Top 50 Sports Startup Investors in Japan in October 2024
A list of 50 angel investors and VC (Venture Capital) funds that invest in Sports startups based in Japan. We rank investors based on the number of investments they made in Sports companies from Japan. We update this investor list every month.Top 50 Sports Startup Investors in Japan in October 2024
Mizuho is the venture capital firm affiliated to Mizuho Bank, the second-largest Japanese bank in terms of assets. The firm has headquarters in Tokyo.The firm has ¥49.6 billion JPY under management, focusing on information technology and biotechnology investments. Over 600 Mizuho companies have gone public. According to Nikkei, Mizuho is thefifth-largest venture capital firm in Japan.Mizuho Capital was formed in 2002 by the merger of Fujigin Capital, Tokyo Venture Capital and IBJ Investment. Three firms were subsidiaries of Fuji Bank, Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan respectively.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Software, Internet
- Funding Round, Series A, Series B
- Japan, United States, China
Portfolio highlights
- THE PHAGE — The phage is a medical device company that focuses on developing AI technology to predict postprandial blood glucose levels.
- elleThermo — elleThermo aims to implement Semiconductor-Sensitised Thermal Cells (STCs), an energy conversion technology that can generate electricity from unused waste heat above room temperature.
- Good News — Good News is a staffing agency that provides recruitment, public relations, and human resource management services.
W ventures is a Japan-based venture capital firm investing in Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A rounds. They have been conducting investment to 25 companies in a total of about a year from the start of investment activities in April 2019. The company works not only with investment business but also with companies that provide services related to HR, PR,infrastructure, legal and accounting, etc., as incubation support after investment. It is also characteristic to provide support for the investor companies. In addition, in cooperation with other venture capital companies, Ar Rase TAGE startups regularly hold office hours that allow financing and business consultations to two companies at the same time and actively support startups are doing.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, E-Commerce, Internet
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, Indonesia, United States
Portfolio highlights
- Uniam — Uniam is a manufacturing company that produces and sells pet food and other pet-related products.
- Edukita — Belajar Bahasa Inggris jadi menyenangkan, interaktif, dan memberi hasil yang nyata. Diajar oleh guru asing berpengalaman.
- Fogg Japan — Fogg is a platform that makes life styles more convenient without being affected by trends and deprecation like media and content
Genesia Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on seed/early stage startups in Japan and Southeast Asia. Since it's inception in Dec 2016, Genesia Ventures has invested in over 90 companies in Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and the US. Genesia Ventures invests in various sectors: SaaS, marketplace, Media, Finance, Insurance,RealEstate, Healthcare, Medical, Travel, Education, Manufacturing, Construction, HR, Agriculture, Sports, Retail, Entertainment, etc.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Software, Content
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia
Portfolio highlights
- Flucle — Flucle provides company rule building and risk mitigation, cloud advisor, human resource development, training & labor management services.
- Haul — Haul is a human resources company that provides recruitment consulting and marketing SaaS development services.
- THE PHAGE — The phage is a medical device company that focuses on developing AI technology to predict postprandial blood glucose levels.
An investment that restructures the value and quality.Supplying big capital is not an essential value of our firm.We have a strong attitude to input and drive critical thinking behind a new startup.After the problem is clarified and solution become established in the world,people could not imagine the society without that solution.An investment that innovates this world.We will become a real partner to execute the strategy together.INVENTION OF THE ESSENCE ----we will keep on doing it.
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Investment focus
- Financial Services, FinTech, Finance
- Seed, Series A, Funding Round
- Japan, United States, India
Portfolio highlights
- Niro — Niro is embedding personal credit products into leading consumer internet platforms. The fintech startup aims to disrupt the consumer lending ecosystem in the country by democratizing access to convenient and hassle-free embedded credit products for 624 million internet users in India.
- OTO Capital — India's most trusted place to buy bikes, scooters and electric scooters of all brands on loan and in cash. Digital Process. Lowest EMIs. Fast Deliveries - OTO
- Sharing Energy — Sharing Energy is providing energy supply and energy management services.
ANRI is a Japanese venture capital firm that mainly invests in seed and early-stage startups.
