Top 50 Media (entertainment) Startup Investors in Japan
A list of 50 angel investors and VC funds that invest in Media (entertainment) startups based in Japan. We rank investors based on the number of investments they made in Media (entertainment) companies from Japan. We update this investor list every month.Top 50 Media (entertainment) Startup Investors in Japan
Investor | Media (entertainment) Japan investments |
---|---|
Mizuho Capital | 27 |
East Ventures | 23 |
Genesia Ventures | 23 |
ANRI | 21 |
SMBC Venture Capital | 19 |
ANOBAKA | 19 |
Incubate Fund | 17 |
B Dash Ventures | 15 |
Vector | 14 |
Monex Ventures | 13 |
Yusuke Sato | 12 |
NOW Japan | 12 |
Kotaro Chiba | 11 |
TLM | 11 |
Kotaro Chiba | 11 |
Mitsubishi UFJ Capital | 11 |
Kensuke Furukawa | 11 |
Future Venture Capital | 10 |
Global Brain Corporation | 10 |
Yu Akasaka | 9 |
Daiwa Corporate Investment | 9 |
DNX Ventures | 9 |
Akatsuki Games Inc. | 9 |
SBI Investment | 9 |
STRIVE | 9 |
D4V | 9 |
YJ Capital | 8 |
Ayataro Nakagawa | 8 |
VOYAGE VENTURES | 8 |
Venture United | 8 |
Yasuyuki Kin | 7 |
Masao Ito | 7 |
GMO VenturePartners | 7 |
Nissay Capital | 7 |
Colopl Next | 7 |
Nobuhiro Ariyasu | 7 |
Hirofumi Miki | 7 |
Hidetoshi Takano | 6 |
Chiba Dojo | 6 |
Ceres | 6 |
Gumi Ventures | 6 |
Archetype Ventures | 6 |
Ryosuke Matsumoto | 6 |
Mistletoe | 6 |
DBJ Capital | 6 |
PE&HR | 6 |
Adways | 5 |
Shunsuke Oyu | 5 |
Kiyohiro Sugashita | 5 |
Mamoru Taniya | 5 |
Mizuho is the venture capital firm affiliated to Mizuho Bank, the second-largest Japanese bank in terms of assets. The firm has headquarters in Tokyo.The firm has ¥49.6 billion JPY under management, focusing on information technology and biotechnology investments. Over 600 Mizuho companies have gone public. According to Nikkei, Mizuho is thefifth-largest venture capital firm in Japan.Mizuho Capital was formed in 2002 by the merger of Fujigin Capital, Tokyo Venture Capital and IBJ Investment. Three firms were subsidiaries of Fuji Bank, Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan respectively.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Software, Internet
- Funding Round, Series A, Series B
- Japan, United States, China
Portfolio highlights
- Japan DX — Japan DX platform provides a comprehensive data-driven services to inbound tourists to Japan.
- Unito — Unito offers people a friction-free lifestyle by pursuing optimization of living.
- GenerativeX Co — GenerativeX provides AI app development, consulting, and generative model development.
East Ventures is an early stage venture capital (VC) focused on Southeast Asia, Indonesia & Japan. Success cases include Tokopedia, Traveloka, and Mercari.
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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.
Genesia Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on seed/early-stage startups in Japan and Southeast Asia.
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Investment focus
- Software, Information Technology, Content
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia
Portfolio highlights
- Malme — Malme is a company that operates in the fields of 3D technology, architecture, civil engineering, and construction. The company offers total support for BIM/CIM operations, with a team of engineers who are well-versed in construction consulting. The company's motto is to 'update civil engineering', indicating a commitment tocontinuous innovation and improvement in the field. The company's services are designed to assist in the planning and execution of construction projects, leveraging advanced 3D technology and architectural expertise.
- Miresso — Miresso is a startup firm that offers nuclear fusion power generation services through natural resources.
- Gaxie Co — Gaxie is an IT firm that provides a cloud management system and manages scholarship sites for business.
ANRI is a Japanese venture capital firm that mainly invests in seed and early-stage startups.
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Investment focus
- Health Care, Software, Information Technology
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, United States, India
Portfolio highlights
- MOVeLOT — MOVeLOT is an AI company that provides skeletal platform and robot planning, development, and production services.
- xCARE — xCARE specializes in the development and commercialization phases of the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.
- Infobox — Infobox is a sales data platform that includes every detail from market research to creating a list of companies and contacting decision-makers.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and its group companies offer a broad range of financial services centered on banking. They are also engaged in the leasing, securities, credit card, investment, mortgage securitization, venture capital and other credit related businesses. The following lists the activities of SMBC, its subsidiaries andaffiliates in the various business segments.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Health Care, Software
- Funding Round, Series B, Series A
- Japan, United States, Mexico
Portfolio highlights
- Ababa — Ababa provides recruitment and employment solutions.
