transmission.
Why now? Between autumn 2026 and spring 2027, Zero plans to evaluate receiver components and run kilometre-scale outdoor transmission tests to set the design conditions for an orbital demonstrator. It targets a satellite-to-satellite transmission demonstration in 2030, followed by commercial service for its first customers.
What could go wrong? Investors are backing a concept, not a proven business. Zero plans ground tests before any orbital demonstration, and the economics — transmission losses, equipment weight, and operating costs versus a satellite's own power — remain to be validated.
The signal: Orbital power delivery is drawing early capital elsewhere: Mantis Space announced a $10 million seed round for laser power delivery, while Luxembourg's TerraSpark raised €5.4 million for space-based solar power. Zero's raise shows investor appetite for a nascent infrastructure idea — well ahead of any evidence it can work commercially.
Read more: prtimes.jp
Image credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video
