Expanding into national security and global markets, with the goal of making satellite data a standard part of every industry
Tellus Global Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Hideto Yamazaki; “Tellus Global” or the “Company”) today announced that, following a management buyout (MBO) led by the management team of Tellus Inc., it has assumed the business operations of Tellus Inc. and completed a financing round totaling more than JPY 900 million through a private placement and other financing transactions. The round was backed by multiple investors, led by Ant Innovations No. 1 Investment Limited Partnership.
Tellus Global was established in February 2026 and assumed the business of Tellus Inc. in August 2026. Under its new management structure and the vision, “The New Frontier: Driving the Space Information Industry ,” the Company will build on its satellite data Platform as a Service (PaaS) business and integrate emerging technologies such as AI to expand into high-growth areas including the national security sector and international markets .
Through this financing, Tellus Global aims to establish an autonomous, Japan-based satellite data infrastructure.
◆ From a Government R&D Project to Its Next Phase of Growth Through an MBO
The satellite data platform Tellus began in 2018 as a research and development initiative of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), under a project aimed at making government satellite data openly and freely available while developing an environment for its utilization.
SAKURA internet Inc. was commissioned to undertake the project and began developing and operating the platform. Since then, Tellus has provided satellite data to a broad range of users—including government agencies, research institutions, and private-sector companies—and has promoted the broader use of satellite data.
In 2024, the business was spun off from SAKURA internet as Tellus Inc., a subsidiary established to further expand its business foundation.
As the space industry increasingly creates new value by combining satellite data with technologies such as cloud infrastructure and AI, the management team of Tellus Inc. conducted an MBO by acquiring shares from SAKURA internet to accelerate the growth of Tellus as an independent company.
Building on the satellite data platform originally developed through a Japanese government R&D initiative, the business is now entering its next phase of growth as an autonomous enterprise.
Tellus Global will use its Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering as its foundation, integrating space data—including satellite data—with analytics capabilities and computing resources for customers ranging from government organizations to private-sector companies. The Company will also pursue deeper integration with AI technologies.
The newly raised capital will be used to strengthen the Company’s development capabilities in line with business expansion, enhance existing services, and acquire new projects. Tellus Global will also accelerate initiatives aimed at further growth, with an eye toward expansion into the national security sector and international markets.
◆ Making Satellite Data a Standard Part of Every Industry
Tellus Global seeks to help transform Japan’s space industry into a core industry that will support the next generation of economic growth.
Central to this ambition is the creation of a “space information industry” that combines the capabilities of data and software with Japan’s globally recognized technological strengths in the “space manufacturing industry,” including satellite manufacturing.
Japan’s space business will truly accelerate only when it combines the capability to build world-class hardware with the power to fully leverage the data it generates.
In the years ahead, an increasing number of satellites will operate in orbit, resulting in an exponential increase in the amount of satellite data available. As the volume of accessible satellite data grows and AI technologies continue to advance, a world is approaching in which anyone can easily make use of insights into changes occurring across the Earth—capabilities that until now have been available only to a limited group of specialized users.
Against this backdrop, Tellus Global will pursue growth through two complementary approaches.
First, as its foundation, the Company will continue expanding its PaaS platform business, which enables the acquisition, processing, analysis, and delivery of the rapidly increasing volume of satellite data.
Second, Tellus Global will use AI technologies to extract a wide range of insights from large-scale satellite datasets and deliver those capabilities to new markets, including the national security sector and international markets.
By combining satellite data and AI and making space-derived information a standard part of industries across the world, Tellus Global aims to position Japan’s space information industry among the world’s leaders.
◆ Investors Participating in the Private Placement
・Ant Innovations No. 1 Investment Limited Partnership (AIN Fund I)
・Mitsubishi UFJ Capital 10 Investment Limited Partnership
・DEEPCORE Ⅲ Investment Limited Partnership
・DGDV Fund III E.L.P. Cayman (DG Daiwa Ventures Inc.)
・Fusic CO., LTD.