- HarvestX — HarvestX manufactures fully automatic robots which contributes to the shortage of agricultural human resources and stable food production
- Smartpay — Smartpay is the first free of charge BNPL payment option for Japanese consumers who have credit cards. There are no sign-up fees, interest fees, settlement fees, or late charges. The payment experience is also Japan’s first cross-merchant, cross-platform, and single-click checkout BNPL service, allowing consumers to checkout in as little as 10seconds. The BNPL payment solution is simple to understand, structured on 3 equal installments over 8 weeks. This means that unlike the existing BNPL services in Japan, customers do not need to go to the convenience store to make payments or pay any bank transfer fees.
ANOBAKA is a Tokyo-based venture capital firm with rich group resources to add value to seed-stage startups. ANOBAKA actively invests in and supports startups aiming to be a global leader in the innovative Internet business and promising to greatly grow up in the future. ANOBAKA's investment focuses on fledgling seed-stage startups. Inaddition to investment financing, ANOBAKA provides founders with a variety of business support such as development consulting by our engineers, sales support, and international marketing support.
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Investment focus
- Software, Content, Information Technology
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, United States, India
Portfolio highlights
- 3S — 3S is a SaaS developer platform that provides and operates 24-hour home nursing care services through technology.
- MOVeLOT — MOVeLOT is an AI company that provides skeletal platform and robot planning, development, and production services.
- Fotographer AI — Fotographer.ai is a service that allows e-commerce companies and individuals interested in advertising creatives to generate product photos automatically for use on their websites and in marketing. Product photos for websites and commercials that need to be taken for each campaign or season can be generated using generative AI.
Incubate Fund is an independent early-stage venture capital that specializes in providing capital to technology startups at the seed stage. The firm built a portfolio of over 300 companies in Asia, taking 12 companies to public and 20 companies to M&A exit since 2010.
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Investment focus
- Software, E-Commerce, Information Technology
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, United States, India
Portfolio highlights
- SoftRoid — SoftRoid provides a software robot that patrols and collects data for analyzing the construction site.
- M-INT — M-INT is a life science company that offers medical infrastructure and medical IT system.
- Blossom Energy — Developed advanced nuclear reactors that are able to produce clean energy, Blossom Energy manufactures nuclear reactors for the nuclear energy industry. The focus of the company is on providing affordable, stable, and sustainable energy for the world. The company utilizes HTGR, which is a fourth-generation nuclear reactor.
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.
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Investment focus
- Internet, Information Technology, E-Commerce
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, Taiwan, India
Portfolio highlights
- G.U. Group — G.U. Labs provides cloud tools and solutions, security technologies, and R&D capabilities to respond to the various social changes caused by blockchain. G.U.Labs provides cloud tools and solutions, security technologies, and research and development capabilities to respond to the various social changes caused by blockchain.
- Fixx — Fixx is an automobile company that provides on-site car maintenance and other mechanic services.
- Ascend — Ascend is a logistics company.
Vector is a Japan-based PR agency that provides PR planning and implementation services for its clients. The agency also offers other services covering areas such as management, finance, accounting, human resources, administration, internal controls, and audits.
Vector was founded in 1993.
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Investment focus
- Media and Entertainment, Software, Marketing
- Funding Round, Seed, Corporate Round
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- PeaceTecLab — PeaceTecLab is a CtoCsharing service, as its main business.
- The Ethical Spirits & Co. — The Ethical Spirits & Co. is an online store for spirits and alcohol.
- Driver Technologies — Driver Technologies is a cloud logistics platform provider. It provides a solution for driver matching and cargo vehicle demands.
Monex Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Japan that finances seed and early stage investments in startup companies.
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Investment focus
- Software, Financial Services, Information Technology
- Seed, Series A, Funding Round
- Japan, United States, China
Yusuke Sato is the Co-Representative and Co-Founder of Pulit.
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Investment focus
- Internet, Content, Food and Beverage
- Seed, Funding Round, Angel
- Japan, Indonesia, United States
Portfolio highlights
- AirX — AirX is a management service company specializing in air transportation agency business and travel arrangement business. The company leverages technology to transform the notion of mobility into an unprecedented experience. It also provides services such as CodeShare, AIROS Skyview, and AIROS Air Loss. AirX will create the movement of the futuresociety, sightseeing and the way of life of helicopter, Empty MaaS, Flying taxi, eVTOL, and Next-generation traffic.AirX was established on February 23, 2015, and is based in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
- Paytner — yup is providing services to support freelance people's funding.The freelance population in Japan has been shown to continue to increase in many Chosa. While working styles are diversified, they are not able to respond to the development of the working environment, and they will develop their business to change the situation where problemssuch as funding, credit, sexual harassment, and power harassment are accumulated.