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Investment focus
- Health Care, Information Technology, Software
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, United States, India
Portfolio highlights
- Pragtech — Pragtech develops and operates parking lot service software that helps to eliminate payment congestion and reduce operating costs.
- Crowd Chem — Crowd Chem is an IT company that specializes in software development, data services, and consulting services.
- Mirai no Genba — Mirai no Genba is an IT company that offers AI form creation, input assist, data analytics,and visualization services.
Akatsuki offers MobileSocialGame services. They utilize cutting edge technology and ideas to realize and deliver their ambitions to their users. They provide new value to society through the services we manage daily. Providing services throughout the world that brighten up everyone's daily lives.
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Investment focus
- Media and Entertainment, Gaming, Content
- Seed, Funding Round, Corporate Round
- Japan, India, United States
Portfolio highlights
- Hitcard — Hitcard is a trendy card culture brand that uses technology to upgrade card-like consumer products.
- Stems Labs — community and platform for collaborative creativity
- MetaverseGo — MetaverseGo is a web 3.0 app that offers easy access to Play-and-Earn Games, Guilds, NFTs, and Decentralized Applications allowing users to own assets, connect with industry players, and use their earnings across multiple payment platforms.
Money Forward Venture Partners operates HIRAC FUND, a seed fund specializing in seed and early-stage startups.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Wellness, Software
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, United States
Portfolio highlights
- Crowd Chem — Crowd Chem is an IT company that specializes in software development, data services, and consulting services.
- THINKR — THINKR provides advertising, video production, content, UX design, and animation services.
- Earth Boat — Earth Boat is an accomodation company that specializes in manufacture, sales, and support services of trailer houses and portable saunas.
ANOBAKA is a Tokyo-based venture capital firm with rich group resources to add value to seed-stage startups. ANOBAKA actively invests in and supports startups aiming to be a global leader in the innovative Internet business and promising to greatly grow up in the future. ANOBAKA's investment focuses on fledgling seed-stage startups. Inaddition to investment financing, ANOBAKA provides founders with a variety of business support such as development consulting by our engineers, sales support, and international marketing support.
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Investment focus
- Software, Content, Food and Beverage
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, United States, India
Portfolio highlights
- JOYCLE — JOYCLE is a waste management company that specializes in trash recycling, disposal, and environmental consulting services.
- Livetoon — Livetoon creates intellectual property characters to access various content artificial intelligence.
- Superworm — Superworm is a producer of environmentally friendly and long-term solutions to societal challenges. The company undertakes genome editing research and sells protein powders, biofuels, and organic fertilizers made from superworms, allowing customers to consume insect-derived proteins and biofuels.
Daiwa Corporate Investment is a private investment firm of Daiwa Securities Group that has been engaged in overseas VC investments by taking advantage of an extensive business network in Japan and foreign countries, long experience and professional knowledge, and by supporting the growth of a number of overseas portfolio companies and their stockexchange listings.
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Investment focus
- Software, Task Management, Internet
- Funding Round, Series A, Seed
- Japan, France, Singapore
Portfolio highlights
- GITAI — GITAI is a robotics startup for space development. The company aims to replace astronauts with robots that can work for a long time while being remotely controlled from earth while in low earth orbit space stations to decrease the burden on astronauts, shorten the time it takes to perform work in space, and reduce costs.
- COUNTERWORKS — Counter works is an Information technology company.
- Nippon Hydropowtech — Nippon Hydropowtech uses proprietary technology and experience in hydrolysate production to investigate new food applications.
STRIVE focuses on investing in early-stage (Seed to Series A) internet and mobile companies. It seeks out companies in Japan, Southeast Asia, and India with top-notch management teams and strong market potential. It is not tied to strategic investments for GREE Inc. and leverages its pan-Asia expertise for guiding its portfolio in an engaged,hands-on role.
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Investment focus
- Software, Internet, E-Commerce
- Seed, Series A, Funding Round
- Japan, India, Indonesia
Portfolio highlights
- Asuene — Asuene involves in clean power retail business, retail SaaS business, etc.
