Top 50 Automotive Startup Investors in Japan in May 2026

Portfolio highlights

• Redcliff — Redcliff is a drone management company that organizes aerial shows and events for private and public organizations.
• SORA Technology — SORA Technology builds and operates health care and public health infrastructure utilizing drones and their operational management systems.
• Proxima Technology — Proxima Technology is an IT company that provides artificial intelligence and deep learning solutions for the manufacturing industry.

Portfolio highlights

• Kinish — Kinish is a company leading a revolution in dairy products. To achieve environmentally friendly and delicious dairy products, we are developing a special rice variety that produces milk proteins.
• Kwahuu Ocean — Kwahuu Ocean develops sustainable squid farming systems.
• Spine Chronicle — Spine chronicle is a medical device manufacturing firm that specializes in developing orthopedic medical equipment.

Portfolio highlights

• Carstay — Carstay Comfortable Overnight in car or tentdo itCar tripWith guests who want to enjoy.

Portfolio highlights

• Samansa — Samansa is a film production company that offers planning, production, and distribution of telefilms, dramas, and short series.
• Space quarters — Space Quarters is a manufacturing company that produces payload deploy and panels, and develops space assembly robotic systems.
• Bluefield Energy — Bluefield Energy redefines Japan's electricity sector through technology-driven renewable energy solutions. Its mission centers on liberating people and society from energy constraints by tackling high costs, environmental impact, and supply instability.

Portfolio highlights

• DennoKotsu — Denno Kotsu is a Taxi dispatch system development and provision, taxi company contract dispatch service

Portfolio highlights

• DennoKotsu — Denno Kotsu is a Taxi dispatch system development and provision, taxi company contract dispatch service

Portfolio highlights

• QREATION — QREATION is a digital intellectual property studio specializing in producing a wide range of popular content that originates primarily from social media platforms. The company focuses on creating high-quality short-form entertainment, including short dramas, comedy sketches, and variety shows.
• Forward — Forward is a SaaS-based startup that offers recruitment agency services.
• Metagen Therapeutics — Metagen Therapeutics is a Drug discovery and medical business company which utilizes microbiome science.

Portfolio highlights

• LiLz — LiLz is an IT technology network for businesses looking to use AI and IoT to offer new services and value.
• Swivel — Swivel's mission is to create the fishing brand.
• HelloWorld — EdTech, International Exchange between Schools

Portfolio highlights

• Seibii — Transforming traditional car maintenance, repair, after-parts installation, road service industry of Japan by leveraging Technology.
• Leading Mark — Leading Mark, a rising human resources startup in Japan. Leading Mark is branching out into mid-career and international hiring. It currently has a one-man team in China working to bring the top Japanese-speaking Chinese students to domestic companies. He also touts his startup’s focus on the average job seeker. “We want to make sure that the usersget the info that he or she needs the most,” he says. Large scale, legacy players can sometimes prioritize the needs of the hiring company, and their commission, over the needs of applicants themselves. This leads to frustration and short-circuited careers.

Portfolio highlights

• Boings.AI — Boings.AI is a Web3 value collaboration network designed for the AI era.
• PinGo Lab — PinGo is an innovative platform that integrates artificial intelligence, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), and advanced GPU technology. Its mission is to democratize access to computational resources, making them available to a broader audience. By leveraging user-contributed resources, PinGo enables the decentralization of AImodel training, fostering collaboration and innovation in the AI field. This approach not only enhances accessibility but also empowers individuals and organizations to contribute to and benefit from cutting-edge AI advancements.
• LSP Finance — LSP is a full-featured digital asset management platform that is transforming DeFi by enabling Proof of Stake (PoS) networks to provide liquidity. The goal of the asset issuance protocol LSP.Finance is to develop tradable and interest-bearing solutions for assets such as beta tokens, Alpha project shares, and POS node shares.