◆ Investor Comments
・Takahiro Mizumoto, President & CEO, ant innovations Co., Ltd. (ain)
We are extremely honored to support Tellus Global’s MBO through AIN Fund I’s lead investment.
In 2018, I had the opportunity to invest in three satellite startups. This naturally led me to become deeply interested in the accumulation and utilization of satellite data as my next investment theme. I had therefore been following Tellus since SAKURA internet first launched the platform as a METI-commissioned project.
At the time, however, effectively using satellite data was far from easy, as satellite imagery analysis required a high degree of specialized expertise. The emergence of generative AI in 2022 dramatically changed that equation, making it much easier to derive analytical results from satellite imagery, significantly lowering the barriers to entry.
Going forward, I believe ownership and control of data will increasingly determine competitiveness in the space industry as well. Today, however, data acquired by Japanese satellites is often stored on overseas cloud servers, while the analysis of that data depends on AI technologies developed outside Japan. Tellus Global is a company taking on this challenge through collaboration between the public and private sectors.
For me personally, this investment has been seven years in the making. I am delighted to embark on this journey together as the first investment by AIN Fund I. I look forward to seeing Tellus Global grow into Japan’s—and eventually Asia’s—leading space data infrastructure company.
・Yuichi Nishio, Executive Officer & General Manager, Investment Department No. 3, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital Co., Ltd.
We decided to invest in Tellus Global because we strongly share the management team’s tremendous passion for the space business and its long-term vision of advancing Japan’s space industry.
Across the global space data market, accelerating data utilization through AI has become increasingly imperative. For Japan’s space industry to remain competitive internationally, we believe a powerful digital foundation—such as the AI-enabled satellite data platform being built by Tellus Global—will be essential.
Tellus Global is taking on the challenge of creating infrastructure for a new era, including through its selection for the JAXA Space Strategy Fund. As part of MUFG and as a committed partner, we will fully support the Company in both financing and management as it pursues this ambitious vision.
・Masaya Naito, Senior Director, DEEPCORE Inc.
Tellus Global is positioned to play a central role as Japan’s space industry evolves from a hardware-driven industry toward one that also delivers solutions through the utilization of satellite data.
Its ability to provide satellite data infrastructure, computing resources, and environments for developing and validating AI models entirely through Japan-based cloud infrastructure represents a distinctive advantage that is difficult for competitors to replicate—particularly at a time when awareness of data sovereignty and national security is increasing.
As generative AI continues to evolve, satellite data utilization will expand into industries of all kinds. Greater adoption will lead to further data accumulation, creating a virtuous cycle that will further enhance the value of Tellus Global’s platform.
Under a management team combining deep expertise in the space industry with strong execution capabilities, we have high expectations that Tellus Global will become a successful model of public-private collaboration and drive the growth of the space information industry.
As the first portfolio company of the DEEPCORE Ⅲ Investment Limited Partnership, we are committed to fully supporting Tellus Global as it pursues global growth.
・Teppei Ando, Principal, DG Daiwa Ventures Inc.
We are very pleased to be part of Tellus Global’s new beginning.
As the number of satellites increases, the volume of data they produce is growing dramatically. At the same time, the infrastructure needed for companies and society to apply this data to daily operations and decision-making remains insufficient.
We believe Tellus Global will play an important role in closing this gap by aggregating and processing satellite and geospatial data and transforming it into a form that organizations can actually use.
Another major strength is the Company’s management team, led by Mr. Yamazaki, which brings together a diverse range of expertise spanning space, public policy and government relations, satellite technology, business development, finance, and IPOs.
We look forward to seeing Tellus Global accumulate the expertise it has developed through collaborations with government agencies and research institutions into a shared platform, and expand that foundation into AI-powered analysis and decision support, national security, disaster management, and global markets.
DGDV is fully committed to supporting Tellus Global as it grows into a company representing the emerging space information industry originating from Japan.
・Sadayoshi Noutomi, President, Fusic CO., LTD.
