Best Auto Tech Companies in Japan
The 115 best Auto Tech companies in Japan in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Tier4 Robotics.
Japan's Auto Tech sector has 115 companies and $1.1B in disclosed funding behind it, and if you're trying to find where the real money is concentrating, this ranking does exactly that. Tier4 Robotics leads the pack at $279M raised, with SkyDrive at $117M and Luup at $88M not far behind. No unicorns yet, but the funding stack is thicker than it looks from the outside. Median app install growth is running at roughly +22% YoY across 552 automotive and industrial automation apps, which tells you demand is building at the consumer layer too. And the themes pulling capital right now are consistent: EV powertrain advancement, next-generation EV platforms, battery technology, drive system innovation. The KPIT story is a useful reminder of how fast a focused auto tech player can scale globally once the engineering foundation is right.
So what does the investor map tell us? Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Mirai Creation Fund, SBI Investment, ANRI, and Drone Fund are the most active backers here, a mix of corporate strategics and specialist funds that signals this isn't purely speculative. I'd watch Fastr's push for an auto tech alliance as a signal of where cross-border coordination is heading next. Coverage is rising, the EV transition is structurally underway, and the companies in this directory are the ones putting real capital to work on it.
Our analysis of 223 Auto Tech companies
$72.2b in tracked funding; 88% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Auto Tech companies in Japan
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Tech stack | Web popularity | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tier4 Robotics Autonomous driving platforms and intelligent vehicle systems | $279M | 24 mo ago | Series B | Akimichi Degawa Co-Founder And Representative Director | Cart FunctionalitySquarespace CommerceSquarespace+23 | Top 5M | — | 2 job openings · 1 launch |
| 2 | Dynamic Map Platform Mapping solutions for autonomous vehicles | $195M | 88 mo ago | Public | Tsutomu Nakajima CEO & President | WordPressMySQLPHP+11 | Top 5M | 14 patents Patents concentrated in computing, sensing & instrumentation | 1 launch |
| 3 | SkyDrive Developer of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for urban mobility | $117M | 11 mo ago | Series C | Tomohiro Fukuzawa Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+27 | Top 5M | 5 patents Foldable multi‑rotor UAVs with rotor‑folding mechanisms and onboard health monitoring | — |
| 4 | Luup App-based platform form electric kick scooters | $88M | 19 mo ago | Series C | Ryotaro Makita Chief Product Officer / Chief Operating Officer / Co-founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+22 | Top 500k | 4 patents Industrial operation assistance and decision-support user interface systems | — |
| 5 | JapanTaxi App-based on-demand taxi-hailing service | $87M | 93 mo ago | Deadpooled | Kazuro Kawage CEO | — | — | 10 patents Real-time demand forecasting display for taxi dispatch and ride‑hailing platforms | — |
| 6 | Lean Mobility Manufacturer of personal trikes | $49M | 8 mo ago | Seed | Akihiro Yanaka Founder & CEO | Node.jsVimeoYouTube+11 | Top 500k | — | — |
| 7 | Nealle SaaS-based provider of parking management solutions | $43M | 22 mo ago | Series B | Yota Sato Founder & CEO | SentryZendeskApple iCloud Mail+20 | Top 5M | — | — |
| 8 | EV Motors Japan Manufacturer of electric vehicles including buses, logistics vehicles, and trikes | $38M | 18 mo ago | Series D | Yuko Sasahara CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+13 | Top 500k | — | — |
| 9 | Turing Generative AI-based automated driving | $29M | 7 mo ago | Series A | Shunsuke Aoki Co-Founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+16 | Top 5M | — | — |
| 10 | Terra Motors Manufacturer of multiple categories of electric vehicles | $28M | 35 mo ago | Series C | Toru Tokushige Founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+19 | Top 10M | — | — |
| 11 | GLM Developer of electric car and drivetrain systems | $21M | 132 mo ago | Acquired | Hiroyasu Koma Founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+9 | Top 10M | — | — |
| 12 | Aerial Lab Industries Developer of mobility solutions including robotics, AI, and drone technologies | $21M | 78 mo ago | Deadpooled | Shohei Komatsu CEO & CTO | — | — | — | — |
