SBI joins $35m Series B for Japan's Pixie Dust
SBI Investment, the VC arm of Japan’s SBI Holdings, has joined a JPY3.8 billion $35 million Series B round for Pixie Dust Technologies, a local company developing novel uses for ultrasonic waves.
SBI invested via its JPY50 million artificial intelligence and blockchain fund, which focuses on fields including healthcare, the internet-of-things, robotics, and the sharing economy. Other backers include Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, which provided JPY1.9 billion, as well as SMBC Venture Capital, NEC Capital Solutions, Mizuho Capital, Global Brain, Dai-Ichi Life Insurance, Dentsu, and Toppan Printing.
Pixie Dust develops technologies that use high-frequency radiation, in the form of sound, light and electromagnetic waves. Applications include the transmission of audio signals to tightly defined targets such as individual people, a technique known as a holographic whisper, as well as the wave-control manipulation of physical objects, which is sometimes referred to as acoustic levitation. The company is reportedly exploring applications in the agriculture sector.
Other projects include materials for display screens that have the texture of leather or wood, as well as Sound Hug, a recreational device about the size and shape of a beachball that allows users to interpret melodies visually and through touch. According to a release, the new capital will be used for advancing intellectual property processes, R&D, hiring new talent, and marketing.
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