- Meetscare — Meetscare provides correct information and supports the self-awareness of all people involved in care. The company provides a wealth of information to ensure optimal care and create a mechanism for the realization. Users can make a telephone consultation and web diagnosis and search for free information using the system.Meetscare was founded on2016 and is headquartered in Arakawa, Tokyo.
Next One for the World.
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Investment focus
- Content, Marketing, Software
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- Aracan — Aracan is an e-commerce business that provides online and offline car-sharing services for vehicles.
- Geofra — Geofra develops Planning and creation of items that rejuvenate the movement of people in physical areas, regional revitalization initiatives
- HIGHRESO — GPUSOROBAN is a GPU cloud service that enables anyone to perform high-speed calculations on high-end GPUs with ease. Hi-Res, the running business, is the first GPU cloud operator in Japan to be accredited as a "NVIDIA Elite Partner," the program's highest level (CSP Compute field). Furthermore, it received the "Best CSP Partnerof the Year" award at the NVIDIA NPN Partner Award 2022. It is widely used by university research institutes, large corporations, and AI venture firms, with over 100 uses per year.
Kotaro Chiba is the founder of ChibaDojo Fund. Kotaro Chiba attended Keio University.
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Investment focus
- Internet, Drones, Software
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, United States
Portfolio highlights
- MI-6 — MI-6 is a research, development, consulting, and project management for material development using IT. We will promote materials informatics in the field of material development with our technological capabilities and a wealth of project knowledge that challenge the world's most advanced technologies .
- ELESTYLE — ELESTYLE are promoting mobile payments and providing high value-added services for users to realize a cashless society.
- Luup — Luup is an Internet Company.
TLM is a venture capital that invests basically in seed rounds, including some Series A startups.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Content, SNS
- Seed, Angel, Funding Round
- Japan, United States
Portfolio highlights
- Morght — Morght is an information technology service company.
- nanameue, Inc. — Nanameue creating a new future that makes people smile and has a fun experience. Create your own place by connecting people to people in “nanameue” way.
- Hogetic Lab — Hogetic Lab specialize in DCaaS, AI development, and Data human resources training.
Kotaro Chiba is the founder of ChibaDojo Fund. Kotaro Chiba attended Keio University.
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Investment focus
- Internet, Travel, Software
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, United States
Portfolio highlights
- MI-6 — MI-6 is a research, development, consulting, and project management for material development using IT. We will promote materials informatics in the field of material development with our technological capabilities and a wealth of project knowledge that challenge the world's most advanced technologies .
- ELESTYLE — ELESTYLE are promoting mobile payments and providing high value-added services for users to realize a cashless society.
- Luup — Luup is an Internet Company.
Mitsubishi UFJ Capital is a venture capital firm focusing on life science, ICT, and high technology investments.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Software, Health Care
- Funding Round, Series B, Series A
- Japan, United States, China
Portfolio highlights
- Parallel — Parallel Inc. develops a parallel SNS which can be used while playing games on smartphones.
- Swell — Swell is an information technology company that specializes in providing web and digital platforms.
- GenerativeX Co — GenerativeX provides AI app development, consulting, and generative model development.
Kensuke Furukawa was born in June 2, 1981. He graduated Waseda University majoring Political Science and Economics, and in 2000, he launched "Milkcafe", a student community, which has grown to a site with 10 million PV per month. In 2004, he became the CEO of Media Clip, which operates a rental bulletin board service "ShitarabaBBS". After that year, he had transfer "Shitaraba BBS" to Livedoor, and took charge of starting up the Consumer Generated Media sector. In 2006, he joined Recruit, and took charge of starting up a new business at Business development sector. In June of 2009, he left Recruit, and became the CEO of nanapi (formerly Rocket Start), which operates the How-to Site "nanapi".
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Investment focus
- Content, Media and Entertainment, Software
- Seed, Funding Round, Angel
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- Plott — Plott producing youtube animation platform under Vision “Become a Content holder from YouTube”. In August 2019, the company name was changed from Fabo to Plott. Plott, the new company name, is derived from the plot that you make before writing novels, etc., and the idea that “I want to make content all the time” is put in the company name.
- Now Do — Now Do provides online growth revolution platform.
- Neighbor — The creative universe of Fortnite is infinite. To give an example , building fantasy and science fiction worlds, creating simple games and full-scale battle games can all be completed with Fortnite. Is the world of Fortnite, played by 350 million users worldwide, is it real or unreal? We will try to combining the vast world of Fortnite with the real world.
Future Venture Capital Co., Ltd. is a venture capital firm specializing in early stage investment. The firm invests in diversified investment in a broad range of industrial sectors. It seeks to invest in Japan. The firm prefers to be the lead investor in its portfolio companies. Future Venture Capital Co., Ltd. was founded in 1998 and is based inKyoto, Japan with offices in Tokyo, Aomori, Iwate, Yamagata, Kanazawa, Mie, Sakai, Kobe, and Ehime.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Manufacturing, Health Care
- Funding Round, Seed, Series A
- Japan, United States, Myanmar
Portfolio highlights
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.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Software, Artificial Intelligence
- Series A, Series B, Funding Round
- Japan, United States, United Kingdom
Portfolio highlights
- Miresso — Miresso is a startup firm that offers nuclear fusion power generation services through natural resources.