We are extremely honored to participate in Tellus Global’s new beginning as the only corporate investor in this financing round.
At Fusic, we are working to become a market leader in software for the space industry by leveraging technologies such as cloud computing and AI. In the course of pursuing that goal, we encountered Tellus Global’s vision: “The New Frontier: Driving the Space Information Industry”.
We deeply align with the Company’s ambition to transform satellite data—one of Japan’s key national assets—into infrastructure that anyone can effectively use.
As a corporate investor, we intend to contribute far beyond financial capital. By bringing together the technology and expertise we have developed in cloud computing and AI, we hope to work alongside Tellus Global in building the future of this industry.
Together, we will work to make Japan’s space industry a core industry supporting the next generation.
◆ Comment from Kunihiro Tanaka, Founder & CEO, President, SAKURA internet Inc.
We are extremely pleased to see Tellus, which SAKURA internet has been involved with since its inception, grow into an independent company and now take its next step under a new management structure.
By building on the technologies and expertise accumulated over the years and working together with its new shareholders and partners, we hope Tellus Global will achieve even greater growth and become a driving force in the development of Japan’s space information industry.
We wholeheartedly support the Company as it takes on this new challenge.
◆ Comment from Hideto Yamazaki, CEO, Tellus Global Inc.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of our investors for their strong support and belief in our vision. I would also like to thank SAKURA internet Inc., which has supported this business since its earliest days and has encouraged us as we embark on this new chapter.
Japan’s space industry has historically developed around manufacturing, demonstrating technological capabilities and achievements that are recognized around the world. Today, however, the global space business is entering a period of rapid transformation as hardware increasingly converges with software and data.
At Tellus Global, our new challenge is nothing less than the creation of a space information industry.
Our mission is to combine Japan’s traditional strength in hardware—the space manufacturing industry—with the software and data capabilities that Tellus is developing as part of the space information industry, allowing these two engines to jointly drive the future of Japan’s space business.
We will invest the capital raised in this round primarily in enhancing the functionality of the Tellus satellite data platform, accelerating the development of data analytics and AI technologies, and recruiting talent to support co-creation with companies across a wide range of industries.
Our goal is to make space-derived data a standard infrastructure used by every industry on Earth.
Together with our investors and partner companies, we will open a new era for Japan’s space business.
◆ Expanding Recruitment to Support Business Growth
As Tellus Global expands its business, the Company is also actively strengthening its recruitment efforts.
Current openings span a wide range of positions, including executive roles such as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), as well as AI Engineers and Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs).
We welcome applications from people who share our vision, “The New Frontier: Driving the Space Information Industry,” and who want to work with us to build a new foundation for the space industry.
・Careers: https://www.wantedly.com/companies/tellusxdp
◆ About Tellus Global Inc.
Tellus Global Inc. operates under the vision, “The New Frontier: Driving the Space Information Industry.”
The Company provides Platform as a Service (PaaS) capabilities that integrate space data—including satellite data—with analytical functions and computing resources.
For a broad range of customers, including private companies, government agencies, and research institutions, Tellus Global provides PaaS capabilities for the storage, processing, analysis, and utilization of satellite data, while also co-developing data-driven solutions with customers.
The Company’s services include the satellite data platform Tellus, the AI model development and validation environment Tellus AI Playground, and the cloud-based enterprise workspace Tellus Pro.
Tellus currently provides access to 45 types of satellite and ground-based data from both government and commercial sources. As of the end of July 2026, the platform has surpassed 44,000 registered users.
Tellus Global also operates Sorabatake (https://sorabatake.jp/en/top/), its owned media platform, where it publishes satellite data use cases and technology trends as part of its efforts to promote broader satellite data adoption in Japan.
・Company: Tellus Global Inc.
・Headquarters: KDX Toranomon 1-chome Building, 1-10-5 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
・CEO: Hideto Yamazaki
・Corporate Website: https://global.tellusxdp.com/
・Sorabatake: https://sorabatake.jp/en/top/