| 13 | eve auto A company that provides an indoor/outdoor automated transport service utilizing autonomous EVs | $17M | 10 mo ago | Series B | Ryosuke Hoshino CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+20 | Top 5M | — | 1 job opening |
| 14 | PLUGO Cloud-based EV charging solutions | $14M | 22 mo ago | Seed | Naoki Okawa Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+20 | Top 5M | 4 patents Electric vehicle charging network management, reservation, and payment prediction platform | — |
| 15 | Ascent Robotics AI software for robotics and autonomous vehicles | $11M | 99 mo ago | Series A | — | WordPress Block EditorWordPressMySQL+14 | Top 50M | 7 patents Robotic digital twin simulation and AI-driven perception/anomaly detection for automation | — |
| 16 | nearMe App-based carpooling solution | $11M | 21 mo ago | Series C | Koichiro Takahara Ceo | WordPressMySQLPHP+39 | Top 1M | 11 patents Location-based services and dynamic regional operation planning for mobile network applications. | — |
| 17 | Global Mobility Service Connectivity and telematics solution for usage-based auto finance | $10M | 96 mo ago | Series C | Tokuzo Nakajima CEO | GSAPAmazon Web ServicesCloudflare+18 | Top 5M | 108 patents Electronic vehicle control and remote operation systems for doors, batteries, and onboard devices | — |
| 18 | SmartDrive Analytics platform for transportation | $9M | 110 mo ago | Public | Retsu Kitagawa CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+25 | Top 1M | 12 patents AI-based acquisition and analysis of vehicle mobility and behavior data | — |
| 19 | Glafit Manufacturer of street-legal electric motorcycles, electric scooters, and related accessories | $9M | 54 mo ago | Series B | Narumi Sadazo CEO | WordPressShopifyMySQL+29 | Top 1M | 5 patents Components and accessories for two‑wheeled motor vehicles, e.g., frames, pedals, mirrors, batteries. | — |
| 20 | Azoop Provider of the commercial vehicle auction platform | $8M | 52 mo ago | Series B | Kwisong Park Founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+14 | Top 5M | — | — |
| 21 | Tetra Aviation Developer of e-VTOL aircraft | $5M | 48 mo ago | Series A | Kei Nakai CEO | Cart FunctionalityStrikinglyNginx+16 | Top 50M | 6 patents Design and integration of aircraft rotor blade modules and airframe structures | — |
| 22 | Aster Manufacturer of electric motors for multiple categories of electric vehicles | $5M | 56 mo ago | Series A | Takenobu Hongo CEO | WixSentryBootstrap+10 | Top 10M | 96 patents Advanced coil and stator manufacturing for high-efficiency electric motors and related data processing | — |
| 23 | Striemo Manufacturer of electric kick scooters | $3M | 18 mo ago | Series A | Yotaro Mori Co-Founder & CEO | STUDIOFirebaseNode.js+16 | Top 10M | 17 patents Stability and chassis design for three‑wheeled electric scooters and light vehicles | — |
| 24 | KG Motors Manufacturer of electric cars | $3M | 9 mo ago | Series A | Kusu Issei CEO | Cart FunctionalityWordPressBetterDocs+27 | Top 500k | — | — |
| 25 | Ancar P2P used car buying and selling platform | $2M | 116 mo ago | Seed | Shiroichi Hiroshi CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+10 | Top 50M | — | — |
| 26 | LOMBY Provider of last-mile delivery robots | $2M | 20 mo ago | Seed | Tomoharu Uchiyama CEO | WordPress Block EditorWordPressMySQL+16 | Top 50M | 3 patents Automated package handling and delivery robotics for home and transport logistics | — |
| 27 | Smart Ryde Online platform offering taxi-hailing services for airport transfers | $2M | 56 mo ago | Series A | — | PHPGoogle MapsBootstrap+16 | Top 10M | — | 1 partnership |
| 28 | busket Tech-enabled platform offering operations management solutions | $1M | 23 mo ago | Seed | Hidekazu Nishikido CEO | SentryNode.jsFirebase+13 | Top 50M | — | — |
| 29 | Ficha Provides object recognition platform | $879K | 123 mo ago | Public | Kenichiro Waki President & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+9 | Top 10M | — | — |
| 30 | ZMP Robotics, autonomous vehicles and connected car | $842K | 136 mo ago | Series A | — | — | — | 27 patents Patents concentrated in computing, sensing & instrumentation | — |
| 31 | AirKamuy VTOL aircraft developers | $702K | 13 mo ago | Seed | Takumi Yamaguchi Co-Founder & CEO | WordPress Block EditorWordPressApple iCloud Mail+20 | Top 5M | — | — |
Top 12 Auto Tech companies in Japan
#1
Series A · Shinagawa, Tokyo · founded 2021$28.7Mraised▾
Generative AI-based automated driving. The platforms technology provides end cars perform driving operations to end driving instructions directly from camera images. It leverages sensors or precision maps to provide instructions.