- Ac-Planta — Ac-Planta provides research, development, manufacture, and sales of agrochemicals.
- Lx Design — Lx Design is an application that connects schools with people who wants to work as a teacher.
During Hosei University student, and intern at Hakuhodo C & D. After joining the Image-net, I do media monetization of EC site as a media planner. Then, new business, engaged in Alliance. Launched a crowdsourcing site "MILLION DESIGNS" of design in the individual, sold to Ransazu Corporation. Established the Eureka Co., Ltd., wasappointed Representative Director CEO.
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Investment focus
- Food and Beverage, Content, Internet
- Seed, Angel, Funding Round
- Japan, Australia, Hong Kong
Portfolio highlights
- Now Do — Now Do provides online growth revolution platform.
- RE — RE specializes in smartphone application design and development.
- Vitalogue Health — Vitalogue Health offers Canvas, a home-based hormone testing service for women.
Daiwa Corporate Investment is a private investment firm of Daiwa Securities Group that has been engaged in overseas VC investments by taking advantage of an extensive business network in Japan and foreign countries, long experience and professional knowledge, and by supporting the growth of a number of overseas portfolio companies and their stockexchange listings.
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Investment focus
- Task Management, Software, Internet
- Funding Round, Series A, Seed
- Japan, France, Singapore
Portfolio highlights
- GITAI — GITAI is a robotics startup for space development. The company aims to replace astronauts with robots that can work for a long time while being remotely controlled from earth while in low earth orbit space stations to decrease the burden on astronauts, shorten the time it takes to perform work in space, and reduce costs.
- COUNTERWORKS — Counter works is an Information technology company.
- Nippon Hydropowtech — Nippon Hydropowtech uses proprietary technology and experience in hydrolysate production to investigate new food applications.
DNX Ventues is an early stage VC firm focusing on B2B Startups that are shaping industries and transforming the way we live and work.
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Investment focus
- Software, Information Technology, SaaS
- Seed, Series A, Series B
- Japan, United States, Canada
Portfolio highlights
- Yamori — Yamori is a software development company which offers a cloud real estate management platform to realize stable rental management.
- Tensor Energy — Creating the operating system of our zero-carbon, distributed energy future
- Coalesce Automation — Coalesce is the only data transformation tool built for scale. Evolve your transformations and empower your entire data team.
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.
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Investment focus
- Media and Entertainment, Content, Gaming
- Seed, Funding Round, Corporate Round
- Japan, India, United States
Portfolio highlights
- Joyn — Joyn is a collaborative platform designed to support the large-scale co-creation of Web3 media.
- 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.
SBI Investment supports the business development and growth of private venture companies through fund investment. It manages and manages venture capital funds under the management philosophy of becoming a leading company responsible for the creation and development of core industries in the 21st century as a "new industry creator".SBIInvestment has invested in a total of 986 companies in the past, of which 169 (17.1% of investment companies) have exited through IPO or M & A.
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Investment focus
- Financial Services, Software, Information Technology
- Series B, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, South Korea, United States
Portfolio highlights
- Alxtal — Alxtal is a tech company who optimize the development, design, and manufacturing processes of the manufacturing industry with IT and AI.
- TopoLogic — TopoLogic designs and manufactures heat flow sensors, thermoelectric conversion devices, and topological and novel spintronics materials.
- OPTEMO — OPTEMO develops and supplies sales technology that allows businesses and customers to connect through a website.
STRIVE focuses on investing in early-stage (Seed to Series A) internet and mobile companies. It seeks out companies in Japan, Southeast Asia, and India with top-notch management teams and strong market potential. It is not tied to strategic investments for GREE Inc. and leverages its pan-Asia expertise for guiding its portfolio in an engaged,hands-on role.
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Investment focus
- Software, Internet, E-Commerce
- Seed, Series A, Funding Round
- Japan, India, Indonesia
Portfolio highlights
- Showroom B2B — SHOWROOM B2B is building the largest B2B “Phygital” platform for India’s $108 Bn fashion industry by connecting Tier 2+ clothing retailers directly with small to mid-scale apparel manufacturers and providing all parties with solutions for distribution, credit, logistics, and marketing.Showroom works on “Touch & Feel” mode of selling where itsunique distribution model ensures that there is almost NO RETURN of products sold. It creates Experience Centres for its retailers which gives them the confidence to buy without any iota of doubt about product quality.Showroom's offerings = Better Margins for Clothing Retailers + Aggressive Growth for Clothing Manufacturers
- Testsigma — Powerful cloud-based test automation platform that lets you automate tests for web, mobile, desktop apps, and APIs in minutes. Sign up now!