- YOUTRUST — YOUTRUST is a startup to operate YOUTRUST a referral recruitment platform for side-job change.
- Testsigma — Powerful cloud-based test automation platform that lets you automate tests for web, mobile, desktop apps, and APIs in minutes. Sign up now!
Nobuhiro Ariyasu is the CEO at Coach United.
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Investment focus
- Finance, Internet, Content
- Seed, Angel, Funding Round
- Japan, Singapore
Portfolio highlights
- PeopleX — PeopleX encourages and assists employees in their professional development.
- PICK — PICK is a startup that provides a digital transformation platform for the real estate and construction industries.
- Collectest — Collectest specializes in integrating AI into trading card appraisal procedures that show current market pricing and verify authenticity.
Tomohito Ebine is non-executive Director at Owls Co., Ltd.
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Investment focus
- Home Services, Information Technology, Consulting
- Seed, Angel, Series A
- Japan, United States
Portfolio highlights
- HOMMA — Inspired Modern Living. Homes to elevate healthy urban lifestyles. Design. Build. Technology.
- 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.
- CAREER BIJIN — Career bijin is a total support company.
F Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Japan.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Software, Service Industry
- Seed, Funding Round, Pre-Seed
- Japan, Hong Kong
Portfolio highlights
- Bgrass — bgrass is a consultation support platform for women working in the IT industry.
- Blankr — Blankr inc has developed an application called Raidli. Using the app, Vtubers can hold a virtual handshake event.
- Tripi — Tripi provides travel media and digital marketing services, as well as the accommodation gift service.
Ishikawa Ryo
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Investment focus
- Sports, Internet
- Seed, Angel
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- Now Do — Now Do provides online growth revolution platform.
STATION AI provides a support program at "PRE-STATION Ai".
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Investment focus
- Software, Information Technology, Sustainability
- Seed, Funding Round, Pre-Seed
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- Alxtal — Alxtal is a tech company who optimize the development, design, and manufacturing processes of the manufacturing industry with IT and AI.
- Tokuiten — Tokuiten is a company that develops systems for the production of organic vegetables and automates their cultivation.
- Swell — Swell is an information technology company that specializes in providing web and digital platforms.
We provide early- and mid-stage venture capital and expertise for extraordinary founders in gaming and emerging technology.
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Investment focus
- Gaming, Video Games, Blockchain
- Seed, Series A, Funding Round
- United States, Germany, United Kingdom
Portfolio highlights
- Loot Labs — Loot Labs builds ways to acquire digital collectibles.
- Series Entertainment — Series.AI is a creative company that specializes in the development of games using artificial intelligence.
- Darkbright Studios — Darkbright Studios is the developer of Smolbound, a Web3 life sim RPG.
XTech Ventures aims to achieve dramatic growth for investee companies by supporting entrepreneurship, multifaceted management support, and IPO support for the excellent middle class who are enthusiastic about entrepreneurship.
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Investment focus
- Software, Information Technology, Media and Entertainment
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan, Italy, United Arab Emirates
Portfolio highlights
- Logo Labo — Logo Labo provides branding and marketing services, including brand development, formulation, IT-based branding and marketing support.
- MUSE — MUSE is a robotics company that provides robotic solutions for retail stores to support in-store operations.
- OpenMoney — OpenMoney is a company that offers information related to financial services.
Joined Intelligence in 1999. Established Key Players Inc. in 2005. Consultation with more than 3,000 managers and career counseling for more than 10,000 individuals. In addition, we have invested in more than 55 outside directors, advisors and angels in Silicon Valley and Bangladesh in Japan. Over 100 lectures on careers, entrepreneurship andstartups.
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Investment focus
- Internet, Information Technology, Human Resources
- Seed, Angel, Funding Round
- Japan, United States
Portfolio highlights
- Kaymak — Kaymak is a recruitment platform that focuses on creating a recruitment website, planning a recruitment strategy, and managing candidates.
- D-Chain — D-Chain offers services related to IT development and production in the Web3 and Web2 fields.
- Rayout — Rayout is a business consulting company that provides creative content development, recruitment videos, and web production services.
