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Top 25 Art VC (Venture Capital) Funds in Japan in January 2025

Last updated: Jan 2025 A list of 25 VC (Venture Capital) funds that invest in Art startups based in Japan. We rank investors based on the number of investments they made in Art companies from Japan. We update this investor list every month.

Top 25 Art VC (Venture Capital) Funds in Japan in January 2025

Investor	Art Japan investments
DK Gate	2
Fuji Startup Ventures	2
Globe Advisors	2
UTEC - The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners	2
Global Brain Corporation	1
Chishima Real Estate	1
Nippon Venture Capital	1
Gakken Plus Japan	1
Darwin Venture Management	1
Dentsu	1
East Ventures	1
XTech Ventures	1
Cygames capital	1
YoStar	1
SX Capital Japan	1
KDDI Open Innovation Fund	1
B Dash Ventures	1
Makers Fund	1
Money Forward Venture Partners	1
Akatsuki Games Inc.	1
YJ Capital	1
Hankyu Hanshin	1
Morinaga	1
Shiny Chemical Industrial	1
ThirdwaveSolutions	1

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Investor list

DK Gate is a joint venture company of Digital Garage and Kodansha.

Investment focus

Software, Information Technology, Social Media
Series A, Seed, Series B
Japan, Singapore

Portfolio highlights

Jiraffe — jiraffe focusses on Internet service planning, development, and management.
TRiCERA — TRiCERA is a contemporary art global platform management company.
Psychic VR Lab — Psychic VR Lab is a startup company that handles fashion VR and MR shopping service STYLY. They are creating a future where they will live in space.

Fuji Startup Ventures, the venture capital arm of Fuji Media Holdings, specializes in startup to early stage investments.

Investment focus

E-Commerce, Social Media, News
Funding Round, Seed, Series A
Japan, China, United States

Portfolio highlights

Tasogare — Tasogare distributes high-quality coffee.
The ROOM4D — The ROOM4D is a contract data analysis consulting service company.
PeaceTecLab — PeaceTecLab is a CtoCsharing service, as its main business.

Globe Advisors is an independent investor that finds companies that are expected to grow significantly in the future. A growing company is one that a good manager and his team can put in a good product in a good market. Such companies are properly valued, funds for growth are raised and a better future is created. Globe Advisors wants to be acompany that can contribute to the creation of such a society.

Investment focus

SNS, Artificial Intelligence, Content
Seed, Funding Round, Series A
Japan, Switzerland

Portfolio highlights

initialpoint — initialpoint develops an authentication systems for the telecommunications industry, social infrastructure, and security solution companies.
Galapagos — Galapagos is a manufacturing company that focuses on results.They trying to create an application that produces results in the application market where only good things are evaluated.
Galapagos Japan — Galapagos is a manufacturing company that focuses on results.They trying to create an application that produces results in the application market where only good things are evaluated.

UTEC-The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners Co., Ltd.. UTEC is a seed/early stage technology focused venture capital firm associated with The University of Tokyo.

Investment focus

Biotechnology, Health Care, Medical
Seed, Series A, Funding Round
Japan, United States, Singapore

Portfolio highlights

Estie — Estie is a Development of AI / machine learning algorithm and new business in real estate company.
Liminal — Advanced battery inspection and metrology with ultrasound and machine learning
Eureka Robotics — Eureka Robotics develop robotics technologies and products to automate the mundane, so that humans can focus on the creative.

Global Brain Corporation is a venture capital firm that invests in companies from seed or early to pre-IPO startups. Global Brain has invested in 300+ startups from seed/early to pre-IPO startups and achieved 25 IPOs and 61 M&As as a result of providing hands-on support services and resources to its portfolio startups. Global Brain hasmanaged a pure investment fund as well as multiple corporate venture capital funds partnered together with tier 1 public companies of telecom, real estate development, financial service, beverages, agriculture food, logistics, and electronic devices.

