Top 5 Publishing Angel Investors in Japan (August 2026)

Kazuhiro Ishikura served as the head of the Akatsuki Business Management Department in 2013 and as a corporate auditor of Akatsuki in 2014, contributing to the company's listing on the TSE Mothers and TSE 1st sections. Appointed 3minute CFO in 2015, engaged in business start-up and organizational design, and succeeded in large-scale M & Adeal with Glee. After leaving the company, he became a WARC director in November 2018. Certified public accountant.

Investment focus

Industry: Beauty, Events, Apparel
Stage:Seed, Angel, Pre-Seed
Geography: Japan

Investor stats

Total investments: 9
Round size: Seed $453k–$7.1M; Angel $2.8M–$28M
Lead/follow: 0% lead, 100% follow

Portfolio highlights

Neith — Neith is a apparel manufacturer, seller and a whoelseller of water absorbing bralette, lingerie and shorts for women.
WARC — WARC provides hands-on support for business management departments as well as mergers and acquisition advisory services.
Vitalogue Health — Vitalogue Health is a hormone testing service intended to provide access to hormones and medical care. They allow users to self-check the physical condition for pregnancy and how hormones affect it, whether the symptoms are related to menopause, and provide personalized test results, commented on by physicians.

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Kazuhiko Ishikura is based out of Tokyo, Tokyo and is the Co-Founder and Director of SDF Capital. Kazuhiko previously worked at 3minute Inc. as a Director. Kazuhiko Ishikura attended Aoyama Gakuin University.

Investment focus

Industry: Beauty, Content, Fashion
Stage:Seed, Angel, Pre-Seed
Geography: Japan

Investor stats

Total investments: 12
Round size: Seed $329k–$7.1M; Angel $2.8M–$28M
Lead/follow: 8% lead, 92% follow

Portfolio highlights

Neith — Neith is a apparel manufacturer, seller and a whoelseller of water absorbing bralette, lingerie and shorts for women.
WARC — WARC provides hands-on support for business management departments as well as mergers and acquisition advisory services.
Vitalogue Health — Vitalogue Health is a hormone testing service intended to provide access to hormones and medical care. They allow users to self-check the physical condition for pregnancy and how hormones affect it, whether the symptoms are related to menopause, and provide personalized test results, commented on by physicians.

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After working at KDD Corporation ï¼ˆCurrently known as KDDI Corporationï¼‰, Kiyoshi Nishikawa next went to work at Arthur D. Little Inc. in the United States, where he became inspired to start his own company. After returning to Japan, he established a Japanese corporation of the worldâ€™s largest Internet company, America On Line, LLC. Later andbased on this experience and the relationships he developed, he founded the first Internet business incubator, NETAGE, Inc. After serving as the President and CEO of NETAGE Group, he later became and still serves as the Chairman of ngi group, inc. Kiyoshi was one of the main entrepreneurs responsible for proposing and realization of â€œShibuya Bit Valley Conceptâ€ and is well known for his various speeches and writings. He is a graduate of the Department of Education at Tokyo University.

Investment focus

Industry: News, Social Media, Big Data
Stage:Seed, Pre-Seed
Geography: Japan, United States

Investor stats

Total investments: 12
Round size: Seed $680k–$2.8M
Lead/follow: 8% lead, 92% follow

Portfolio highlights

PoliPoli — PoliPoli is a next-generation politics co-creation platform where you can participate like a game. Politicians from all over Japan post their policies in an easy-to-understand manner, and those who sympathize can enjoy working on the "missions" necessary to realize the policies.
Astroscale — Astroscale is one of the few companies in the world proposing to aid in the removal of orbital debris through the provision of End of Life (EOL) and Active Debris Removal (ADR) services. In addition to providing a technical solution, Astroscale is helping to define the business case for this service and are working with national space agencies,international institutions, non-profit organizations, insurance companies and satellite operators to develop norms, regulations and incentives that contribute to the responsible use of space.
TECHFUND — TechFund is a venture capital firm specializing in incubation and seed stage investments. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

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Noboru Miyata is the Founder at SmartHR .

Investment focus

Industry: Software, Apps, SaaS
Stage:Seed, Series A
Geography: Japan

Investor stats

Total investments: 5
Round size: Seed $933k–$1M; Series A $2.7M–$6.8M
Lead/follow: 0% lead, 100% follow

Portfolio highlights

iiba — Iiba is a geospatial platform that specializes in providing location information related to child-rearing.
Nagaku — Nagaku is a web magazine that publishes about culture along with web development, PR, marketing, and consulting services.
PartnerSuccess — PartnerSuccess develops and provides SaaS tools that automate the collaboration between manufacturers and distributors.

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