Yasuyuki Kin
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Investment focus
- Media and Entertainment, Information Technology, Career Planning
- Seed, Angel, Pre-Seed
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- Onepair — Onepair is a job consulting and recruiting company. Onepair is to co-creating careers by talking about real-world ace with active ace.
- Strainer Co., Ltd. — Strainer Co., Ltd. is an information distribution platform that conveys corporate information centered on financial data. Although there are not a few media to deliver financial information, the company's strengths are strong to be easily viewed, including financial information of overseas companies.
- LAMILA — LAMILA develops system that improves the creation of retail stores.
Makoto Takano is CEO of atomixmedia, inc., publisher and editor-in-chief of Forbes Japan and Rolling Stone Japan since June, 2014. Prior to joining Atomixmedia, Inc., he was Managing Director and President of PIMCO Japan Ltd. Before joining PIMCO in 2001, he was head of marketing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Makoto's prior experiencealso includes work at Daiwa Securities where he was head of the strategists team at Daiwa Institute of Research. He has published extensively on the capital markets. In 1992, he was awarded Securities Analysts Journal Prize by the Securities Analyst Association of Japan. He has also given lectures on asset management at Waseda University and Kyoto University. He holds master’s and undergraduate degrees in engineering from Waseda University. Makoto serves as Director of Nippon Finance Association and Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation.
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Investment focus
- Content, Sports, Apps
- Seed, Series A, Series B
- Japan, Philippines
Kevin Lin is the Co-Founder and CEO of Metatheory. He previously worked at Everyday Ventures as an Owner and Manager. Kevin Lin attended Yale University.
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Investment focus
- Gaming, Information Technology, Video Games
- Seed, Series A, Pre-Seed
- United States, India, United Kingdom
Portfolio highlights
- Karat Financial — Karat is the best card for creators, helping you save money, earn rewards, and grow your channel faster - because content IS a business.
- Nest Wallet — A Wallet Engineered for Traders
- Cosmology — Cosmology is building a unified developer experience for interchain dApps
Kevin Chou is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SuperLayer. He previously worked at Kabam as a Co-Founder and CEO. Kevin Chou attended UC Berkeley, Haas Business School.
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Investment focus
- Gaming, Blockchain, Video Games
- Seed, Series A, Angel
- United States, Japan, Israel
Portfolio highlights
- Key — Key provides a unique method to making significant professional relationships while also promoting career advancement, financial well-being, and work-life balance
- Syndicate — Infrastructure for powerful web3 products at scale
- Community Gaming — CommunityGaming.io combines social gaming, match automation, and blockchain payment technology to make it easy to organize and compete in esports tournaments. Their solution uses automated software and blockchain payment tech to produce fair, transparent, automated results without the complexity normally associated with blockchain solutions. Ourevent platform is a network of thousands of gamers, dozens of venues, and brands who we've proudly brought together across over 200 live and online esports competitions.
Dai Tamesue is the Chief Marketing Officer of Miekuru.
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Investment focus
- Apps, Sports, Health Care
- Angel, Seed, Pre-Seed
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- MIL — MIL is a marketing company it can be used for a wide range of video marketing such as video commerce , O2O measures , recruitment videos , and landing videos.
- vivid garden — vivid garden is an Agriculture company.
- SAMURAI Security —
Yuto Nagatomo - President, CEO, and Founder @ Cuore Co., Ltd.
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Investment focus
- SNS, Video, Beauty
- Funding Round, Seed, Angel
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- MIL — MIL is a marketing company it can be used for a wide range of video marketing such as video commerce , O2O measures , recruitment videos , and landing videos.
- Now Do — Now Do provides online growth revolution platform.
- SAURUS JAPAN —
MSIVC is a venture capital firm that invests in Japanese and global startups scaling to IPO. It focuses on startups in verticals of Fintech, SaaS, Healthcare, AI, E-Commerce, Foodtech, and Environment etc.
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Investment focus
- Software, Information Technology, Food and Beverage
- Funding Round, Seed, Series A
- Japan, United States, India
Portfolio highlights
- AssetHub — AssetHub is an AI-powered 3D modeling tool that enables game developers to create and edit 3D assets 100 times faster, enabling mass production of content and combining AI with manual work, enabling faster prototyping and editing.