Investment focus

Information Technology, Software, Artificial Intelligence
Series A, Series B, Funding Round
Japan, United States, United Kingdom

Portfolio highlights

Lazuli — Lazuli is a SaaS platform that enables companies to utilize data for analysis, search, recommendation, marketing & supply chain management.
HQ — HQ offers next-generation employee benefits platform.
Smart Education — Smart Education, Ltd. (located in Tokyo, Japan, President Daigo Ikeya) launched it’s kid’s music app “Rhythm Book” for smartphones and tablets. It’s in the App Store as an universal app for iPhone, iPad and iTouch. With Rhythm book, kids can learn and feel the rhythm by tapping instruments along with their favorite songs. There are more than 100kid’s songs from TV, cartoons, to choose from and nursery rhymes in English and in Japanese. Stimulate the young mind with genuine and real studio recorded music and sounds. This app is designed to co-play between parents and child. You can purchase more songs via internet and the songs you’ve purchased can be co-owned by the same Apple ID through iCloud.

Chishima Real Estate engages in a range of business including real estate, aircraft leasing, and regional revitalization activities.

Investment focus

Sales, Medical, Parking
Funding Round, Series D
Japan

Portfolio highlights

Akippa — Akippa is a Osaka based parking space reservation app company.
Thinkr — THINKR provides advertising, video production, content, UX design, and animation services.
Kringle Pharma — Kringle Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops pharmaceutical products based on its research on hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and NK4. Its HGF has the regenerative healing ability in regard to liver cells, as well as various cells and organs; and NK4 is a bi-functional molecule, which inhibits the invasion and metastasis of tumorcells as an HGF-antagonist, as well as possesses antiangiogenic activity. The company’s pipeline includes recombinant human HGF for the treatment of acute renal failure, skin ulcers, and CNS diseases; and recombinant human NK4 and NK4 gene drugs for cancer therapy. Kringle Pharma, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is based in Toyonaka, Japan.

Nippon Venture Capital ("NVCC"), established in 1996 as one of the few largest Japanese independent venture capital firms, is destined to undertake the unprecedented task of providing full-range venture capital services in cooperation with major Japanese business leaders and leading companies, which have supported and nurtured various newbusinesses on their own, as well as proactively developing new venture enterprises.

Investment focus

Software, Health Care, Information Technology
Funding Round, Series A, Seed
Japan, United States

Portfolio highlights

Gecipe — Gecipe is a video service for e-sports players.
Rege Nephro — Rege Nephro is a biotech company that specialized in R&D, production and marketing of renal disease therapeutics.
Renalys Pharma — Renalys Pharma is a private, late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical firm in Japan dedicated on developing new therapies that address unmet needs in the management of renal illness in Japanese and Asian patients.

Gakken Plus is a publishing business offering a catalog of books and magazines.

Investment focus

Art, EdTech, Robotics
Seed, Pre-Seed, Series A
Japan, United States

Portfolio highlights

OurPhoto — OurPhoto is a service that matches clients and photographers. Professional and semi-professional shooting is surprisingly high quality and reasonable.
MiRaY School — MiRaY School is an Education based company that service Gifte (! Kifte) is a service that offers a learning experience for the future of children and children.
GranSky Studios — GranSky Studios makes good stories as well as animations which all ages can enjoy. GranSky Studios brings light of dream and hope to people worldwide through our production.

Darwin Venture Management is a venture capital firm headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, with offices in Hsinchu and the United States. Since our founding in 2009, we have managed eight funds, investing primarily in Series A/B, late-stage, and secondary funds. In 2022, we also launched an evergreen angel fund to enable more nimble bets onpromising early-stage teams, and especially those coming from Taiwan’s superb academic and research institutions. This exposure across stages and borders, coupled with the strong technical background of our team, is the source of Darwin’s differentiation. We recently launched our 8th fund Darjune.

Investment focus

Software, Manufacturing, Information Technology
Funding Round, Seed, Series A
Taiwan, United States, Japan

Portfolio highlights

KKday — KKday is an e-commerce travel platform that offers 10,000+ experiences around the world. It provides a wide breadth of experiences, including theme park tickets, cooking classes, multi-day tours, airport transfers, sim cards, and hidden sights off the beaten path. KKday was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in T'ai-pei, Taiwan.
Ball Wave — Ballwave uses the ball SAW sensor based on a new principle as the core of the differentiating factor, and becomes the human eye and the nervous system, and invites it to the horizon of technology.
EMobi — EMoBi is a transportation company that provides freight transport, and electric vehicle services with reservation facilities.

