Technology

Tokyo's nocall has raised $5m in a series A to expand nocall.ai, its generative-AI phone service, as it tackles the technical hurdles of natural Japanese conversation.

Albatross Technology, a Tokyo startup developing floating offshore wind turbines, has raised $1.6 million in a pre-Series B round to advance a large-scale offshore test unit in Nagasaki.

KG Motors, the maker of the single-seat mibot EV, has raised $2.9m in equity funding to scale up production, following a proof-of-concept trial with the Chugoku Bank.

WAKU, a Japanese agri-biotech startup, has raised $3m in pre-Series A funding and revealed fission yeast as a second core technology alongside its glutathione biostimulant, WAKUFUL.

Osaka University spin-out Power Laser Technology has raised around $7.5m to develop power lasers for space-debris tracking and laser-fusion power generation.

elleThermo, developer of a heat-to-electricity semiconductor-sensitised thermal cell, has raised ¥830m ($5m) in a Series A led by Spiral Innovation Partners.

Hokkaido University spin-off Letara has raised $16m in a pre-Series A round to commercialise its CAMUI hybrid rocket engine, which burns plastic fuel for safer, lower-cost propulsion.

Photonic quantum computing startup OptQC has raised $44m in a Series A2 round led by NTT, as it works towards commercial deployment of its first machine.

Kyoto Fusioneering has raised $105m in equity at the first close of a series D round, taking total funding to $162m including debt, to advance its UNITY fusion demonstration programme.

Trash Technologies, an AI-powered metals recycler turning Japan's urban mine into high-purity gold, silver and rare metals, has raised $1m to expand its Kawagoe plant and roll out digital product passports.