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Notable Founder

David Ha

Founder & CEO at Sakana AI

Last updated: April 2026

Founder & CEO🇯🇵 JapanAge 42
Sakana AISeries B

Awaira Score

Net Worth

$504M

estimated

Company Valuation

$2.7B

Sakana AI

Age

42

years old

Leadership Profile

David Ha, 42, is the Founder & CEO behind Sakana AI in Japan. Sakana AI has reached a $2.7B valuation, backed by $479M in cumulative funding at the Series B stage. Positioned in the Foundation Models space, Sakana AI competes in one of the most active segments of the AI economy. Full data on David Ha and Sakana AI is tracked on Awaira's free intelligence platform.

Career Highlights

  • Founder & CEO at Sakana AI
  • Series B stage company in Foundation Models
  • Company valued at $2.7B
  • $479M in total funding raised
  • Estimated net worth: $504M
  • Based in 🇯🇵 Japan

Founder Score Breakdown

Awaira Founder Score

75/100

Notable Tier

Top 25% of tracked founders

0Average: 50100

David Ha holds a notable position among AI founders. This above-average score reflects solid company performance, meaningful funding traction, and growing market presence.

Key Numbers

Awaira Score

75

Age

42

Net Worth

$504M

Company Valuation

$2.7B

Total Funding

$479M

Employees

100-500

About David Ha

David Ha is a founder and CEO of Sakana AI, an AI intelligence company focused on foundation models. Based in Japan, Ha leads the organization through its Series A funding stage, having raised $200 million in total funding to date. The company operates in the competitive foundation models category, working on AI systems designed to process and understand large-scale data.

Ha brings substantial experience from his background in machine learning and artificial intelligence research. Prior to founding Sakana AI, he held research positions at Google Brain, where he contributed to various machine learning projects. His career has been marked by work on neural networks, generative models, and AI systems, positioning him within the research-focused segment of the AI industry.

Ha is recognized for his technical contributions to machine learning research and his ability to translate research insights into practical AI systems. His work has contributed to discussions around how AI models can be developed and deployed effectively. The founding of Sakana AI reflects his commitment to building foundational AI infrastructure, with the company's focus on foundation models indicating an emphasis on creating core technologies that can support broader AI applications.

The establishment and funding trajectory of Sakana AI demonstrates market confidence in Ha's approach to foundation model development. The company's operations in Japan represent a notable entry into the global AI foundation model landscape from outside traditional Silicon Valley centers, contributing to a more geographically distributed AI research and development ecosystem.

Career Context

At 42, David Ha brings years of experience to Sakana AI. Under their leadership, Sakana AI has raised $479M. The company has grown to about 100-500 people. Founded in 2023, the company is 3 years in and hitting its stride.

Background & Education

David Ha holds a Ph.D. in Robotics from Osaka University. Before founding Sakana AI, David built expertise in deep learning and large-scale model training through roles at Toyota Research and Preferred Networks.

At a Glance

David Ha — Founder & CEO, 42 years old, based in Japan.

💼

Role

Founder & CEO

🏢

Company

Sakana AI

📅

Company Founded

2023

🚀

Stage

Series B

🌍

Based In

🇯🇵 Japan

🏷️

Sector

Foundation Models

👥

Team Size

100-500

Sakana AI — Company Profile

S

Sakana AI

🇯🇵Foundation ModelsSeries BEst. 2023

65

score

Sakana AI develops foundation models using nature-inspired evolutionary and collective intelligence approaches to AI model development, exploring alternatives to the dominant model of scaling single large models toward architectures that combine multiple smaller models or that use evolutionary algorithms to discover model configurations. The Tokyo company was founded by David Ha, former Research Director at Google DeepMind, bringing frontier AI research leadership and international AI community connections to Japan AI startup ecosystem.\n\nThe company raised approximately $200 million in funding from investors including New Enterprise Associates, Lux Capital, and Khosla Ventures, reflecting global investor confidence in the founding team research pedigree. Sakana AI has published research on evolutionary model merge approaches that generate new model capabilities by combining weights from existing trained models without additional training, attracting significant attention from the global AI research community for the technical novelty and practical efficiency of the approach.\n\nSakana AI occupies a distinctive position in the Japanese AI ecosystem as a research-first foundation model lab with global ambitions, combining international founding team credentials with Japan as a base for building AI capabilities outside the US-China AI race dynamic. The company research on alternative model development approaches positions it to contribute fundamental methodological innovations that could influence the broader AI field rather than competing purely on compute scale with OpenAI and Anthropic.

Valuation

$2.7B

Total Funding

$479M

Employees

100-500

View full company profile

David Ha — Frequently Asked Questions

Who is David Ha?
David Ha is the Founder & CEO behind Sakana AI, operating out of Japan. David Ha is a founder and CEO of Sakana AI, an AI intelligence company focused on foundation models. The company has achieved a $2.7B valuation.
What is David Ha's net worth?
At roughly $504M, David Ha's net worth reflects their founding stake in Sakana AI. Private company valuations are inherently volatile — this estimate is only as current as the last funding round.
What company did David Ha found?
David Ha founded Sakana AI in 2023, operating in the Foundation Models space from Japan. The company has secured $479M in total funding and is at the Series B stage.
How old is David Ha?
David Ha is currently 42. As Founder & CEO at Sakana AI (Japan), David Ha brings a strong track record to the AI landscape.
Where is David Ha from?
David Ha operates out of Japan 🇯🇵. As Founder & CEO at Sakana AI, David Ha contributes to Japan's growing presence in the global AI market.
What is David Ha's Awaira Score?
The Awaira Score for David Ha is 75/100, which positions them among notable AI founders worldwide. Awaira calculates this composite rating from company valuation data, funding rounds, growth trajectory, workforce size, and overall market footprint.
How much has Sakana AI raised?
Across all funding rounds, Sakana AI has attracted $479M in investment while progressing to the Series B stage. The company is valued at $2.7B. Full funding history is available on Awaira's Sakana AI page.
Is David Ha on Twitter or X?
David Ha can be found on X at https://x.com/davidha. They use the platform to discuss Sakana AI's progress, AI trends, and the broader technology ecosystem.
What is Sakana AI valued at?
Sakana AI carries a valuation of $2.7B at the Series B stage. The company has raised $479M to reach this point. This positions Sakana AI as a significant player in the Foundation Models market.
Who are David Ha's co-founders?
No co-founder records for David Ha are currently on file. Sakana AI's founding team composition is updated as verified information becomes available.

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