Portfolio highlights

• Plus — Plus.ai develops self-driving trucks to enable large-scale commercialization of autonomous transport. Based in Silicon Valley, Plus.ai was founded in 2016 by a group of Stanford PhD classmates who saw the strong potential of artificial intelligence to make a big impact on business and society. With trucking being the primary means of shipping inAmerica, the founders decided to focus on self-driving technology to transform the trillion-dollar commercial trucking industry. Plus.ai specializes in developing full-stack self-driving technology to enable large scale autonomous commercial fleets. We are one of the most advanced autonomous trucking companies today in terms of technological progress and were the first to obtain California’s Autonomous Testing License. The company has since been working on improving the robustness and safety of its fully functional Level-4 autonomous trucks. Plus.ai closely collaborates with the largest OEMs to build self-driving trucks that are safer than human-operated vehicles. The company operates a fleet of autonomous trucks in pilot programs with the top freight shipping companies.
• QT Medical — QT Medical’s technology empowers the patients to take an active role in managing their heart disease. Heart disease is responsible for 1 out of every 4 deaths in the U.S. and is the number 1 killer world-wide. No longer do patients with heart disease have to make long trips to their cardiologists, hospitals, or emergency rooms to get diagnostic,hospital-grade ECG scans. They can now perform these tests from the comfort of their homes or anywhere with an internet connection, allowing peace of mind, saving time, reducing stress, and improving outcomes.
• CesiumAstro — CesiumAstro builds high-throughput, software-defined phased array communication payloads for airborne and in-orbit platforms.

Portfolio highlights

• WOTA — Human history is the history of our relationship with water. Water gave rise to our civilizations. Water has nourished people's livelihoods. This means that humans need water supplies, such as rivers and lakes, to survive. At WOTA, we desire to remove every limitation we have in relation to water. By integrating small water systems into the“big water infrastructure” of the past, we can achieve a more creative and sustainable way of life. That is our belief. In cities and deserts, remote islands, and outer space. We imagine a future where water is freely available to all people. Our work will always continue.
• Girasol Energy — Girasol Energy is an IoT Platform provides innovative PLC technologies that enable wiser PV Plants.
• Greenphard Energy — Greenphard Energy is a uniquely-placed startup in the field of intelligent IoT products based on AI and machine learning technologies. We provide SaaS solutions in the cloud for optimized control, remote monitoring, and analysis of industrial equipment, factories, and renewable energy facilities. We are also a demand response aggregator, helping tostabilize the power supply of the entire region.

Portfolio highlights

• Trustart — Trustart engages in real estate research business and real estate big data provision. The company offers real estate big data and big data subscriptions.
• Upward — UPWARD is highly by linking CRM · schedule map / location information, is a cloud service for the visiting business of field sales easier. Field salespersons who have many customers and who are out of the office feel that it is difficult to grasp all customers to Kampek and measure the timing of visits no matter how memorable they are.
• Surv Biopharma — Surv Biopharma develops a drug discovery platform that facilitates research and development of veterinary drugs and pharmaceutical products.

Portfolio highlights

• Voicy — Voicy is a mobile platform that recruits both media personalities and news organizations; the entertainers read the news so users can get the latest info from their favorite voices.
• Carstay — Carstay Comfortable Overnight in car or tentdo itCar tripWith guests who want to enjoy.
• Telework — Telework is a multi-location workspace that utilizes vacant seats and rooms.

Portfolio highlights

• Asuene — Asuene involves in clean power retail business, retail SaaS business, etc.
• YOUTRUST — YOUTRUST is a startup to operate YOUTRUST a referral recruitment platform for side-job change.
• Testsigma — Powerful cloud-based test automation platform that lets you automate tests for web, mobile, desktop apps, and APIs in minutes. Sign up now!

Portfolio highlights

• iCARE — iCARE It is the No. 1 health and labor cloud introduced in Japan, which is selected by small and medium-sized enterprises suffering from lack of manpower and large enterprises expanding their business globally .
• Zen Intelligence — SoftRoid provides a software robot that patrols and collects data for analyzing the construction site.
• Catallaxy — Catallaxy is operates Japan's easiest-to-understand manufacturing industry media and sheet metal processing media.