- Mercado Único — Mercado Único is a B2B platform for the distribution and management of opportunistic sales of Consumer Goods that are close to expiration and slow-moving, connecting suppliers (manufacturers/distributors) to buyers (retailers/distributors) with items that have predictable and immediate use at discounted prices.
D4V (Design for Ventures) is a Tokyo-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests in disruptive, consumer and enterprise technology startups.
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Investment focus
- Financial Services, Software, Fashion
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, United States, Singapore
Portfolio highlights
- GPx — GPx is a biotech company that revolutionizes remote chronic disease management with bloodless blood tests. It is dedicated to transforming the standard of care of cardiorenal diseases and enabling patients to better understand their condition, much like the continuous glucose monitor has transformed diabetes care.The company was founded in 2020and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.
- SUN METALON — We localize metal part manufacturing, anywhere.
- Hedgehog MedTech — Hedgehog Medtech is a medical firm focused on digital therapeutics (DTx). DTx is a pharmaceutically approved programmable medical device that assists patients' medical operations via smartphone apps.
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.
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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
2011 At university, participated in the founding period as a director of Atcole Co., Ltd., and started the web service experience.2012 Founded Peroli Co., Ltd.,
which operates a curation platform for women "MERY" .2014 Founded Peroli
Co., Ltd. Sold to DeNA
2015 Jointly established Tokyo Founders Fund as an angel investor and startedinvesting in startups in Japan and overseas
2019 Appointed outside director of FIREBUG Co., Ltd.
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Investment focus
- Internet, Software, Information Technology
- Seed, Angel, Funding Round
- Japan, Hong Kong, United States
Portfolio highlights
- For you — For you is a comprehensive Advertising agency business specializing in SNS.
- Meetscare — Meetscare provides correct information and supports the self-awareness of all people involved in care. The company provides a wealth of information to ensure optimal care and create a mechanism for the realization. Users can make a telephone consultation and web diagnosis and search for free information using the system.Meetscare was founded on2016 and is headquartered in Arakawa, Tokyo.
- SPORTS CROWN — SPORTS CROWN engages in the development and operation of fantasy sports.
Voyage Ventures is the venture capital arm of Voyage Group specializing in seed and early-stage investments. The firm seeks to make investments in the internet and mobile internet industry. It invests from JPY1 million ($.01million) to JPY to 10 million ($.12 million) in its portfolio companies. The firm typically invests in Japan, China, and othergrowing Asian markets. Voyage Ventures, Inc., formerly known as EC Navi Ventures Company, was founded on March 25, 2011, and is based in Tokyo, Japan.
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Investment focus
- Software, Internet, Content
- Funding Round, Seed, Series A
- Japan, China, Germany
Portfolio highlights
- pickupon — Pickupon is a company that transcribes important parts of the call
- bravesoft — bravesoft is a software company that operates events and in-house product for contract development and events. The company offering services such as UI / UX design, application consignment development service, appvisor push, and technical research service.
- ventus Japan — ventus is an Media and Entertainment based company.ventus aiming to be an entertainment company that provides technology that all fans can enjoy.
Venture United is a provider of venture capital for entrepreneurs, especially for internet-related businesses.
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Investment focus
- Internet, Software, Information Technology
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- ZEST — ZEST is an IT firm that offers consulting and management support services to its clients. It is based in Tokyo.
- FamiOne — FamiOne is creating a society that will support the future of couples who want to receive children.
- Meetcareer — Meetcareer provides online counseling services for career planning.
Yasuyuki Kin
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Investment focus
- Media and Entertainment, Information Technology, Career Planning
- Seed, Angel, Pre-Seed
- Japan
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.
Masao Ito is a Founder & CEO at User Local.
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Investment focus
- Content, Information Technology, Social Media
- Seed, Series A, Angel
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- Illusil — Illusil is a service that makes it easier for anyone to generate slide materials and reduces the amount of time needed to do it. Additionally, presentations can be automatically generated from text input by AI, and over 1,000 design templates can be used to build original slides.
- Cloudbase — Cloudbase is an information technology company that specializes in the fields of cloud services and management.
- Driver Technologies — Driver Technologies is a cloud logistics platform provider. It provides a solution for driver matching and cargo vehicle demands.
An investment that restructures the value and quality.Supplying big capital is not an essential value of our firm.We have a strong attitude to input and drive critical thinking behind a new startup.After the problem is clarified and solution become established in the world,people could not imagine the society without that solution.An investment that innovates this world.We will become a real partner to execute the strategy together.INVENTION OF THE ESSENCE ----we will keep on doing it.
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Investment focus
- Financial Services, FinTech, Finance
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, United States, India
Portfolio highlights
- Asuene — Asuene involves in clean power retail business, retail SaaS business, etc.
