The Asahi Shimbun Company
VC Fund
Tokyo, Japan
The Asahi Shimbun Company is a VC fund in Tokyo focused on Apps and Big Data. The Asahi Shimbun, which was first published in 1879, is one of Japan’s leading newspapers. They strive not only to protect both peace and democracy but also to strengthen them, and to serve the community and the people as a “company with vision and purpose.” That is The Asahi Shimbun Company’s core purpose—their point of origin. The Asahi Shimbun has an extensive news-gathering network that provides seamless coverage every day. In Japan, there are general bureaus and bureaus in all 47 prefectures; with an additional 5 general bureaus and 29 bureaus in place around the world. All in all, there are 320 domestic and global news-gathering bases.
- Total investments:
- 11
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 0%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries The Asahi Shimbun Company invests in
Stages The Asahi Shimbun Company invests in
Countries The Asahi Shimbun Company invests in
Round sizes
Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Round size
- Seed
- $950k–$1.9M
- Series A
- $1.2M–$6.4M
- Series C
- $2.3M–$9.7M
Investment Focus
Industry
- Apps 3 (27%)
- Big Data 3 (27%)
- Art 2 (18%)
- SaaS 2 (18%)
- Video 2 (18%)
Stage
- Series C 3 (27%)
- Seed 2 (18%)
- Series A 2 (18%)
- Venture - Series Unknown 2 (18%)
- Corporate Round 1 (9%)
Country
- Japan 8 (73%)
- Ireland 1 (9%)
- United States 1 (9%)
Team
| Name | Title | Investments | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hiro Nozawa
Manager of Silicon Valley Office
|
Manager of Silicon Valley Office | Total investments: 0 | Find email | |
|
Ueno Riichi
Founder
|
Founder | Total investments: 0 | Find email |
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| MyDearest is a Full dive product planning and development company | $2.3M / Series C / Jun 02, 2025 | ||
| BitStar is the EnterTech company that accelerates the growth of video creators and content with our proprietary data and technology. | $9.7M / Series C / Aug 20, 2018 | ||
| Binded lets creators claim their copyrights on the blockchain and protect them for free. A creator uploads their art or photos to Binded via our website or integrations with creative tools like Instagram. We create a timestamp in the Bitcoin blockchain and give a certificate as proof. We are developing technology to create uniquefingerprints for all copyrighted works and store them on the blockchain. Like Youtube’s Content ID system for the entire internet. For every copyright claimed, we scan the web and show matches for possible copyright infringement. In 5 years we hope to be the main way copyrights are registered and utilized. | $950K / Seed / May 24, 2017 | ||
| Ookami provides Player, a sport media application. It is a startup that creates new value of sports by harmonizing individuals and IT technology. The company offers technology solutions, with a particular focus in financial services software, application and communication software, software as a service, and online social networking services. | $1.2M / Series A / Mar 14, 2017 | ||
| NewsWhip is the world's most comprehensive content discovery and analytics database. Their suite of products give customers the ability to predict which stories will be important today, and understand how to create successful content over the long term.NewsWhip serves over 500 of the world's leading publishers, brands and agencies,including: Reebok, the Washington Post, Conde Nast, Google, MasterCard, BuzzFeed, Time Inc., and more. NewsWhip Spike is their real-time, predictive content discovery dashboard — offering a one-stop view of what's important across both the web and 5 social networks. Spike is the only tool that discovers stories within 2 minutes of publishing, and predicts their spread across social.NewsWhip Analytics is a database of how audiences have engaged with stories across every social network over the long term. NewsWhip customers use Analytics to benchmark how they stack up against competitors and track engagement trends around events and seasons. | $6.4M / Series A / Feb 14, 2017 | ||
| Fuller is a software development company that builds mobile phone applications and provides internet media services. The company’s products include App Ape Analytics and App Ape Lab.App Ape Analytics is a trend research and analysis app that investigates the usage of Android terminal, and offers the viewing rate data; the number of active usersof the application; and user attribute information such as the user’s age gender, the user who is in possession of the application, and more.App Ape Lab analyzes the trends and offers real-time information of the app market.Fuller was founded in 2011 and is based in Chiba, Japan. | $4.2M / Series C / Jul 20, 2016 | ||
| Palmie is a service that allows you to learn how to draw illustrations and manga that you could only learn at books and vocational schools with videos while you are at home. | Corporate Round / Jun 16, 2016 | ||
| AXIS MOTION facilitates an online platform that enables its users to find information, news, and updates related to real estate industry. AXIS MOTION offers opportunities for individuals to earn money by providing information related to real estate industry. AXIS MOTION was founded in July 2010 and is based in Tokyo, Japan. | $412.2K / Convertible Note / Aug 31, 2015 | ||
| Study Plus is an educational application developed to facilitate collaborative studying. | $1.5M / Venture - Series Unknown / May 08, 2015 | ||
| Fuller is a software development company that builds mobile phone applications and provides internet media services. The company’s products include App Ape Analytics and App Ape Lab.App Ape Analytics is a trend research and analysis app that investigates the usage of Android terminal, and offers the viewing rate data; the number of active usersof the application; and user attribute information such as the user’s age gender, the user who is in possession of the application, and more.App Ape Lab analyzes the trends and offers real-time information of the app market.Fuller was founded in 2011 and is based in Chiba, Japan. | $1.9M / Seed / Feb 27, 2015 | ||
| See all 11 investments → | |||
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FAQ
What does The Asahi Shimbun Company invest in?
The Asahi Shimbun Company invests primarily in Apps, Big Data and Art startups, most often at Series C and Seed stage. Most of the 11 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Japan. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
What round sizes does The Asahi Shimbun Company invest in?
The Asahi Shimbun Company typically joins rounds of $950k–$1.9M at Seed, $1.2M–$6.4M at Series A and $2.3M–$9.7M at Series C. These are whole funding-round sizes, not The Asahi Shimbun Company's own check, which is rarely disclosed: the 10th–90th percentile of the confirmed public funding rounds The Asahi Shimbun Company took part in.
How do I contact The Asahi Shimbun Company?
Public channels for The Asahi Shimbun Company include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. 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 The Asahi Shimbun Company?
The team at The Asahi Shimbun Company includes Hiro Nozawa (Manager of Silicon Valley Office) and Ueno Riichi (Founder). 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 Oct 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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