- Creatura — Creatura assists companies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by generating and distributing carbon credits and promoting the adoption of renewable energy sources.
- Drone Show Japan — Drone Show Japan company specializes in drone shows for events, aerial photography, and workshops.
2011 At university, participated in the founding period as a director of Atcole Co., Ltd., and started the web service experience.2012 Founded Peroli Co., Ltd.,
which operates a curation platform for women "MERY" .2014 Founded Peroli
Co., Ltd. Sold to DeNA
2015 Jointly established Tokyo Founders Fund as an angel investor and startedinvesting in startups in Japan and overseas
2019 Appointed outside director of FIREBUG Co., Ltd.
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Investment focus
- Internet, Software, Content
- Seed, Angel, Funding Round
- Japan, Hong Kong, United States
Portfolio highlights
- For you — For you is a comprehensive Advertising agency business specializing in SNS.
- Meetscare — Meetscare provides correct information and supports the self-awareness of all people involved in care. The company provides a wealth of information to ensure optimal care and create a mechanism for the realization. Users can make a telephone consultation and web diagnosis and search for free information using the system.Meetscare was founded on2016 and is headquartered in Arakawa, Tokyo.
- SPORTS CROWN — SPORTS CROWN engages in the development and operation of fantasy sports.
Discover Susquehanna, a global quantitative trading firm built on a rigorous, analytical foundation in financial markets.
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Investment focus
- Software, Financial Services, Cryptocurrency
- Series A, Series B, Seed
- United States, China, Singapore
Portfolio highlights
- Datch — Built on top of a powerful connected platform, the Datch Voice Assistant allows you to use the most natural form of communication - your voice - to converse with your site, allowing you to connect and interact with your existing in-house systems through simple integrations.
- BlockGames — BlockGames is a cross-game, cross-chain, decentralized player network accelerating user growth for games, with personalised rewards for players.
- WEE marketplace — WEE is an internet-based company operating from the United Arab Emirates, focusing on providing a marketplace platform that caters to the needs of its users by offering a wide selection of goods with the convenience of fast delivery services. Established in 2021, WEE aims to enhance the shopping experience by ensuring that customers can shop onlineand receive their orders swiftly, emphasizing the value of saving time. With a team of 45 employees, WEE supports various payment methods, including Cash on Delivery, and promotes customer satisfaction with a 14-day free return policy. The company also engages in community activities, such as sponsoring events, to maintain a close relationship with its user base.
Kensuke Furukawa was born in June 2, 1981. He graduated Waseda University majoring Political Science and Economics, and in 2000, he launched "Milkcafe", a student community, which has grown to a site with 10 million PV per month. In 2004, he became the CEO of Media Clip, which operates a rental bulletin board service "ShitarabaBBS". After that year, he had transfer "Shitaraba BBS" to Livedoor, and took charge of starting up the Consumer Generated Media sector. In 2006, he joined Recruit, and took charge of starting up a new business at Business development sector. In June of 2009, he left Recruit, and became the CEO of nanapi (formerly Rocket Start), which operates the How-to Site "nanapi".
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Investment focus
- Content, Media and Entertainment, Social Media
- Seed, Funding Round, Angel
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- Plott — Plott producing youtube animation platform under Vision “Become a Content holder from YouTube”. In August 2019, the company name was changed from Fabo to Plott. Plott, the new company name, is derived from the plot that you make before writing novels, etc., and the idea that “I want to make content all the time” is put in the company name.
- Now Do — Now Do provides online growth revolution platform.
- Neighbor — The creative universe of Fortnite is infinite. To give an example , building fantasy and science fiction worlds, creating simple games and full-scale battle games can all be completed with Fortnite. Is the world of Fortnite, played by 350 million users worldwide, is it real or unreal? We will try to combining the vast world of Fortnite with the real world.
Zeroichi Capital is an independent venture capital firm that invest/R&D startups. Zeroichi Capital assists in a variety of areas, including pre-startup consultation, ideation, business plan planning, establishment procedures, teaming up, and financing, with the goal of reaching the Series A round as soon as possible and putting you on agrowth trajectory beyond that.