- Fondo — Fondo is an all-in-one accounting platform for startups. We'll handle your bookkeeping, tax, and tax credits so you can focus on building your startup.
- Mundi — Mundi provides financial, trade development, strategy, freight and reinventing international trade services.
Nissay Capital is a venture capital Company specializing in seed, start-up, growth capital, middle stage, and later stage investment.
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Investment focus
- Health Care, Internet, Medical
- Funding Round, Seed, Series A
- Japan, United States
Portfolio highlights
- Dodai — Dodai manufactures and assembles the electric motorcycles.
- Yap — Yap helps pharmaceutical businesses enter the market in a multitude of methods.
- Pocket Sign — Pocket Sign develops digital platforms that store e-signatures and other authentication details for it's users privacy and security.
Colopl Next is the corporate venture capital of is Colopl, Inc, which is a leading Japanese gaming company. Colopl, Inc. is founded with the mission of “Entertainment in Real Life”, and constantly put its customer as first priority.Colopl Next is headquartered in Japan, but invests globally in a variety of internet businesses, with the commitmentto support innovative entrepreneurs.
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Investment focus
- Virtual Reality, Software, E-Commerce
- Seed, Series A, Funding Round
- Japan, United States, South Korea
Portfolio highlights
- Rybit — A leading technology platform that connects the last mile delivery industry, optimizing and simplifying day-to-day delivery operations.
- Levr.ai — Levr.ai is an intelligent loans platform built to get your business funded—fast
- Return Helper — Founded in 2018, Return Helper is a data-driven return management solution that optimizes return process and the aftermarket activities for online retailers. We support all the major ecommerce platforms including Amazon and FBA, eBay, Walmart, Shopify, Rakuten etc.
Nobuhiro Ariyasu is the CEO at Coach United.
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Investment focus
- Internet, Content, Finance
- Seed, Angel, Funding Round
- Japan, Singapore
Portfolio highlights
- Issues — Issues provides development and management of web service issues that solve the problems.
- Jiraffe — jiraffe focusses on Internet service planning, development, and management.
- Collectest — Collectest specializes in integrating AI into trading card appraisal procedures that show current market pricing and verify authenticity.
After JTB Co., Ltd. and CYBIRD Co., Ltd. as an initial member of Glee Co., Ltd. is responsible for business development. Currently, he is mainly engaged in venture support in the Internet area, investing in venture and venture capital, and served as management advisor for dozens of companies. Hands-on business development, growth strategydevelopment, financing advice, HR organization design support, partner referral and Recruit Support. He is also engaged in business support for ventures in the healthcare and university venture fields. He served as Digital Health Meetup Advisor, NEDOTCP Mentor and Future 2016 Mentor.
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Investment focus
- Content, Marketing, Internet
- Seed, Angel, Pre-Seed
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- AceRNA — AceRNA contributes to regenerative medicine and drug discovery through the discovery of novel miRNA functions. It began operation in April 2018, with its headquarters in Kyoto in Japan.
- Epicbase — Epicbase is an AI-based automatic voice transcription service based on voice recognition technology.
- Go Visions — Go Visions engages in the edutainment tech for children and human resources services.
Joined Intelligence in 1999. Established Key Players Inc. in 2005. Consultation with more than 3,000 managers and career counseling for more than 10,000 individuals. In addition, we have invested in more than 55 outside directors, advisors and angels in Silicon Valley and Bangladesh in Japan. Over 100 lectures on careers, entrepreneurship andstartups.
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Investment focus
- Internet, Information Technology, Media and Entertainment
- Seed, Angel, Funding Round
- Japan, United States
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 .
Chiba Dojo is an entrepreneurial community that supports startup companies in various stages from seed to pre-IPO.
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Investment focus
- E-Commerce, Information Technology, Financial Services
- Seed, Series A, Funding Round
- Japan, Singapore, United States
Portfolio highlights
- AlgaleX — AlgaleX is a firm that utilizes discarded food waste to create ingredients such as plant-based proteins.
- CellFiber — Cell fiber technology was developed as a basic technology for handling cells in the engineering field.
- OPTEMO — OPTEMO develops and supplies sales technology that allows businesses and customers to connect through a website.
Ceres is a company providing internet marketing services and is engaged in the planning, development, and operation of smartphone media.
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Investment focus
- Cryptocurrency, Content, Internet
- Funding Round, Seed, Corporate Round
- Japan
Gumi Ventures helps the new entrepreneurs and businesses to cause a new innovation in the smartphone field. Gumi Ventures supports the new entrepreneurs and businesses that can resonate with gumi listed in the business mission, that cause a new innovation in the smartphone field. They will create a global company that represents the future ofJapan.
