# Masanori Sugiyama

> Masanori Sugiyama is a seed investor at Thirdverse backing Internet and Software. See 10 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Thirdverse](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/thirdverse)
- Total investments: 10
- Last investment: Jul 2019
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/masanori.sugiyama.315

Masanori Sugiyama is a seed investor at Thirdverse focused on Internet and Software. He graduated from Kansai University in 1988. He was enrolled in Ljoma while he was in college. 2002 Vice President of Practice (now index lights). In 2004, he became president of zappallas. Listed on the TSE Mothers in the second year of his appointment, and in 2010 he was listed in part of the TSE. In 2011 he became the CEO of enish. Listed on apart of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Thereafter, he served as outside directors such as Nikkatsu and JibannetHD.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $6M–$18M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Internet | 4 | 40% |
| Software | 4 | 40% |
| Web Design | 2 | 20% |
| Media and Entertainment | 2 | 20% |
| Apps | 1 | 10% |

29 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 6 | 60% |
| Angel | 2 | 20% |
| Series A | 1 | 10% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 10% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| STUDIO | Studio is a web design & development platform that enables users to build websites from scratch without coding. | $18.4M | Seed | Jul 25, 2019 |  |
| STUDIO Japan | STUDIO is a development and operation of the next-generation design tool. | $18.4M | Series A | Jul 25, 2019 |  |
| 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 . |  | Seed | Apr 24, 2019 |  |
| Smartround | Smartround is a specialized finance management platform for startups and their investors. For start-ups, for entrepreneurs who are not familiar with finance, simply enter the necessary information according to the guide, prepare appropriate financing round, and prepare a function that can simulate and execute a capital increase. Support informationsharing and communication with shareholders even after the capital increase. | $7.6M | Seed | Mar 06, 2019 |  |
| WATASHIHA | WATASHIHA is a communication company. | $6M | Seed | Dec 25, 2018 |  |
| FOWD | FOWD is a comprehensive entertainment company in Japan. |  | Seed | Jan 01, 2018 |  |
| Wantedly | Wantedly is a Tokyo-based startup that uses the web to make work the most exciting it’s ever been.Wantedly is a social recruiting platform that allows users to find interesting jobs based on their social graphs.To make this happen,Wantedly has created a platform where people and companies meet based on passion and values, rather than money orbenefits. | $28.3M |  | Jun 12, 2015 |  |
| BASKET | BASKET is an internet-based home delivery cleaning service company. |  | Seed | Apr 30, 2015 |  |
| Border | Border provides opportunities for business people to work globally through technology and new ways of working. The company provides a dedicated chat system to enable customers to make arrangements in a safe and inexpensive manner using the response that enables quick decision making like making a reservation on their own and the expertise of atravel agency doing. |  | Angel | Apr 01, 2015 |  |
| Emotion Intelligence | Emotion Intelligence, Inc. (Emotion intelligence abbreviation “emin”) is company performs “congnitive emotional interaction design” by analyzing unconscious and subconscious human behaviors and interprets the subtleties of human emotions. The analysis methods are based on academic fields such as cognitive science and behavioral economics.The"technology that understands emotions" perceives human emotions in order to predict behavioral changes.Emotional Intelligence studies these emotions based on human unconscious behavior, thereby establishing a method for estimating the flow of the emotional changes.Emotions inferred from human actions are captured in a machine that utilizes such technology for obtaining feedback from human responses. Through this method, the human being and the machine perform a bi-directional interaction that they have designed in their system. This includes the process and framework they call "interaction design."This technology has begun to evolve in the area of E-commerce. It can be applied to all fields of business, and has established a design and trial method. |  | Angel | Dec 25, 2014 |  |

10 of 10 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [D4V](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/d4v) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Monex Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/monex-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [NIPPON DESIGN CENTER](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/nippon-design-center) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [NOW Japan](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/now-inc) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [PARTY](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/party-japan) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [THE GUILD](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/the-guild-70a4) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About Thirdverse

VC Fund · Tokyo, Japan

Thirdverse is a web3 and virtual reality game studio that develops and operates multiplayer virtual reality games. The company combines the technology of blockchain to create an economic zone and a virtual world, enabling customers to experience seamless gameplay in a virtual environment.Thirdverse was founded in 2016 and is headquartered nTokyo, Japan.

5 contacts available at Thirdverse.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Masanori Sugiyama | Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sugiyama-tomonori |
| Chad Reddick | Senior Platform Engineer | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/chad-reddick |
| Hironao Kunimitsu | Founder & CEO | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hironao-kunimitsu |
| Isao Moriyasu | Executive Producer of Web3 games | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/isao-moriyasu |
| Kiyoshi Shin | CSO | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/kiyoshi-shin |

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## FAQ

### What does Masanori Sugiyama invest in?

Masanori Sugiyama invests primarily in Internet, Software and Web Design startups, most often at Seed and Angel stage. Most of the 10 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Japan. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Masanori Sugiyama's check size?

Masanori Sugiyama typically joins rounds of $6M–$18M at Seed. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Masanori Sugiyama participates in.

### When did Masanori Sugiyama last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Masanori Sugiyama closed in Jul 2019. Shizune tracks 10 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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