Solafune, Inc.
Tokyo, JP Β· Founded 2020 Β· 48 employees on LinkedIn Β· 12 known investors
Solafune is a company applying geospatial technology to address social, environmental, and industrial problems. It operates as a global team focused on satellite/geospatial data analysis.
Also known as Solafune Β· Solafune Inc.
Founders & leadership
Solafune, Inc. was founded in 2020 by Ren Uechi.
Investors Β· 12
Also in the syndicate Β· 10
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Solafune, Inc. is a Tokyo-headquartered technology company that develops satellite and geospatial data analysis technology and operates the Solafune data analysis platform. Its stated mission is "Hack The Planet," and its central product concept is a "Planetary Intelligence OS" that gathers, integrates and analyzes intelligence across three domains: geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) from satellite and aerial imagery and geospatial data; open source intelligence (OSINT) from social media, open data, web crawling and official publications; and signal intelligence (SIGINT) covering electronic data and cyber security.
The company applies these analytics across several solution areas: defense and intelligence (strategic monitoring and threat detection), mining and natural resources under the ShigenAI banner (mine monitoring, illegal mining detection, resource discovery and reserve estimation), disaster management (flood analysis, damage assessment, emergency response), infrastructure monitoring (roads, bridges and utilities with automated anomaly detection), and environmental monitoring (forestry, agriculture, crop health and deforestation tracking). Solafune also runs a global platform for satellite and geospatial data science competitions and maintains solafune-tools, an open-source Python library containing competition utilities, evaluation metrics and cloud-free basemap generation.
Founding story
Founder and CEO Ren Uechi describes the company as originating from a question he posed as a student about whether all phenomena can be described using mathematics and what form such a description should take.
Business model
Solafune sells satellite and geospatial data analysis technology, software and algorithm licensing, and related services, primarily to government agencies, public institutions and large enterprises, while also operating a data analysis competition platform. Public-sector demonstration projects and subsidies from Japanese ministries, JAXA and United Nations bodies form part of its project pipeline.
Satellite data analysis contracts, software and algorithm licensing and related services, alongside publicly funded demonstration and research projects.
Traction
Solafune has secured contracts with Japan's Ministry of Defense, including two Japan Ground Self-Defense Force contracts for AI-based capability assessment models announced in August 2026, and lists the Cabinet Office, National Police Agency, Ministry of the Environment, JAXA and the Japan Meteorological Agency among clients. It was awarded USD 5.34 million in public funding from UNIDO in October 2025 for a mining-sector demonstration project in the DRC, signed MoUs with the DRC, Zambia's National Remote Sensing Centre, Ghana, Senegal and Egypt, contracted with IOM, and was selected for JAXA's Space Strategy Fund, METI programs and Japan's SBIR promotion program. The platform marked its fifth anniversary in October 2025.
Latest developments
In 2026 Solafune announced a Series A of more than USD 30 million led by Globis Capital Partners, invested in and joined the management team of Fortis Intelligence Advisory (June 2026) and launched with it "Signal DD," an AI-powered human risk due diligence platform (July 2026). It released a free "AI Disaster Information Aggregation Map" for the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake, exhibited at VivaTech 2026 through the SusHi Tech Global Accelerator Program, was selected for a METI FY2024 Global South subsidy for a Senegal flood forecasting project, signed an MOU with Zambia's National Remote Sensing Centre, and secured two JGSDF contracts for AI-based capability assessment models supporting disaster response and logistics.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Solafune positions itself as a supplier of intelligence infrastructure for governments and international organizations, with a core focus on defense and national security and a stated intention to expand across the Global South.
The company combines GEOINT, OSINT and SIGINT into a single decision-support platform rather than offering single-industry analytics, and pairs commercial delivery with an open competition community and open-source tooling.