Portfolio highlights

• Tradoor — Tradoor protects traders, LPs, and the protocol against unforeseen market fluctuations by using clever math and safety measures to enable traders to trade with confidence.
• Mango Network — Mango Network is a multi-virtual machine, full-chain foundational network designed for comprehensive blockchain solutions.
• Ephyra — GameBeast is a multi-chain gaming platform developer in the Solana ecosystem.Gamebeast offers a wide range of games, from minigames to AAA blockbusters, giving consumers more token consumption options.

Portfolio highlights

• IDOM CaaS Technology — IDOM CaaS Technology provides a free car life that is not limited to buying and selling cars.

Portfolio highlights

• APTJ — Automotive Platform Technology Japan (APTJ) primarily engages in the development, sale, and licensing of automotive software and hardware products. It was founded on September 16, 2015.

Portfolio highlights

• APTJ — Automotive Platform Technology Japan (APTJ) primarily engages in the development, sale, and licensing of automotive software and hardware products. It was founded on September 16, 2015.

Portfolio highlights

• APTJ — Automotive Platform Technology Japan (APTJ) primarily engages in the development, sale, and licensing of automotive software and hardware products. It was founded on September 16, 2015.

Portfolio highlights

• Pyrenee — Pyrenee is a hardware startup that creates devices that protect people's lives.
• Antescofo — Antescofo is the mariage of world-class R&D and Business endeavours. Their technology is the result of 7+ years of R&D in the world’s largest laboratory dedicated to Music and Technology, IRCAM in Paris, and public experience with the most important musicians and orchestras around the world. The principle? Through Intelligent MachineListening, they recognize how humans perform music in real-time and use that information to synchronize content and provide an immersive experience! Antescofo was incorporated in July 2016 and based in Paris, France.
• Stake Technologies — Stake Technologies is a technology company that provides blockchain solutions to enterprises.

Portfolio highlights

• Cocoach — Cocoach provides online education service.
• Data Viz Lab — Data Viz Lab is a platform that offers data analysis, visualization consulting, and data human resource development support.
• ElevationSpace — ElevationSpace offers high quality & well equipped workspaces giving tenants a nurturing environment .

Portfolio highlights

• Ubiden — Ubiden provides Artificial intelligence and Internet of Things mobile network services. The company develops applications for electric vehicle charging services.
• SPACECOOL — Spacecool offers zero-energy cooling materials that radiate heat to space, reducing temperatures and mitigating global warming.
• Aeterlink — Aeterlink is a wireless device maker and developer. They applied their technology to fields such as FA, robots, smart houses, and medicine and developed practical level technologies such as elemental technology that can wirelessly supply power.

Portfolio highlights

• Seibii — Transforming traditional car maintenance, repair, after-parts installation, road service industry of Japan by leveraging Technology.

Portfolio highlights

• 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.

Portfolio highlights

• Sukedachi — Sukedachi had focused on the unique business habit in the Japanese construction industry that construction workers are order receivers as workmen themselves and are also orderers as small enterprises, and the firm started this service. Sukedachi allows workpeople specialized in construction works receive to notification of recruitment ofconstruction jobs which meet their pre-registered conditions including residence and occupation. With this service, construction workers who are seeking jobs can contact directly to each desired construction site, and constructors suffering from chronic manpower shortage can recruit workers on almost ideal on-demand conditions.
• Mantra — MANTRA is a developer of machine translation technology.

Portfolio highlights

• DennoKotsu — Denno Kotsu is a Taxi dispatch system development and provision, taxi company contract dispatch service

Portfolio highlights

• Taian — Taian, which specializes in bridal industry services and software. They also provide ''Concept Marry,'' which allows couples to design invites and seating charts that match their wedding theme, as well as display guest information on Oiwaii.
• Tacoms — CAMEL is a service that allows you to easily manage orders from multiple food delivery / takeout services on a single tablet.
• Linea Innovations — Linea Innovations is an energy production company that develops commercial fusion reactors with advanced fuel technology.

