YANMAR VENTURES - Information
Follow-on Investment in Metro Weather Co., Ltd.
July 29, 2025
Yanmar Ventures Co., Ltd.
Osaka, Japan, July 29, 2025 - Yanmar Ventures Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Osaka, Japan; Co-Founder/CEO, Managing Partner: Nobuyuki Oda) is pleased to announce its follow-on investment in Metro Weather Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Kyoto, Japan; Representative Director, President: Jun-ichi Furumoto; hereinafter referred to as Metro Weather) as part of the Pre-Series B funding round, via the Yanmar Ventures II Investment Limited Partnership.
Metro Weather, a Kyoto-based startup originating from Kyoto University, develops and manufactures a compact “Doppler LiDAR” called “Wind Guardian”, which enables real-time, high-precision visualization of atmospheric wind conditions using infrared lasers. Leveraging its extensive expertise in remote sensing and proprietary signal processing technologies accumulated over the years, Metro Weather has achieved wide-area wind observation capabilities.
Its innovative solutions are gaining traction across a broad range of industries, including meteorology, disaster prevention, logistics, construction, and aviation. Metro Weather also focuses on enhancing user-centric value by designing seamless UX/UI that supports end-to-end workflows—from wind data acquisition to utilization.
With this latest round of financing, Metro Weather aims to accelerate the full-scale commercialization of its business, including the establishment of a mass production system and the optimization of its supply chain.
Guided by our brand statement, “A Sustainable Future —New Value through Technology—”, the Yanmar Group is committed to creating a sustainable society. This includes “an energy-saving society” and “a society where people can enjoy safe and plentiful food”. Through this investment, Yanmar Ventures looks forward to exploring future opportunities for collaboration with Metro Weather and delivering the outcomes of such initiatives back to society.
■About Metro Weather Co., Ltd.
| Company Name | Metro Weather Co., Ltd. |
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| Representative Director, President | Jun-ichi Frumoto |
| Head Office | Taniyama Okubo Bld. 1F, 18-1 Chayaura Hironocho, Uji City, Kyoto, Japan |
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About Yanmar Ventures Ⅱ Investment Limited Partnership :
On February 16, 2024, Yanmar Ventures Co., Ltd. established the Yanmar Ventures Ⅱ Investment Limited Partnership (“Fund Ⅱ”), aiming to support the growth of startups that have innovative technologies, both in Japan and overseas, giving back their results to society, and furthermore, to facilitate collaboration with partners. Fund Ⅱ will invest in startups that have leading-edge technologies, focusing on areas that aim to realize the Yanmar Group’s mission, such as sustainable food production and energy conversion. By providing management support and facilitating strategic alliances with LP partners, we will continue to seek and implement co-creation for startups with all our networks, thereby delivering social impacts and enriching people’s lives for all our tomorrows.
For more information, visit us at: https://www.yanmar.com/global/yvs/.
| RELEASE PRODUCED FOR: | Yanmar Ventures Co., Ltd. |
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| EDITORIAL NOTE: | All registered trade names and trademarks are recognized and respected. All information contained herein is valid at the time of publication and may differ from the most recently available information. |
| READER ENQUIRIES TO: | Corporation Planning, Yanmar Ventures Co., Ltd. |
| MEDIA ENQUIRIES TO: | Corporation Planning, Yanmar Ventures Co., Ltd. admin_yanmar_ventures@yanmar.com |
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Note: Information contained in the news release is valid at the time of publication and may differ from the most recently available information.