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Investment focus
- Video, Media and Entertainment, Gaming
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, Taiwan, Finland
Portfolio highlights
- 1SEC — 1sec is a virtual influencers in Japan,develop in-house and management. IMPACT to CEKAI in 1 second. Based on the concept of making CEKAI happy in one second, US based in Los Angeles and Japan, based in Tokyo, virtual influencers × AI, fashion & music & The company will develop a number of CEKAI's first and first projects in Japan inthe field of enter teignment.
- Mech — Mech is an NFT-based metaverse game that is currently developing their first versions of a match-3 game in which players can earn the in-game currency ore.
- Brave group — Brave group engages in IP development, marketing and support services.
Archetype Ventures is a venture capital firm specializing in B2B Tech seed and early stage venture investments.
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Investment focus
- Software, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence
- Seed, Series A, Funding Round
- Japan, United States
Portfolio highlights
- Spacely — Spacely is a cloud software that allows you to easily create, edit and manage VR web contents using photos taken with a 360 degree camera. From April 1, 2018 the service name has been changed from 3D Stylee to Spacely.
- FLUX — FLUX provide “FLUX Header Bidding Solution” that creates fair competition opportunities and significantly increases advertising revenue within the header bidding server, ad requests are sent to SSPs and ad exchanges all at once, so it is possible to have a pure price competition without prioritization, and to determine the highest bid amount andvalue of the advertising space. I can. Then, the price of the highest bid ad in the header bidding and the ad set in the ad server are competed, and the ad with the higher bid is delivered.
- Sotas — Sotas provides services to chemical trading companies and bridges the gap between raw material producers and consumers.
Ryosuke Matsumoto is the founder and CEO of Community Factory Inc.Ryosuke is born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1981. He joined launching of the publication venture company, and ran a cafe while he was attending Chuo University in Tokyo. Since he joined launching the social media venture company in 2004, he has been in social media business. In2006, Ryosuke founded Community Factory Inc. which specialized in planning and operating social media and blog services.Community Factory started to specialize in social application for mobile from 2009, and Community Factory draw investments of around 4.5 million US dollars from venture capitals and mixi inc. then the biggest social media in Japan. DECOPIC, Community Factory's one of the apps for smartphone, has been downloaded 6 million times in the 6 months since its release, and it is rapidly gaining users mainly in Asian countries.In Sep 2012, Ryosuke and other stock holders sold Community Factory to Yahoo Japan Corp., and he remains as CEO of Community Factory.
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Investment focus
- Art, Reservations, Software
- Seed, Angel, Series A
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- 6curry — 6curry is a brand that creates a new community around “curry”, one of the world's best Japanese foods. The concept is to mix many people and ideas like curry made by mixing various ingredients and spices. Original menu development, weekly events are held in the central kitchen, open only to members. We design and produce communication bornfrom food, such as event catering for over 500 people and communication proposals within the company.
- TRiCERA — TRiCERA is a contemporary art global platform management company.
- vivid garden — vivid garden is an Agriculture company.
Mistletoe is a hub for startups and the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem. It specifically provides learning opportunities for entrepreneurs, facilitates startup communities, invests in and supports startup companies and venture capitals.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Software, Education
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, United States, India
Portfolio highlights
- ULUU — ULUU is an ocean material that replaces plastic and actively benefits the world.
- Funderbeam — Funderbeam is a funding and trading platform that connects companies and investors to buy and sell equity stakes. The platform allows the founders to gain exposure, legal support, a funding manager, or an investor network. It also allows the investors to take control of their investments and trade anytime they want.The company was founded in 2013as a global data platform for startup companies.
- Craft Health — Craft Health aims to combine all your daily medicines and supplements into a single daily pill, through 3D printing of personalized medicines and supplements. Our technology allows controlled release of each active ingredient as selected by the user.
DBJ Capital Co., Ltd. was founded in June 2010 through the integration of two venture capital firms of the DBJ Group, New Business Investment Co., Ltd. and Intellectual Properties Development & Investment, Inc. We are a wholly-owned subsidiary of Development Bank of Japan Inc.At DBJ Capital, we focus on venture firms which use newtechnologies and business models to grow and compete on the global market, regardless of their industry or scale. To meet the particular needs of each client, we mobilize the entire DBJ Group to arrange the best investment solutions, ranging from growth-spurring equity investment to financing schemes drawing on DBJ's vast networks.We also assist in venture start-ups. Our value enhancement team provides the kind of comprehensive, hands-on support needed to commercialize outstanding intellectual property and technologies developed by firms, research labs, and universities, and to carve out a place for them in the market.DBJ Capital will continue to play in a part in Japan's economic revival - by helping the firms we invest in to grow, and by encouraging the creation of new industries in Japan.
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Investment focus
- Software, Internet, Biotechnology
- Funding Round, Series A, Seed
- Japan, United States, Australia
Portfolio highlights
- Cellusion — Cellular technology breakthrough for clear vision of the future.
