Ex-SpaceX engineer's farm robot startup Kisui Tech lands MUFG, Indonesian backers
What's the deal? Kisui TechDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Tohoku University spinout building outdoor autonomous robots, has raised an early-stage round through a third-party share allocation. Backers include Indonesian manufacturer PT Duta Laserindo Metal (DLM), Mitsubishi UFJ CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Shinnichi KogyoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, angel investor Tsuyoshi Hosoba, and the Japan Green Investment Corporation for Carbon NeutralityDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
The backers stand out. The round pulls together an unusual mix: a corporate venture arm inside MUFG, a decarbonisation-focused fund, an industrial parts maker, and an overseas manufacturer. Mitsubishi UFJ Capital's Kei Tsukiji said the firm invested expecting Kisui to become "a presence that accelerates the resolution of structural challenges in agriculture."
What's the company? Founder and chief executive officer Tamir BlumDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → studied aerospace engineering at UCLA, worked on SpaceX's Crew Dragon, then researched lunar exploration robots at Tohoku University. Kisui applies that space robotics and AI work to its flagship product, Adam — an off-road autonomous platform for orchards, fields, and construction sites that hauls, patrols, collects data, mows, and sprays.
Why now? Japan's agriculture, construction, and infrastructure sectors face a shrinking, ageing workforce and rising physical strain. Kisui delivered 14 Adam units at home and abroad in 2025, mostly to farms, and is moving toward wider commercial rollout.
What's the endgame? The company will use the funds to strengthen Adam's mass-production capacity, expand sales and deployment support in Japan and overseas, and develop automation technology for outdoor industries. The DLM tie-up is central to that: the Indonesian firm will use its Factory 4.0 facilities to handle final assembly of Adam for Southeast Asia, serving as Kisui's gateway to Indonesia.
The signal: Kisui frames its work as building "physical AI" — machines that operate in the real world's uneven, muddy, and unpredictable outdoor terrain, a far harder problem than warehouse automation. The round shows Japanese corporate and climate capital placing early bets on agricultural robotics, with production and export ambitions built in from the start.
Read more: PR Times
Image credit: Kisui Tech
