<article>Singapore-based private commercial space venture, <a href="http://astroscale.com/" target="_blank">Astroscale Pte Ltd</a> has completed $7.7 million round of Series A funding from <a href="http://www.jafco.co.jp/english/" target="_blank">Jafco Co Ltd</a> and nine other notable entrepreneurs from Japan.</article>

Singapore-based private commercial space venture, <a href="http://astroscale.com/" target="_blank">Astroscale Pte Ltd</a> has completed $7.7 million round of Series A funding from <a href="http://www.jafco.co.jp/english/" target="_blank">Jafco Co Ltd</a> and nine other notable entrepreneurs from Japan.
The funding round was completed at the end of January, raised for the setup of Astroscale&#8217;s office in Japan, to accelerate the company&#8217;s manufacturing operations of small-satellites.
Astroscale said in a statement that it was aiming for the world&#8217;s first demonstration of active debris or space junk removal towards the end of 2017.
The venture capital was raised from Jafco, and nine entrepreneurs, namely Mistletoe Inc representative director and CEO Taizo Son, Kotaro Yamagishi, Kenji Kasahara, Shuhei Morofuji, Mari Murata, Kiyoshi Nishikawa, Mamoru Taniya, Osamu Kaneda and Takao Ozawa.
“We are thrilled to announce the first successful fund raise in commercial space venture in Asia”, Astroscale CEO Mitsunobu Okada said in the statement.
He added that the investment led by Jafco indicated a paradigm shift in the space industry, which used to be government-driven; now the private space companies are taking the lead to solve the global space debris issues.
Jafco’s Tatsuya Nagaoka commented that Astroscale is a pioneer in the space industry that tackles the problem of space debris, head-on.
The leading venture capital and private equity firm noted that it has confidence in Okada and the team
Astroscale&#8217;s corporate mission is to address the growing threat of space debris by incubating removal technologies while instilling interest for space exploration among people.
In order to make the space more approachable for people, the company provides technology support as well as the global alliance necessary for private companies to be involved in space missions, the company added.
Jafco, listed on the Tokyo Stock exchange, has pushed 962 companies in its portfolio towards successful IPO’s since its inception in 1973. The firm has offices in Japan, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Korea and the USA.

Singapore-based private commercial space venture, Astroscale has completed $7.7 million round of Series A funding from JAFCO Co and nine others from Japan.

Jafco, 9 others fund Astroscale's $7.7m Series A round

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Jafco, 9 others fund Astroscale's $7.7m Series A round

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