2021/1/15, Episode 3 of the Study Session2

(a series article about the discussion of the study session) this article translated by google translation.)

Need a precedent for success in Japan
　The third speaker, Seikou Shirasaka, who has been a professor at Keio University since 2017, is the founder of a venture called Synspective. He began to say, "The company name Synspective is a coined word for the term Synthetic Data for Perspective. We are trying to integrate data for Sustainable Development."。
Prof. Shirasaka participated in the ImPACT program of the Cabinet Office from a manufacturing company in 2015, and started a business based on the technology developed there. ImPACT is a program for the government to "promote high-risk, high-impact, challenging research and development with the aim of creating innovative science and technology innovations that, if realised, will bring about major changes in industry and society." What kind of "high impact" he and his colleagues aimed for was ultra-compact radar technology. Unlike optical cameras, satellites equipped with radar have the advantage of being able to shoot on cloudy days or at night.
Many satellite photographs are currently in use, from Google Maps to alternative data used for investment information. However, when taking a picture from a satellite, half of the day is at night, and even rest of the half day, still clouds often obstruct it. A radar can be used at any time. It can provide data that grasped three-dimensionally, based on the change that can be detected the same place at different times. In other words, it is possible to know the ups and downs of the land, which is useful for underground construction and disaster prevention.
However, Prof. Shirasaka's motivation for starting this business was "I want to quickly create a successful case as a business in Japan." Demand for satellite photography with optical camera has grown significantly. So radar, which has more photo opportunities than optical cameras, should have more opportunities. He thinks that there is a strong need for a service that looks at the earth from space rather than space.

Difficulty in launching a venture
　Launched Synspective in 2018, it already employs more than 100 people from 17 countries. We raised funds in 2019 and succeeded in raising nearly 10 billion yen. As mentioned above, radar can capture changes of several millimeters above the ground, which is useful in underground works. Regarding the depression that occurred during the construction of the highway tunnel, which was reported in the news last year, it was confirmed from the radar that the subsidence had occurred. The strength gained from the ImPACT project is that it became possible to make it much smaller (lighter) and cheaper than what was previously made in Germany and Israel. If it is light, the launch cost can be reduced. For example, a satellite that weighed more than 1 kg in Germany and 300 kg in Israel was made with less than 100 kg, and while the cost is said to be more than 10 billion yen, it could be manufactured for less than 500 million yen.
　Still, he had a hard time raising funds. It is said that some of the leading VCs were told, "I can't make investment decision because I can't evaluate the technology." Prof. Shirasaka himself is sometimes asked from financial institutions, "What about this technology?" When they have to evaluate other companies. However, he is always feeling painfully that how much difficult to make financial institutions understand technologies and its market.
Prof. Shirasaka is thinking, "If you look at it for 20 years ... you can make a profitable business in 20 years, but it will be difficult in 3 to 5 years. If you can invest a little longer ..." I can understand well. Even if the cost could be reduced by satellites alone, it would cost 500 million yen, and separately launching would cost 1 billion yen. Unless data usage progresses further, it will be difficult to understand its value.　 However, in order to activate data utilization, it is necessary to accumulate data and to have a certain number of satellites. Due to its low earth orbit, they only occasionally stay over Japan. Then, if you don't launch a lot, the effect will be small. "Chicken and egg", but unlike the photo taken by the optical camera, there is still not much data by radar, and even competitors who handle similar satellite data are cooperating with each other.

What he really wants to do
What Prof. Shirasaka really wants to achieve is disaster countermeasures. He wants to launch a synthetic aperture radar data business, and once he has launched many satellites, he wants to use this information for disaster preparedness. He said, "I want to establish the services that the data could be delivered within 3 hours after a disaster." Radar data can be used to prevent accidents such as collapses due to highways tunnel construction, and to grasp the situation at the time of flood damage. He thinks that it could be used various cases to monitor such as the situation of residential areas and the congestion of roads, but he dosen't know what kind of business can utilise, so would like to hear the opinions of as many people as possible. .. For that reason, he came to this study session and talked to us.　 There are still various technical issues. One is that radar requires much more power than optical cameras and cannot shoot continuously. Further power saving is required for this solution. On the other hand, even there were dozens of investors, it was difficult to come up with the idea of data that is desired to use. Real-time information is the most valuable investment information, but it is not as intuitive as an optical camera, so it needs to be analyzed after measurement. It seems that the insurance sector is the one of the industries that is most interested in it in the financial sectors.
After the study session, one participant (even though he is an investor himself) commented, "If we can only invest in things that will make a profit in three to five years, I worried about Japan's future.” And he asked, " Is it a business company rather than a financial institution that can take the risk?" he said. However, gathering at such a place is the first step. Repeating this will eventually become the ground for each other's creative ideas.