Sakana AI IPO: Tokyo Startup Eyes Listing as Early as Autumn 2027
Sakana AI, the Tokyo-based artificial intelligence developer, is preparing an initial public offering (IPO) as early as autumn 2027, according to a report that cites Nikkei's own reporting. The listing would be the first by a Japanese AI developer.
The company is weighing a listing in either Japan or the United States. Its market valuation could exceed the 680 billion yen ($4.3 billion) at which Mercari, the Japanese online marketplace, is valued, which would make it one of the largest startup listings in Japan.
What is reported, and what is not settled
The timing is stated as "as early as" autumn 2027, so it is a target, not a fixed date. The choice of exchange is also open, with Japan and the U.S. both under consideration.
The valuation is a projection. The 680 billion yen figure is the Mercari benchmark the company could surpass, not a price set for the offering.
The company behind the plan
Sakana AI recently launched Fugu, a model named after the Japanese word for blowfish. The company says the frontier model "stands shoulder-to-shoulder with leading models like Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos Preview." Fugu is designed for agents and can orchestrate access to other models through their APIs.
A Sakana AI spokesperson said that the release timing was "entirely coincidental." It came as a U.S. government ban kept Anthropic's Mythos and Fable 5 away from non-Americans.
Nikkei's coverage points to a run of other recent developments around the company. Sakana AI plans to build a homegrown model to cut reliance on the U.S. and China, and AI pioneer Schmidhuber is set to join as a science adviser. Sumitomo has partnered with the company to push a Japan-built AI model. Nikkei has also reported that investors are turning choosy in Japan's startup sector, with Sakana AI and Turing among the winners.
A busy market for tech listings
The report lands in a crowded week for large offerings in Asia. Reliance's Jio Platforms rose about 27% from its IPO price on its debut at India's main bourses, and reached a market capitalization of $137 billion. Nikkei also reports that Anthropic is seeking to raise up to $3.5 billion from Japanese investors in an IPO.
Sakana AI's own timetable runs about a year out, and the company has not been quoted in the report on the plan itself.