- Hedgehog MedTech — Hedgehog Medtech is a medical firm focused on digital therapeutics (DTx). DTx is a pharmaceutically approved programmable medical device that assists patients' medical operations via smartphone apps.
- Kyoto Fusioneering — Kyoto Fusioneering is a research & development, design, and manufacture of parts related to fusion reactors.
PE&HR is a private equity and venture capital firm that seeks to invest in incubation, start-up, and early-stage companies. PE&HR primarily invests in the human resources, internet, healthcare, IT, mobile, and social commerce-related industries.
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Investment focus
- Software, Education, E-Learning
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- MEME — MEME is a money app for parents and children to make money more familiar and simplifies the flow of money.
- VIE STYLE — VIE STYLE offers wearable music device and AI technology services.
- Sixty Percent — Sixty Percent is an overseas fashion mail order site that collects street brands from various countries and transmits asian fashion.
Based in Tokyo, Adways is a mobile marketing solution provider mostly known for its Asia’s largest mobile CPI adnetwork “AppDriver” and mobile app measurement & tracking tool “PartyTrack” used by great number of major app developers around the world. Since 2004 when it opened the first overseas office in China, Adways has been aggressivelyexpanding its mobile app distribution network in Asian markets. Now with 1,000 employees in 11 countries (Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and the USA), Adways supports app developers worldwide to maximize their user acquisition and monetization and furthermore thrives to provide new value to the market. Haruhisa Okamura is Founder and CEO of Adways who has grown Adways from a small startup to an international corporation with over a thousand employees around the world. In 2006, Adways went public and Okamura was one of the youngest entrepreneurs to list a company in Japan at that time.You can read his story here: "How a high school dropout became a multi-millionaire entrepreneur" http://www.techinasia.com/high-school-dropout-multimillionaire-entrepreneur/
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Investment focus
- Media and Entertainment, Internet, Software
- Funding Round, Seed, Series A
- Japan
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.
- MICOLY — MICOLY is a operator of a website aimed at publishing and selling creative video lessons. The company hosts lectures that are presented by the creators of all categories who are keen on sharing their techniques and philosophies in areas of nail art, Japanese calligraphy, flower arrangement, knitting and many more, as well as interacting with theirpassionate fans, enabling users to take creative lessons and start a new hobby.
- MiddleField — MiddleField is a team to make cars the best entertainment and to make the lives of everyone involved in cars into entertainment. They creates a society where a lot of people are involved as a middle point of all people's dreams. MiddleField owns and operates an e-commerce platform offering cars.
Shunsuke Oyu is the co-founder of Connehito Inc.
Started an online Q&A platform “mamari” which is the largest platform for moms in Japan. Connehito was acquired by one of the telecom giant KDDI in 2016.
Selected as a “Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia” at consumer technology department. Angel-investing 50+ companies globally.
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Investment focus
- Content, Internet, Media and Entertainment
- Seed, Angel, Funding Round
- Japan, Singapore, United States
Portfolio highlights
- Lecto — Lecto provides Saas solutions to eliminate the tedious practices behind financial services
- SPORTS CROWN — SPORTS CROWN engages in the development and operation of fantasy sports.
- Neighbor — The creative universe of Fortnite is infinite. To give an example , building fantasy and science fiction worlds, creating simple games and full-scale battle games can all be completed with Fortnite. Is the world of Fortnite, played by 350 million users worldwide, is it real or unreal? We will try to combining the vast world of Fortnite with the real world.
Mr. Sugashita joined Polaris as Advisor in May 2011. He is Director and CEO of Sugashita Partners, Ltd since 1998 and provides consulting services to financial institutions and ventures in and outside of Japan. Prior to that position, he was CEO of Lazard Japan Asset Management from 1991 to 1998. His business career also includes positions at DaiwaSecurities and Merrill Lynch Securities, Tokyo Branch. On the academic front, Mr. Sugashita received a BA in Economics from Ritsumeikan University and since 2009 is Special Advisor for the Dean of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.
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Investment focus
- Marketing, Travel, Media and Entertainment
- Seed, Series A, Funding Round
- Japan
After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, he joined Solomon Brothers, where he became the youngest managing director in Asia, where he was in charge of Asian investment. After that, he created one of the largest independent Asuka assets. He also launched Japan's first independent online life insurance company,LifeNet Life Insurance, and inspired Japan's first International.
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Investment focus
- Apps, Content, FinTech
- Seed, Series A, Funding Round
- Japan, Singapore, Spain
Portfolio highlights
- Revorf — Revorf analyzes data and develops AI-related to infectious diseases and healthcare.
- abillion — Find tips for plant-based food & products near you. Join the community to share reviews of restaurants & brands. Raise funds & drive sustainability!
- RIMM Sustainability — RIMM Sustainability provides a SaaS platform that enables companies of all sizes to optimise their sustainability management effort. It builds tools for sustainability management, reporting and optimisation.
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