Portfolio highlights

• Yuime — Yuime is an HR consulting firm that offers agricultural staffing, contract farming, and recruitment services.
• RLWRLD — RLWRLD specializes in "Physical AI" by creating robotics foundation models (RFMs) designed to enable robots to function autonomously in real-world environments.
• Lebo Robotics — Lebo Robotics is an inspection robot for the maintenance of wind power generation blades.

Portfolio highlights

• Onepair — Onepair is a job consulting and recruiting company. Onepair is to co-creating careers by talking about real-world ace with active ace.
• Strainer Co., Ltd. — Strainer Co., Ltd. is an information distribution platform that conveys corporate information centered on financial data. Although there are not a few media to deliver financial information, the company's strengths are strong to be easily viewed, including financial information of overseas companies.
• LAMILA — LAMILA develops system that improves the creation of retail stores.

Portfolio highlights

• Seibii — Transforming traditional car maintenance, repair, after-parts installation, road service industry of Japan by leveraging Technology.

Portfolio highlights

• Experisus — Experisus provides Website production, development and management, and software.
• SPACER — SPACER is a 24-hour handover IoT locker that can open and close doors with a smartphone.
• Infcurion — The Infucurion Group is a business development professional that is pushing the cashless era with the power of technology .

Portfolio highlights

• Redcliff — Redcliff is a drone management company that organizes aerial shows and events for private and public organizations.
• AROUSAL Tech. — AROUSAL Tech is a consulting company that offers a wide range of AI consulting services. It provides digital training, AI reskilling, AI consulting, and AI integration services.
• Treasury — Treasury delivers extensive electronic contract and commercial transaction services.

Portfolio highlights

• Archeda — Archeda is an IT firm that analysis of natural environments using remote sensing data.
• Things — Things offer product development and various information such as CAD, drawings, parts configuration, and price information.
• Linea Innovations — Linea Innovations is an energy production company that develops commercial fusion reactors with advanced fuel technology.

Portfolio highlights

• APTJ — Automotive Platform Technology Japan (APTJ) primarily engages in the development, sale, and licensing of automotive software and hardware products. It was founded on September 16, 2015.

Portfolio highlights

• Alumnote — The alumni association management software developed by Alumnote allows schools to manage their alumni associations online. The focus of the company is to undertake loyalty building and marketing for potential donors such as graduates and provides digital tools, and supports the execution of donation acquisition.
• SkyDrive — SkyDrive is a start-up for development,manufacturing,sales of the “Flying cars” established by CARTIVATOR members.
• NABLA Mobility — Solving the complexities involved in the "Operation of Fleets" of Mobility and support its evolution and decarbonization

Portfolio highlights

• CBcloud — CBCLOUD is offers outsourcing services. The Company provides light cargo crowdsourcing and other services.
• Re:Build — Re:Build is to create the world where we can help each other. Re:Build company was born from the desire to help those who challenge.Our mission is to create a world where help and support circulate throughout the business .
• 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.

Portfolio highlights

• Mango Network — Mango Network is a multi-virtual machine, full-chain foundational network designed for comprehensive blockchain solutions.
• Zypher Network — Zypher Network, Portal for Revolutionary Fully-on-Chain Games using ZKP & AI
• Superpower — Superpower is a revenue-sharing protocol for AI agents.

Portfolio highlights

• Teplo — Its 1st product Teplo Tea Maker allows tea lovers to brew the perfect cup of tea, each and every time of the day,
• Mantra — MANTRA is a developer of machine translation technology.

Portfolio highlights

• RIOS — We are helping enterprises automate their entire factories, warehouses or supply chain operations by deploying AI-powered end-to-end robotic workcells.
• Joyride — Make mobility instantly connected, rentable and trackable on the world's smartest software platform for lightweight vehicles. Say farewell to fragmented fleets.
• eve autonomy — eve autonomy is an autonomous transportation service that offers logistics solutions utilizing the latest technology for society.

