SPARX : Mirai Creation Fund II Invests in iQPS Inc.,a Miniature SAR Satellite Developer

The following is an English version of the official Japanese announcement, which has been given to the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the media in Tokyo, Japan.

December 9, 2021

For Immediate Release

SPARX Group Co., Ltd.

President and Group CEO Shuhei Abe

(TSE1: 8739)

Mirai Creation Fund II Invests in iQPS Inc.,

a Miniature SAR Satellite Developer

-Helping realizing real-time earth observation using a constellation of 36 small SAR satellites-

TOKYO-December 9, 2021-SPARX Group Co., Ltd. (SPARX; TSE1: 8739) today announced that its Mirai Creation Fund II-established in July 2018-has made a follow-up investment in Institute for Q- shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS). Using this fundraising round, iQPS plans to continue developing data services through quasi-real-time earth observation in 10-minute intervals, aiming to realize a constellation of 36 satellites after 2025. Following the December 2019 launch of its first small, 100-Kg class SAR satellite Izanagi and the January 2021 launch of its second satellite Izanami, the firm intends to launch its third through sixth satellites in 2022.

Portfolio Company Outline

Founded in 2005 as a space engineering spin-out from Kyushu University, iQPS inherited the university's small satellite development technology that it began researching in 1995. The firm aims to grow a Kyushu-based space industry under its slogan of "from Kyushu to space."

After achieving various successes that include the 2014 QSAT-EOS project, iQPS, in 2017, raised just over JPY 2.3 billion from the Mirai Creation Fund I and other investors to develop its small SAR satellites. In 2019, it was the first start-up to receive cabinet approval for using a satellite remote sensing device, later launching its first satellite Izanagi from the space center in India in December of the same year.

In 2020, the company received follow-on investments from the Mirai Creation Fund II and other existing investors, and launched its second satellite Izanami from the U.S. Space Center via SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket in January 2021, iQPS issued a press release on its successful first acquisition of highly accurate SAR imaging data.

With its latest fundraising round, it plans to launch another four new SAR satellites in 2022, while also establishing sales channels for the imaging data it acquires from these SAR satellites through strategic business partnerships with Sky Perfect JSAT and Nippon Koei. After 2025, it aims to form a 36-satellite constellation to realize 24-hour,quasi-real-time earth observation no matter the weather. With this constellation in place, iQPS plans to offer wide-ranging solutions for defense, disaster prevention, security, environmental, and economic applications.

■ Mirai Creation Funds I, II, and III Summaries

The Mirai Creation Fund I began operations in November 2015 with financing of JPY 13.5 billion from three companies: Toyota Motor Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and SPARX, the Fund's general partner. Ultimately, the Fund received contributions from 20 companies, including the above three. Casting intelligent technologies, robotics, and hydrogen-economy technologies as vital to the future, Fund I has invested in approximately 50 companies and projects-from the US, the UK, Israel, Singapore, and Japan-that possess innovations in these fields. In H2 2018, SPARX began managing the Mirai Creation Fund II, which targets the three existing Mirai Creation fields along with the two additional areas of electrification and new materials. In October 2021, SPARX launched the Mirai Creation Fund III, adding carbon neutrality to the five fields of the Mirai Creation Fund II. As of November 30, 2021, the combined AUM for Funds I, II, and III were JPY 103.1 billion.

Mirai Creation Fund investment track record: https://mirai.sparx.co.jp/en/investment/

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The following is an English version of the official Japanese announcement, which has been given to the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the media in Tokyo, Japan.

Public Relations, SPARX Group Co., Ltd.

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