- Nov 2025Conventional Debt$35.6M
- Nov 2025Series A$63.2M
- Dec 2024Conventional Debt$1.3M
- Dec 2024Seed$5.2M
#2
Series C · Shinjuku City, Tokyo · founded 2018$117.5Mraised▾
Developer of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for urban mobility. The company focuses on creating quiet, lightweight, and low-emission aircraft suitable for use in urban environments. Its aircraft require no runway and allow vertical takeoff and landing in small spaces. The company is working toward receiving type certification for its aircraft.
- Jul 2025Series C$57.4M
- Aug 2024Series C—
- Jan 2024Series C—
- Oct 2023Grant (prize money)—
#3
Seed · Toyota, Aichi · founded 2022$49.4Mraised▾
Manufacturer of personal trikes. The company develops vehicles with features that include two-seater, lithium iron phosphate battery, rear wheel motor drive, and more.
- Oct 2025Seed$3M
- Oct 2024Seed$30.8M
- Feb 2024Seed$18.7M
#4
Series B · Fukuroi, Shizuoka · founded 2020$17Mraised▾
A company that provides an indoor/outdoor automated transport service utilizing autonomous EVs. It provides an operational solution for transporting goods inside and outside the yard. It helps in transporting goods from one place to other. The vehicle feature automated route switching feature.
- Jul 2025Conventional Debt$10.2M
- Mar 2025Series B$6.8M
#5
Series C · Shibuya, Tokyo · founded 2018 · 37 employees$87.9Mraised▾
App-based platform for electric kick scooters. Through the app, users can find and book electric kick scooters. Also, they can navigate to the nearby bike stations to get the scooters. Users can unlock the scooters by scanning the QR code. It offers station-based service users have to leave the scooter at the nearby docks at the end of the ride.
- Oct 2024Conventional Debt$20M
- Apr 2023Conventional Debt$5.2M
- Apr 2023Series C$28.3M
- Apr 2022Series B—
#6
Series B · Tokyo, Tokyo · founded 2015 · 124 employees$279.4Mraised▾
Autonomous driving platforms and intelligent vehicle systems. It focuses on creating scalable technologies for self-driving cars using open-source software and hardware integration. The company supports mobility and logistics applications by offering platforms that enable automated vehicle control and deployment.
- Jun 2024Series B$54M
- Apr 2024Series B—
- Jul 2022Series B$88M
- Aug 2019Series A$9M
#7
Series D · Kitakyushu, Fukuoka · founded 2019 · 28 employees$37.9Mraised▾
Manufacturer of electric vehicles including buses, logistics vehicles, and trikes. The company provides electric buses featuring high-capacity battery systems for extended range. Also offered are electric logistics vehicles suitable for various applications, including passenger transport. The company’s electric trikes are designed for stability and ease of operation. The business also supplies electric slow mobility vehicles.
- Dec 2024Series D—
- Mar 2024Series D$10.8M
- Mar 2023Series C$27.1M
#8
Series A · Hiroshima, Hiroshima · founded 2022$2.5Mraised▾
Manufacturer of electric cars. The company develops vehicles with features like autonomous driving system, single seater, and more.
- Aug 2025Conventional Debt—
- Aug 2025Series A$5.3M
- Mar 2024Seed$2.5M
#9
Series B · Chuo City, Tokyo · founded 2013 · 140 employees$43Mraised▾
SaaS-based provider of parking management solutions. The platform offers solutions like the collection of monthly usage fees after the contract, remittance, customer management, and more. Customers can search parking lots, book them, cancel them, renew them, and more.
- Aug 2024Series B$31.1M
- Aug 2023Series A$11.9M
- Apr 2022Seed—
#10
Series C · Chiyoda City, Tokyo · founded 2017 · 7 employees$11Mraised▾
App-based carpooling solution. The app matches passengers and car drivers who are traveling in the same direction to share a ride or commute. The app also devises the shared route and calculated each pooler's expenditure. Its mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices.
- Sep 2024Series C—
- Jun 2024Series C$3.1M
- Mar 2023Series B—
- Dec 2022Series B$5.1M
#11
Seed · Shinagawa, Tokyo · founded 2018 · 13 employees$14.1Mraised▾
Cloud-based EV charging solutions. It offers an EV charging station and charging products for electric vehicles.
- Aug 2024Seed$14.1M
#12
Series A · Fuchu, Tokyo · founded 2012 · 6 employees$3.3Mraised▾
Manufacturer of electric kick scooters. The company develops electric kick-scooters with features like lithium-ion batteries, and more for personal transportation which can be used for short-distance travel.
- Nov 2024Series A$3.3M
- Nov 2022Seed—
- 2022Seed—
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Auto Tech coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
Common questions
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.