Zero Industries, a Japan-linked space technology startup based in San Francisco, has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding to develop a laser-based power transmission service for satellites.

The round was led by Maezawa Fund, with participation from UntroD Capital Japan, NOW, Midtown and individual investors. The company did not disclose its valuation or the size of individual investments.

Zero said it completed the round about six months after its establishment. It described the financing as the largest publicly announced pre-seed round by a Japanese startup, based on its own review of comparable deals. That ranking has not been independently verified.

Funding will support prototypes and engineering

Zero plans to use the capital to hire engineers, advance its core technology, build prototypes and develop industrial partnerships. Chief Executive Kai Sugihara outlined those priorities in an interview with Automation World, which independently reported the financing after the announcement.

The startup is led by Sugihara, Chief Technology Officer Yusei Fujii and Chief Operating Officer Koya Tani. Its Japanese entity is Zero Industries Japan, while its parent is registered as a public benefit corporation in California.

The company’s first planned service, called Helios, would transmit solar-generated electricity between spacecraft using lasers. Zero says the system will have three components: a transmitting satellite, a receiver module installed on a customer’s spacecraft and software that schedules and measures power delivery.

The company argues that an external power source could let satellite operators reduce the weight assigned to solar arrays and batteries, freeing capacity for sensors, computers or propulsion. Its initial target users include Earth-observation satellites, orbital transfer vehicles and spacecraft that inspect or service other satellites.

Roadmap targets an orbital test in 2030

Zero said its design requirements include sending power across hundreds of kilometers and serving more than one spacecraft from a single transmitter. The company has not yet demonstrated that capability in orbit.

Its near-term plan calls for evaluating receiver components, conducting a kilometer-scale outdoor power transmission test and testing the tracking of a moving target with combined laser beams from late 2026 through spring 2027. It plans to begin designing an orbital demonstrator and selecting a satellite bus in the second half of 2027.

Zero is targeting its first satellite-to-satellite power transmission demonstration in 2030, followed by deployment of commercial transmission satellites and service to initial customers. These dates are company targets and may change based on test results, economics and manufacturing capacity.

The startup is working with the Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries in Hamamatsu on receiver components, atmospheric laser propagation, safety procedures and measurement methods. Zero said the research team has reviewed its experimental setup and safety plan, but the company has not disclosed independent test results for the proposed orbital system.

Efficiency remains a central technical challenge

Long-distance optical power transmission is being tested by larger Japanese groups, providing context for Zero’s engineering challenge. In 2025, NTT and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries reported receiving 152 watts of electricity from a one-kilowatt laser sent over one kilometer in an outdoor demonstration.

That test showed that laser-based power transfer can work over meaningful distances, but it also highlighted losses between the transmitted optical power and usable electricity. Space deployment adds further requirements for precise tracking, heat management, radiation tolerance and long-duration operation.

Zero said it will assess commercial viability using the electricity customers can actually use after accounting for transmission and reception losses, equipment mass and operating costs. The round gives the company capital to begin that validation, while the core technical and economic claims still depend on future ground and orbital demonstrations.

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