#08: Sho Nakanose of GITAI on Building Space Robots, Business Opportunities In Space, and Why Japan Is Uniquely Positioned to Lead The Industry

Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia.

In this episode, we chat with Sho Nakanose, founder and CEO of GITAI (a Coral Capital portfolio company). GITAI is a space robotics startup founded in 2016. Prior to founding GITAI, he successfully built and sold a tech company in India.

Since founding, GITAI has been able to recruit some of the best roboticists in Japan, including the key engineers from SCHAFT, the Japanese robotics company acquired by Google in 2013. In 2021, GITAI’s autonomous robot arm successfully demonstrated two tasks in the International Space Station (ISS): 1) assembling structures and panels for in-space assembly; and 2) operating switches & cables for intra-vehicular activity. GITAI aims to reduce human labor costs in space by more than 90%, similar to how SpaceX revolutionized the space industry by drastically reducing costs.

In this episode we discuss:

• GITAI’s three businesses: space stations, satellites and the moon
• Why it makes sense to send autonomous robots into space
• What are the space businesses that will take off in a short term and long term
• How agile development can reduce the cost of space robots
• Leveraging the talent pool in Japan
• Key ingredients to attract top talent

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