SORA Technology raises additional $2.5 million seed round

SORA Technology, a Japan-headquartered drone and AI startup, has raised an additional JPY400 million ($2.5 million) in the second close of its seed funding round. The raise follows a $4.8 million round in March 2025, bringing the company’s total funding to about $7.3 million.

The latest round introduced three new investors—Daiwa House Group Investment Limited Partnership, Central Japan Innovative Research Fund I; and UNERI Capital Fund Series I— joining existing backers to support the company’s use of drones and artificial intelligence in addressing infectious diseases and climate-related challenges.

Founded in Japan in 2018 after early groundwork in 2015, SORA Technology is best known for its SORA Malaria Control project. Malaria affects more than 200 million people each year, mainly in Africa, and causes nearly 600,000 deaths annually. The company has built data-driven malaria control and infectious disease prediction systems powered by satellites, drones, and AI.

SORA Technology has deployed its solutions across more than 10 African countries, including Ghana, Sierra Leone, Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Kenya, and Mozambique. It has also worked with international organizations, national and local governments, universities, and research institutions, including partnerships with the World Health Organization to support malaria control efforts in Mozambique.

Beyond public health, the company’s technologies are used for environmental monitoring and operational analysis in sectors such as mining and agriculture, where they support productivity improvements and environmental impact reduction.

According to founder and CEO Yosuke Kaneko, the newly raised capital will be used to advance AI algorithms for infectious disease prediction, expand field operations across African partner countries, strengthen institutional partnerships, and enhance drone systems and local operations. He said the company’s goal remains to reduce preventable deaths from infectious diseases through scalable technology.

SORA Technology operates within a growing African health drone ecosystem. U.S.-based Zipline runs the world’s largest medical drone delivery network in Africa, serving over 2,000 health facilities in Ghana and delivering most of Rwanda’s blood supply outside Kigali, with operations extending to Nigeria. In Nigeria, healthtech startup LifeBank combines drones and ground logistics to deliver blood and medical supplies to hospitals in under 55 minutes. Other players, including Wingcopter and Swoop Aero, also support drone-based healthcare projects across countries like Malawi through partnerships with development organizations.