At dentsu, innovation is our strength, and your growth is our mission. We help you keep up with technological changes in the digital economy.

Investment focus

Information Technology, Media and Entertainment, Advertising
Funding Round, Corporate Round, Series B
Japan, United States, India

Portfolio highlights

TBM — TBM is a company that develops, manufactures and sells paper and plastic alternative products made from a limestone-based material known as “LIMEX”.
FIREBUG — FIREBUG enables comedians, actresses, models, artists, managers, and creators to develop their skills. They arrange production plans for numerous talents and create IP and advertising items based on the social networking sites of the talents. Additionally, they offer marketing solutions built around a range of talent-focused content. They offerbasic marketing assistance and advertising for businesses.
IDN Media — IDN Media is the leading media platform company for Millennials and Gen Z in Indonesia.

East Ventures is an early stage venture capital (VC) focused on Southeast Asia, Indonesia & Japan. Success cases include Tokopedia, Traveloka, and Mercari.

Investment focus

Software, Information Technology, E-Commerce
Seed, Series A, Funding Round
Japan, Indonesia, Singapore

Portfolio highlights

SoLeLands — SoLeLands provides children with future-ready skills, virtues, and applied competences and inspires children to love learning.
Maka Motors — MAKA is dedicated to building the best electric motorcycles for Indonesian riders.
Zenith Learning Group — Zenith Learning Group's mission is to deliver a holistic, world-class education to learners across South East Asia through technology.

XTech Ventures aims to achieve dramatic growth for investee companies by supporting entrepreneurship, multifaceted management support, and IPO support for the excellent middle class who are enthusiastic about entrepreneurship.

Investment focus

Software, Information Technology, Media and Entertainment
Seed, Funding Round, Series A
Japan, Italy, United Arab Emirates

Portfolio highlights

&Jam — &Jam &Jam is a real social production that provides creative consultation services.
Aplaca.Lab — Aplaca.Lab is a driver substitution platform that provides an unprecedented new driving experience. They released a driving agency application for providing comfortable driving experiences. It enables driving agencies to optimize their resources and clients' safety, prevent accidents, and receive assistance in areas with limited transportationoptions.
Creator's X — Creator's X is an anime production firm that focuses on developing animation production assistance tools using AI.

Cygames capital is an Investment firm.

Investment focus

Medical, Health Care, IT Infrastructure
Seed
Japan

Portfolio highlights

Yoriso — Yoriso, formerly known as Minrebi, is a Japanese startup that connects families to funeral homes and other end-of-life service providers. It is a funeral / medical IT venture that aims to be a “company that creates a world where everyone can make their own choices by overcoming the limitations of ingenuity”.Yoriso was founded in 2009 and isheadquartered in Tokyo.
M-INT — M-INT is a life science company that offers medical infrastructure and medical IT system.
Thinkr — THINKR provides advertising, video production, content, UX design, and animation services.

YoStar is an application that facilitates the adjustment of a telescope towards a space object.

Investment focus

Portfolio highlights

Thinkr — THINKR provides advertising, video production, content, UX design, and animation services.

SX Capital is an asset management firm targeting private IT-related venture companies. It aims to provide all kinds of support for growth, not just investment. The firm was founded in 2000 and is based in Toranomon, Tokyo, Japan.

Investment focus

Information Technology, Art, Content
Series A, Series B, Funding Round
Japan

Portfolio highlights

WELMO — WELMO has currently been working on R&D to launch Japan's largest welfare AI service platform called "CPA(Care Plan Assistant)" which supports care coordinator (caregiver), who helps a daily activities of the elderly people, to create a care plan for them, with using ICT and advanced technology, especially NLP(Natural LanguageProcessing), in terms of knowledge support. It has mainly two fundamental technologies; data warehouse includes all fast date and big date about care, explainable AI that describes a reason why the care is provided for the users. It also reduces time and cost to create the care plan, which enables anyone to be able to use easily and get enough information that the users want to know and use.
Housmart — Housmart is a real estate media company
Startbahn — Startbahn aims to realize a richer society by providing the technology needed by artists and people involved with art all over the world. We are developing Startbahn Cert., a service that issues blockchain certificates for artworks, and promoting the development of Startrail, a blockchain infrastructure that is the basis for Startbahn Cert. We alsorun joint projects with other companies.