Technology
AI and machine learning models applied to satellite and aerial imagery and geospatial data, combined with open-source and signals data into an integrated intelligence platform. The company cites generative AI and multimodal intelligence analysis as development priorities, collaborates with Microsoft on generative AI for satellite imagery, and publishes solafune-tools, a Python library for basemap creation and management based on STAC catalogs.
Go-to-market
Direct contracting and memoranda of understanding with government bodies and UN agencies, participation in Japanese public programs and subsidies (METI, JAXA Space Strategy Fund, SBIR, JETRO acceleration), exhibitions and startup competitions, and a community-facing competition platform and open-source library that engage AI engineers worldwide.
National government agencies and public institutions β in Japan the Ministry of Defense, Cabinet Office, National Police Agency, Ministry of the Environment, JAXA and the Japan Meteorological Agency β plus foreign governments, United Nations agencies, and companies in resources, infrastructure and agriculture.
Geography
Headquartered in the Marunouchi Building, Chiyoda City, Tokyo, with earlier registered offices in Okinawa. The Solafune platform is reported as used in roughly 125 countries and regions (earlier announcements cite over 110 and over 120). Project activity includes Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Senegal, Ghana, Egypt), and the company states plans to expand into Southeast Asia, South America and the Middle East.
History
Solafune, Inc. was established on March 20, 2020 (a company release dates the founding to May 2020), initially based in Okinawa City, Okinawa. It launched its competition-based satellite data analysis platform, announced collaboration with Microsoft on generative AI for satellite imagery and selection for Microsoft for Startups in early 2022, released satellite data use cases and technology offerings in April 2022, and raised a 200 million yen seed round in December 2022. Subsequent years brought government demonstration projects, awards including second place at IVS2024 LAUNCHPAD KYOTO and second prize at ICC Summit FUKUOKA 2024, a headquarters relocation to the Marunouchi Building in Tokyo, and a Series A of over USD 30 million announced in March 2026.
Risks & controversies
The business is concentrated in defense, intelligence and public-sector contracts, and its growth plans depend on international government projects across the Global South and on continued demand driven by geopolitical risk.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Timeline Β· 27
launches, deals, and filingsContracts with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force to enhance AI-based capability assessment models for disaster response and logistics support.
Solafune and Fortis Intelligence Advisory launched "Signal DD," an AI-powered human risk due diligence platform supporting corporate economic security.
Free public release of an AI-based disaster information aggregation map.
Solafune invested in Fortis Intelligence Advisory and joined its management team.
Founder and CEO Ren Uechi was the only Japanese recipient of the Geospatial World 50 Rising Stars 2026 award.
Solafune raised over USD 30 million (at approximately 157 JPY/USD) through equity financing via third-party allotment and debt facilities from financial institutions, to fund hiring, generative AI and multimodal analysis development, computing and security infrastructure, and international government projects.
$30M source β
Awarded USD 5.34 million (approx. JPY 800 million) from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to demonstrate satellite and AI technologies for mineral resource management in the Democratic Republic of Congo; an MoU was also signed with the National Geological Service of Congo under the Ministry of Mines.
$5.3M source β
Selected for the AI/Sustainability course conducted in partnership with StartX, a Stanford University accelerator, under the JETRO Global Startup Acceleration Program.
Open-source Python library for creating and managing basemaps based on STAC catalogs.
Funds provided by ANRI, Chiba Dojo Fund, GREE Ventures, Leave a Nest Capital, Real Tech Fund, 90s, private investors and financial institutions, to be used for global recruitment of engineers and business development staff.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Solafune, Inc.solafune.com Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Solafune, Inc. do?
- Japanese company building a satellite, OSINT and SIGINT analytics platform for governments and international organizations.
- Who founded Solafune, Inc.?
- Solafune, Inc. was founded by Ren Uechi in 2020.
- Who are Solafune, Inc.'s investors?
- Solafune, Inc.'s investors include Globis Capital Partners, UntroD Capital.
- Where is Solafune, Inc. headquartered?
- Solafune, Inc. is headquartered in Tokyo, JP.