Sakana AI's reported 2027 IPO could exceed ¥680 billion

By Tom Whitfield

Sakana AI could pursue an initial public offering in Japan or the United States as early as autumn 2027, Nikkei Asia reported Monday. The reported valuation could exceed ¥680 billion ($4.3 billion), the level at which online marketplace Mercari listed.

Nikkei described the possible deal as “the first IPO by a Japanese AI developer.” Such a listing would also rank among the largest for a Japanese startup. Sakana has not announced the plan, leaving the timing, market and valuation unconfirmed.

Sakana has hired Goldman Sachs as an adviser, according to a TT News Agency report relaying Nikkei. TT identified the Tokyo Stock Exchange or Nasdaq as possible venues. Neither report supplies a filing date, offering size or formal price range.

What does the private valuation show?

Sakana’s most recent disclosed round provides the clearest financial reference point. The company raised about ¥30 billion ($214 million) in a Series A at a $1.5 billion valuation. It then raised ¥20 billion ($135 million) in a Series B in November 2025 at a $2.65 billion post-money valuation, TechCrunch reported.

The Series B investor group included:

• Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
• Khosla Ventures
• Macquarie Capital
• NEA
• Lux Capital
• In-Q-Tel

MUFG also serves as a commercial partner in Sakana’s bank business. A valuation above Mercari’s listing level would put Sakana well over half again its last private price, Nikkei said. The comparison is a reported possibility, not a committed target or completed transaction.

The private rounds show rising valuations, but only a public offering would establish the reported market price.

What does Sakana sell?

CEO David Ha, Llion Jones and Ren Ito founded Sakana in 2023. The Tokyo-based generative AI developer builds models designed to work with small datasets and perform well in Japanese.

Its business so far centers on banks, through partnerships with MUFG and Daiwa. That focus defines its current customer base, although the source discloses no revenue, contract values or customer numbers. The reported IPO discussion therefore rests more on growth expectations than proven financial scale.

Designing for smaller datasets and Japanese performance narrows the product proposition. The commercial test is whether those characteristics support repeatable deployments beyond banking.

Sakana has specialized models and bank partnerships, but the source provides too little financial data to judge their scale.

How could manufacturing and defense change demand?

Sakana said last year that it planned to expand into “industry, manufacturing and government” in 2026. The company was also eyeing “defense and intelligence work,” TechCrunch reported. These are stated plans, not evidence of completed revenue from the new sectors.

TT News Agency reported that Sakana has an agreement with Japan’s Ministry of Defense to bring its AI tools into the defense sector. The report gives no contract value, deployment timetable or revenue contribution. Even so, the ministry agreement gives Sakana a route into a customer category that differs from its bank partnerships. It does not make defense a confirmed material business before the IPO.

These plans could broaden demand for Sakana’s models and give investors more sectors to evaluate. They also raise questions about how quickly the company can convert pilots and agreements into repeatable deployments. The source provides no capacity, user or deployment figures for that assessment.

Manufacturing and defense may widen the market, but the source documents plans and one agreement rather than material revenue.

What must happen before autumn 2027?

An autumn 2027 listing would require Sakana to move from preparation to a completed public offering. Goldman Sachs’s advisory role and the reported TSE or Nasdaq options show that preparation has begun. They do not commit the company to a specific timetable.

The valuation hurdle would also be substantial. Sakana’s November 2025 post-money valuation was $2.65 billion, while Nikkei’s reported potential exceeds Mercari’s ¥680 billion ($4.3 billion) listing valuation. No analyst forecast, revenue projection or offering size appears in the source. That leaves the proposed valuation as a market expectation rather than a priced deal.

Ultimately, whether Sakana can expand beyond banks while disclosing enough commercial results to support the scale implied by the reported listing will determine whether investors can support a valuation near or above ¥680 billion. Until Sakana files and prices an offering, the 2027 date and valuation remain possibilities rather than commitments.