# MLC Ventures

> MLC Ventures is a VC fund in Nihombashi-hamacho backing E-Commerce and Robotics. See 9 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Nihombashi-hamacho, Japan
- Total investments: 9
- Last investment: Jul 2026
- Lead investor: 22%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- Website: https://mlc-ventures.co.jp

MLC Ventures is a corporate venture capital firm that supports start-up businesses.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Series C | $2.8M–$12M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| E-Commerce | 4 | 44% |
| Robotics | 3 | 33% |
| Logistics | 3 | 33% |
| Internet | 2 | 22% |
| Transportation | 2 | 22% |

19 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 2 | 22% |
| Series B | 2 | 22% |
| Series C | 2 | 22% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 2 | 22% |
| Seed | 1 | 11% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Japan | 7 | 78% |
| Hong Kong | 2 | 22% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| T2 | T2 Co offers services like automatic driving of huge trucks to provide a trunk transportation service. | $30.8M | Series B | Jul 21, 2026 |  |
| Return Helper | Return Helper makes cross border ecommerce return easy - for both seller and buyer. We enable ecommerce merchants in APAC to offer the most cost-effective return solution in US, UK, Europe and Australia. Return Helper is a data-driven platform that connect shipping carriers, 3rd party warehouses, sales channels and aftermarket services. Weoptimise not only the return process & the aftermarket activity for online retailers, thus reducing cost, maximising sales and saving environmental resources but also the buyer return experience which boosts customer loyalty | $4M | Series A | May 29, 2026 |  |
| Buy&Ship | Buyandship provides cross-border eCommerce solution focusing on Marketing and Logistics. At Buyandship, is redefining the experience of E-Commerce without changing the sites, disrupting the underlying infrastructure, we provide consolidate, aggregate and load-balance shipments across the world to the consumer's doorstep. Our technologyfocuses on connecting the fragmented existing logistics infrastructure to create a seamless experience for both merchants and consumers, and the benefit is that they get a solution that is 30-50% less than other carriers. We also work with merchants, marketplaces, and platforms to create a channel to reach an audience across our geographies (9 Countries currently) and reaching over 1.5M+ people per month whilst growing. We envision our members being able to purchase from any site around the world and have it seamlessly be shipped home. No more geographical restrictions, No more price monopolies, No more ambiguous shipping situations. We are building towards a transparent system, where both buyers and sellers just focus on the product. | $12M | Series C | Jan 05, 2026 |  |
| Luup | Luup is Japan's #1 e-scooter and e-bike sharing service provider. Luup currently operates in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Yokohama, while planning to expand to other cities all over Japan. The service is based on a high-density port network, where anyone can rent and return to their original fleets. | $28.2M | Venture - Series Unknown | Nov 27, 2025 |  |
| S-Mat | S-Mat is an eco-friendly IoT purchase system for on-demand, no-hassle grocery with cost-effective shipping. | $2.8M | Series C | Apr 10, 2025 |  |
| LOMBY | LOMBY is a logistic firm that delivers orders through its robotic machines. | $1.9M | Seed | Oct 01, 2024 |  |
| PICK | PICK is a startup that provides a digital transformation platform for the real estate and construction industries. |  | Series A | Aug 26, 2024 |  |
| Cuebus | Cuebus is a logistic company that provides a three-dimensional robot warehouse that uses linear motors. | $1.5M | Series B | Feb 13, 2024 |  |
| Ugo | UGO is creating future avatar robots and a platform that connects the administration of multiple robots to achieve the ''fusion of humans and robots,'' or ''collaboration with robots to perform employment that used to be performed only by humans. | $6M | Venture - Series Unknown | Dec 21, 2023 |  |

9 of 9 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Kuribayashi Steamship](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/kuribayashi-steamship) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Life Design Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/life-design-fund) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sumitomo-mitsui-auto-service) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Sumitomo Warehouse](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sumitomo-warehouse) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Yoshida Kaiun](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/yoshida-kaiun) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Abies Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/abies-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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## FAQ

### What does MLC Ventures invest in?

MLC Ventures invests primarily in E-Commerce, Robotics and Logistics startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 9 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Japan. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is MLC Ventures's check size?

MLC Ventures typically joins rounds of $2.8M–$12M at Series C. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds MLC Ventures participates in.

### When did MLC Ventures last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for MLC Ventures closed in Jul 2026. Shizune tracks 9 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### 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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