# 500 Startups Japan

> 500 Startups Japan is a VC fund backing Internet and Software. See 31 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: San Francisco, United States
- Total investments: 31
- Last investment: Jul 2019
- Lead investor: 19%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/500startups_jp
- Website: http://500startups.jp/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/500StartupsJapan

500 Startups Japan is a VC fund in San Francisco focused on Internet and Software. 500 Startups is the most active seed VC in the world. 500 Startups Japan is a $35M regional fund focusing on Japan.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for 500 Startups Japan. Shizune tracks 2 team members at 500 Startups Japan. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/500startups-japan?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $2.8M–$21M |
| Series A | $7.9M–$300M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Internet | 6 | 19% |
| Software | 4 | 13% |
| SaaS | 3 | 10% |
| Human Resources | 3 | 10% |
| Task Management | 3 | 10% |

57 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 12 | 39% |
| Series A | 7 | 23% |
| Funding Round | 4 | 13% |
| Series B | 2 | 6% |
| Convertible Note | 1 | 3% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| James Riney | Head | 30 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/james-riney |
| Yohei Sawayama | Managing Partner | 10 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/yohei-sawayama |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Noin | Noin specializes in cosmetics and delivers content that accurately captures trends like videos that solve girls worries. | $113.4M | Series B | Jul 07, 2019 |  |
| Connected Robotics | Connected Robotics is an information technology company that designs and manufactures robotic arms for enterprises. The company's product, OctoChef, provides cooking services. It caters to individual restaurants, shopping malls, stations, service areas, amusement centers, and large-scale events. The company was founded in 2014 and is basedin Koganei-shi, Japan. | $7.9M | Series A | Jul 05, 2019 |  |
| Trustdock | Trustdock is a platform for identity confirmation API service in Japan. You can outsource KYC / identity confirmation via online API, complying with various laws including criminal profit transfer prevention law, antique sales law, cell phone fraud prevention use law etc. It can be used with any ID service regardless of business type, such asmatching to FinTech, shared eco, etc. |  |  | May 15, 2019 |  |
| Graffer | Graffer is a citizens' movement in the form of a start-up that brings the future to life. Graffer is to create a free and open social infrastructure that solves the various challenges of the traditional government system and enables individuals and businesses to take action smoothly. | $25.5M |  | Jan 21, 2019 |  |
| Hokan | hokan is developing an InsurTech service called "hokan"​ which is CRM/SFA SaaS service for insurance agents. | $19.8M | Seed | Jan 15, 2019 |  |
| 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. | $26.9M | Seed | Dec 03, 2018 |  |
| Holmes | Holmesis a cloud contract system to consistently carry out the creation, conclusion and management of contracts in the cloud. | $73.7M | Series A | Nov 01, 2018 |  |
| Zehitomo | Zehitomo is an Japanese online platform that enables user to hire local service professionals, from photographers to personal trainers. | $56.7M | Series A | Jun 12, 2018 |  |
| KAKEHASHI | KAKEHASHI is the opportunity of Their foundation to want to become "Kakehashi connecting medical treatment and patients" "Kakehashi connecting medical care with a bright future". Japan is a country possessing world-class medical technology and medical system, it is a country with prominent longevity to be proud of in the world.In 2060, one in 2.5 people will enter an unprecedented super aging society of 65 years old and over, one in four will be over 75 years old. To think about the way of medical care that supports the healthy life expectancy in Japan is nothing but creation of the future image of Japanese society. | $127.6M | Series A | May 14, 2018 |  |
| Noin | Noin specializes in cosmetics and delivers content that accurately captures trends like videos that solve girls worries. | $300M | Series A | Mar 28, 2018 |  |

10 of 31 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [ANOBAKA](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/kvp) — VC Fund, 7 deals together
- [DNX Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dnx-ventures) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [BEENEXT](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bee-next) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [STRIVE](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/gree-ventures) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Mizuho Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mizuho-capital) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [East Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/east-ventures) — VC Fund, 3 deals together

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### Similar country
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## Featured in investor lists
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## FAQ

### What does 500 Startups Japan invest in?

500 Startups Japan invests primarily in Internet, Software and SaaS startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 31 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Japan. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is 500 Startups Japan's check size?

500 Startups Japan typically joins rounds of $2.8M–$21M at Seed and $7.9M–$300M at Series A. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds 500 Startups Japan participates in.

### How do I contact 500 Startups Japan?

Public channels for 500 Startups Japan include X (Twitter), the website linked on this profile and Facebook. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at 500 Startups Japan?

The team at 500 Startups Japan includes James Riney (Head) and Yohei Sawayama (Managing Partner). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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