KDDI Open Innovation Fund is a corporate venture capital fund that will support promising startup companies. Total size of the fund is JPY10 billion. This is the first corporate venture capital fund established by KDDI. The fund will be managed by Global Brain Corporation (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO, Yasuhiko Yurimoto),which has a strong track record in the venture capital business. By combining KDDI’s know-how and assets with Global Brain’s investment and management support capabilities, we will work together to accelerate cooperative activities with promising startup companies. Through this fund, as well as "KDDI ∞ Labo," a startup incubation program currently inviting a second round of applications, we will continue to support the growth of the next startup companies.

Investment focus

Software, Mobile, Internet
Funding Round, Series B, Series A
Japan, United States, Germany

Portfolio highlights

DataMesh — DataMesh empowers conventional enterprises to adopt intelligent design, accelerate service deployment, and execute cost-effective planning processes by leveraging Digital Twin and Mixed Reality technologies.
Thinkr — THINKR provides advertising, video production, content, UX design, and animation services.
Turing — Turing develops and manufactures fully autonomous vehicles.

B Dash Ventures does seed to late stage tech investments in Japan, Asia Pacific, and the U.S. LPs include Japan's largest technology companies and financial institutions including NTT Docomo, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, GREE, NEC BIGLOBE, Fuji Television, and the Japanese government. B Dash Ventures also operates an incubation space inpartnership with Mori Building Co. and holds the invitation-based B Dash Camp conference.

Investment focus

Information Technology, Internet, Media and Entertainment
Seed, Funding Round, Series A
Japan, Taiwan, United States

Portfolio highlights

Newmo — newmo delivers sustainable local public transportation create a user experience (UX) that people may utilize with peace of mind and comfort.
Yosemite — Yosemite is a wellness company that provides health and wellness products, supplements, skincare, and personal care items.
Qlay — Qlay is an AI-automated global engineer hiring platform

Makers Fund is a global interactive entertainment venture capital firm focused on early stage investments. The team supports founders through an extensive network and deep experience in the industry.

Investment focus

Gaming, Video Games, Online Games
Seed, Series A, Funding Round
United States, United Kingdom, Finland

Portfolio highlights

Hybe IM — HYBE INTERACTIVE MEDIA (HYBE IM) is broadening the scope of HYBE's entertainment offerings by creating games and publishing them for people all over the world. HYBE IM creates numerous contents and services by combining cutting-edge interactive media technology with music, artists, and entertainment components, resulting in new viewpoints andexperiences.
Rune — Rune is an automated friend or squad finder and voice chat for players on mobile games. Users can hang out and share amazing experiences together. The company builds the future of LFG for mobile gamers.
Thinkr — THINKR provides advertising, video production, content, UX design, and animation services.

Money Forward Venture Partners operates HIRAC FUND, a seed fund specializing in seed and early-stage startups.

Investment focus

Information Technology, Wellness, Software
Seed, Funding Round, Series A
Japan, United States

Portfolio highlights

Find — Find is a software company that provides cloud development and operation services.
Crowd Chem — Crowd Chem is an IT company that specializes in software development, data services, and consulting services.
Earth Boat — Earth Boat is an accomodation company that specializes in manufacture, sales, and support services of trailer houses and portable saunas.

Akatsuki offers MobileSocialGame services. They utilize cutting edge technology and ideas to realize and deliver their ambitions to their users. They provide new value to society through the services we manage daily. Providing services throughout the world that brighten up everyone's daily lives.

Investment focus

Media and Entertainment, Gaming, Content
Seed, Funding Round, Corporate Round
Japan, India, United States

Portfolio highlights

Hitcard — Hitcard is a trendy card culture brand that uses technology to upgrade card-like consumer products.
Stems Labs — community and platform for collaborative creativity
MetaverseGo — MetaverseGo is a web 3.0 app that offers easy access to Play-and-Earn Games, Guilds, NFTs, and Decentralized Applications allowing users to own assets, connect with industry players, and use their earnings across multiple payment platforms.