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Investment focus
- Apps, Fitness, Wellness
- Seed, Pre-Seed, Series A
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- Opt Fit — Opt Fit is a fitness industry that provides fitness, wellness and health-care services.
- CrossVision — CrossVision offers solutions and services specific to the VTuber market.
- WorkCircle — WorkCircle is an online application that offers an anonymous community for the IT industry where professionals connect and discuss careers.
Saison Ventures is investment arm of Credit Saison.
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Investment focus
- Software, Internet, Content
- Funding Round, Seed, Series B
- Japan, Switzerland
Portfolio highlights
- pickupon — Pickupon is a company that transcribes important parts of the call
- Kenzo — Kenzo enables the operation of a construction-specific ordering platform.
- LUCA Japan — LUCA Japan provides digital access to alternative investments, including but not limited to private equity, real estate, hedge funds, and private credit.
During Hosei University student, and intern at Hakuhodo C & D. After joining the Image-net, I do media monetization of EC site as a media planner. Then, new business, engaged in Alliance. Launched a crowdsourcing site "MILLION DESIGNS" of design in the individual, sold to Ransazu Corporation. Established the Eureka Co., Ltd., wasappointed Representative Director CEO.
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Investment focus
- Food and Beverage, Content, Internet
- Seed, Angel, Funding Round
- Japan, Australia, Hong Kong
Portfolio highlights
- Now Do — Now Do provides online growth revolution platform.
- RE — RE specializes in smartphone application design and development.
- Vitalogue Health — Vitalogue Health offers Canvas, a home-based hormone testing service for women.
Next One for the World.
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Investment focus
- Content, Marketing, Software
- Seed, Funding Round, Series A
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- Aracan — Aracan is an e-commerce business that provides online and offline car-sharing services for vehicles.
- GEOFLA — Geofra develops Planning and creation of items that rejuvenate the movement of people in physical areas, regional revitalization initiatives
- HIGHRESO — GPUSOROBAN is a GPU cloud service that enables anyone to perform high-speed calculations on high-end GPUs with ease. Hi-Res, the running business, is the first GPU cloud operator in Japan to be accredited as a "NVIDIA Elite Partner," the program's highest level (CSP Compute field). Furthermore, it received the "Best CSP Partnerof the Year" award at the NVIDIA NPN Partner Award 2022. It is widely used by university research institutes, large corporations, and AI venture firms, with over 100 uses per year.
Yoshinori Fukushima - CEO @ LayerX
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Investment focus
- Internet, Marketing, Media and Entertainment
- Seed, Angel, Series A
- Japan, Singapore
Portfolio highlights
- Now Do — Now Do provides online growth revolution platform.
- Manabie — Manabie is an Education Technology start-up company on a mission to provide a new style of online & offline merged learning around the world. We provide students with everything they need for efficient learning; high-quality learning materials, great learning environments, personal coaches and more! We believe that our new method of learning,integrating online and offline will dramatically innovate the way students learn.
- PeopleX — PeopleX encourages and assists employees in their professional development.
Hiroaki Kitano is the SVP at Softbank Mobile. He attended Waseda University.
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Investment focus
- Health Care, Information Technology, Fitness
- Seed, Angel, Debt Financing
- Japan, United States
Portfolio highlights
- GPx — GPx is a biotech company that revolutionizes remote chronic disease management with bloodless blood tests. It is dedicated to transforming the standard of care of cardiorenal diseases and enabling patients to better understand their condition, much like the continuous glucose monitor has transformed diabetes care.The company was founded in 2020and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Epistra — Epistra accelerates research and development in life sciences.
- Activaid — Activaid owns and operates a social data platform for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. It allows patients to support and exchange information within the patient community with the same disease; provide information necessary for new drug development and matching to clinical trials that suits them; and improve medical treatment. YasuakiHasebe founded Activaid in 2018. It has its headquarters in Tokyo in Japan.
