[Award Announcement] Double win at NEDO Challenge finals — Satellite Data Utilization Award Grand Prize / Theme 1 First Place
Penguin Labs wins double honors at the NEDO Challenge finals
— Grand Prize, Satellite Data Utilization Award 2025-2026; First Place, Theme 1 —
At the NEDO Challenge finals hosted by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) on July 15, 2026, Penguin Labs LLC (Head office: Tokyo; Co-representatives: Shimpei Akatsuka and Muneyoshi Kajimoto) won first place in Theme 1, 'Technology development contributing to solving problems at production sites,' and the Grand Prize of the concurrently held Satellite Data Utilization Award 2025-2026.
Since passing the primary screening last November, we have continued mentoring and proof-of-concept work. At the finals, our vision and technology—integrating AI, satellite, and weather data to address social challenges—were highly recognized, resulting in two honors at once.
Award overview
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Theme 1: Technology development contributing to solving problems at production sites | First place (prize: ¥10 million) |
| Satellite Data Utilization Award 2025-2026 | Grand Prize (prize: ¥3 million / sponsor: Norinchukin Bank) |
| Organizer | New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) |
| Date | July 15, 2026 (finals) |
About our proposal theme, TWINZ+
We entered the challenge with the theme 'TWINZ+: Visualizing farmland potential with satellite × weather data to update right crop, right place.'
TWINZ is a platform that analyzes global weather data with AI to discover climate twins—regions with similar climate conditions. For this challenge, we extended it by connecting and analyzing multi-layer data—satellite, terrain, soil moisture, and weather—with generative AI to visualize farmland potential and propose a new social infrastructure model that redefines right crop, right place.
We believe the world is connected by invisible threads of climate. Following those threads and rebuilding overlooked connections is what will support food security in the age of climate change.
Comment from leadership
I sincerely thank everyone who supported us from the primary screening through today, and the team that took on this challenge together. These two awards are not a destination, but a starting point to advance TWINZ+ toward social implementation. We will grow satellite and weather data into earth infrastructure anyone can use, and deliver new possibilities to every field, starting with agriculture.
What's next
Building on this recognition, we will further accelerate the social implementation of TWINZ+. Together with partners across municipalities, financial institutions, and the food industry, we will connect integrated satellite, weather, terrain, and soil intelligence to sustainable agriculture and social infrastructure.
About NEDO Challenge
NEDO Challenge is an open innovation program for social implementation hosted by NEDO. Startups, research institutions, and local governments collaborate to create solutions using advanced technologies such as AI and satellite data for social challenges in energy, environment, mobility, agriculture, and more.
About Penguin Labs LLC
We weave new stories from weather and satellite data to make the world more interesting. Through services including TWINZ, we uncover hidden potential in data and contribute to a sustainable future.
Company: Penguin Labs LLC Founded: March 2024 Co-representatives: Shimpei Akatsuka and Muneyoshi Kajimoto URL: https://penguin-labs.com/
Media inquiries
Penguin Labs LLC — Public relations
Web form: https://penguin-labs.com/contact/