YJ Capital is a Corporate Venture Capital of Yahoo Japan. Our value is to help global minded entrepreneurs build successful and lasting internet companies. We invest in all stages, all sectors in Asia, US and Israel.YJ Capital has a unique access to Yahoo Japan's operational experience and unparalleled Japan market entry support. Oursole LP allows us to focus only on our portfolio companies and make fast decision making.

Investment focus

Software, Information Technology, Internet
Funding Round, Series A, Seed
Japan, United States, Indonesia

Portfolio highlights

Brhino — Brhino provides planning, development, and management of web services. The company's product, Monokabu, is a site where people can buy and sell sneakers and things like stock. Brhino is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
LEAN BODY — Lean Body is an online platform for fitness videos.
Stacked — Watch videos with your people on Stacked.com

Hankyu Hanshin operates in the urban transportation, real estate, entertainment and communications, travel, international transportation, and hotels businesses in Japan and internationally. It provides various urban transportation services linking railways, buses, and taxis; and advertising services. Hankyu Hanshin is also involved in theretailing business; development, lease, and administration of condominiums, commercial facilities, and office buildings; real estate fund management; and communication and media businesses, such as information services business, and broadcast and communications business. Moreover, it engages in the sports businesses, including professional baseball, Hanshin Koshien stadium, and related businesses; and stage businesses comprising Takarazuka Revue and related businesses. Further, Hankyu Hanshin is involved in the provision of travel and international transportation services, as well as ownership and management of hotels. It operated 46 hotels with 10,000 rooms as of March 31, 2018. Hankyu Hanshin began operation in 1907. It has its headquarters in Osaka in Japan.

Investment focus

Internet, Web Apps, Cryptocurrency
Funding Round
Japan

Portfolio highlights

DeCurret — DeCurret is into Cryptocurrency Business.
Thinkr — THINKR provides advertising, video production, content, UX design, and animation services.

Morinaga is a confectionery company that manufactures, purchases, and sells confectionery food and healthy drinks. The company aims to contribute to the realization of abundant, safe eating choices, and the promotion of health among the people of the world. Its diverse range of confectionery products is divided into five groups that includeconfectioneries, food, frozen desserts, weider, and healthcare.

Investment focus

Art, Pet, Mobile
Seed, Series B, Corporate Round
Japan

Portfolio highlights

YAMAP — YAMAP is born to make your outdoors, such as hike or ski, more safety, and more enjoyable with your iPhone. YAMAP App can track and log your outdoors, view elevation info, and build an online outdoor journal.  Love & share the outdoors with YAMAP ! ■■ Three Main Features of YAMAP ■■ 1) Safe ◆YAMAP App makes your iPhone a special GPSdevice for the outdoors. YAMAP App could provide accurate positioning information with YAMAP's maps in Japan and your iPhone's GPS, even if you are in places not reached by mobile phone signals, such as in mountainous regions. 2) Convenience ◆ YAMAP Hybrid Maps YAMAP's maps are used as digital ones with your iPhone, and as ones on paper by downloading them to your PC (or tablet PC). 3) Share ◆You can easily share your outdoor data with your family and friends through YAMAP Web service. Once you finish your outdoor and save your data, YAMAP App automatically uploads to your online 'ACTIVITY REPORT' on YAMAP Web service (http://yamap.co.jp) where you can view your route, outdoor data, and a comprehensive workout history. In addition, YAMAP gives you the ability to easily share your outdoor data with friends and family.
Toletta Cats — Toletta Cats is a healthcare approved by cat lovers company they aim to create a world in which we all live longer and happier with our beloved cats around us. Simple, safe and easy to use at home,in a Japanese cat-friendly way.
GranSky Studios — GranSky Studios makes good stories as well as animations which all ages can enjoy. GranSky Studios brings light of dream and hope to people worldwide through our production.

Shiny Chemical Industrial is a production and sales company for purity solvents used in semiconductors, flat-panel displays, photoresist manufacturing, packaging testing, and light-emitting diodes. They provide logistics management and professional services to customers.

Investment focus