Portfolio highlights

• PinGo Lab — PinGo is an innovative platform that integrates artificial intelligence, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), and advanced GPU technology. Its mission is to democratize access to computational resources, making them available to a broader audience. By leveraging user-contributed resources, PinGo enables the decentralization of AImodel training, fostering collaboration and innovation in the AI field. This approach not only enhances accessibility but also empowers individuals and organizations to contribute to and benefit from cutting-edge AI advancements.
• LSP Finance — LSP is a full-featured digital asset management platform that is transforming DeFi by enabling Proof of Stake (PoS) networks to provide liquidity. The goal of the asset issuance protocol LSP.Finance is to develop tradable and interest-bearing solutions for assets such as beta tokens, Alpha project shares, and POS node shares.
• Zulu Network — Zulu Network is the first DePin-focused Bitcoin Layer 2 to achieve the tokenization of computing power, allowing anyone to power DePIN innovation and earn Bitcoin.

Portfolio highlights

• Ubiden — Ubiden provides Artificial intelligence and Internet of Things mobile network services. The company develops applications for electric vehicle charging services.
• Flosfia — FLOSFIA is a spin-off from a research of Kyoto University, specializing in film-formation by mist chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Making use of physical properties of gallium oxide (Ga2O3), FLOSFIA has devoted to development of low-loss power devices.
• Shippio — Shippio is a service that enables a wide range of collective international logistics arrangements and management solutions via web.The platform features full-service export and import solutions for various international transportation needs; a special dashboard designated for import and export business, shipment, cost analysis, and invoicemanagement; and documentation support.

Portfolio highlights

• Newmo — newmo delivers sustainable local public transportation create a user experience (UX) that people may utilize with peace of mind and comfort.
• Light — Light is a software development company that allows streamers and viewers to connect in real time through an application.
• Qlay — Qlay is an AI-automated global engineer hiring platform

Portfolio highlights

• IDOM CaaS Technology — IDOM CaaS Technology provides a free car life that is not limited to buying and selling cars.

Portfolio highlights

• Ripplr — Ripplr is a full-stack tech distribution and logistics player that offers data-driven analytics and plugs and play system.
• Tacta Systems — Tacta Systems develops robotics with human-like tactile abilities with Dextrous Intelligence, the nervous system for robots.
• IOC GPS Renewables — IOC GPS Renewables specialises in sustainable energy solutions and uses cutting-edge biogas technologies to produce compressed biogas (CBG) from organic waste. This partnership seeks to increase energy security and lower greenhouse gas emissions across the country.

Portfolio highlights

• Lean Mobility — Lean Mobility is a motor vehicle manufacturing company that manufactures and supplies electric motorcycles and motorcycle parts.

Portfolio highlights

• SkyDrive — SkyDrive is a start-up for development,manufacturing,sales of the “Flying cars” established by CARTIVATOR members.

Portfolio highlights

• Torana — Torana provides "Toysub!" well known as educational toy subscription service in Japan market. We plan to go global and will be more bigger market share holder in East Asia. We collect month-age base toy feedback data and children's development status information. We plan best combination of toys and deliver. Customer returns and getsnew toys which fit children's growth and it is eco friendly service. We plan to build our own brand toys based on massive customer feedback and growth data and enter D2C market.
• Omnis — OMNIS
• Blackbox — Blackbox is an entertainment firm that is involved in businesses, including VTuber production, media mix, and live music events.

Portfolio highlights

• CoA Nexus — CoA Nexus develops and operates a skillshare matching platform for human resource research and development.
• bestat — bestat is a developer of platforms for 3D data creation, management, and utilization using AI and offers digital twins services.
• Drone Show Japan — Drone Show Japan company specializes in drone shows for events, aerial photography, and workshops.