Mitsubishi UFJ Capital is a venture capital firm focusing on life science, ICT, and high technology investments.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Software, Health Care
- Funding Round, Series A, Series B
- Japan, United States, China
Portfolio highlights
- Flucle — Flucle provides company rule building and risk mitigation, cloud advisor, human resource development, training & labor management services.
- Triorb — Triorb is a technology company that specializes in robot mobility development with the help of software and hardware solutions.
- Symbiobe — Symbiobe develops and promotes a resource-recycling material production platform that effectively utilizes natural biomass resources and photosynthetic organisms, which have not been fully exploited in the past, and to update manufacturing around the world to a form that can be passed on to the next generation, thereby making sustainable society...
After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, he joined Solomon Brothers, where he became the youngest managing director in Asia, where he was in charge of Asian investment. After that, he created one of the largest independent Asuka assets. He also launched Japan's first independent online life insurance company,LifeNet Life Insurance, and inspired Japan's first International.
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Investment focus
- Apps, Content, FinTech
- Seed, Series A, Funding Round
- Japan, Singapore, Spain
Portfolio highlights
- Revorf — Revorf analyzes data and develops AI-related to infectious diseases and healthcare.
- abillion — Find tips for plant-based food & products near you. Join the community to share reviews of restaurants & brands. Raise funds & drive sustainability!
- RIMM Sustainability — RIMM Sustainability provides a SaaS platform that enables companies of all sizes to optimise their sustainability management effort. It builds tools for sustainability management, reporting and optimisation.
Dr. Kamada earned his Ph.D. at the University of Tokyo. In 1984, he pursued his journey to establish his own business that focused on information appliances and mobile software, namely ACCESS Co., Ltd.. With great success, the company entered the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers Market in 2001. He left ACCESS Co., Ltd. in 2011, and founded TomyK Ltd.in 2012 where he supports startups possessing revolutionary business ideas that revitalize the Japanese economy.
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Investment focus
- Fitness, Medical, Genetics
- Seed, Angel
- Japan, United States
Portfolio highlights
- Activaid — Activaid owns and operates a social data platform for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. It allows patients to support and exchange information within the patient community with the same disease; provide information necessary for new drug development and matching to clinical trials that suits them; and improve medical treatment. YasuakiHasebe founded Activaid in 2018. It has its headquarters in Tokyo in Japan.
- Genomelink — Genomelink is a platform where people discover more with their DNA data and help businesses build, market and do research with it. The best founders in consumer genomics with real experience in the industry for many years, including M3, Inc. ($13B valued Meditech in Japan), a founding member of the Japanese version of 23andMe, and leadbioinformatician and software engineer at a joint-venture between Illumina and Sony. Raised $4M for Seed Round from Berkeley SkyDeck, SONY, and top-tier Japanese VCs. Supported by Illumina Accelerator, Carlos Bustamante Lab at Stanford University among others.
- MinD in a Device — MinD in a Device Co., Ltd. is a university-launched venture that aims to port human consciousness to devices (machines and computers) in the medium to long term based on long-term research results on consciousness. As the first step toward realization, we will evolve and deepen the "generation model" considered to be the source ofconsciousness, and promote the development of next-generation AI and social implementation.
Toru Shimada is a Senior Executive Officer and Director of Rakuten. Mr. Shimada is a Director of Rakuten Baseball, Inc., and Head of Asia Regional Headquarters Office of the Company.Mr. Shimada joined Rakuten in 2004. Prior to joining Rakuten, Mr. Shimada was founder and Director of INTELLIGENCE, LTD from 1989 to 2004. Prior to INTELLIGENCE, LTD.Mr. Shimada worked at RECRUIT CO., LTD. from 1987 to 1989.
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Investment focus
- Task Management, Manufacturing, Content
- Seed, Angel, Funding Round
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
Otomi Tomohiro - CEO @ Tyrus
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Investment focus
- Health Care, Travel, Content
- Seed, Angel, Funding Round
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- CUICIN — Quickin is changing the travel experience with the digital transformation.
- HANOWA — HANAWA is a matching platform between freelance dental hygienists and dental clinics.
- Magic Shields — Magic Shields is a manufacturer and seller of floors, nursing care, and welfare products.
Asia Venture Group is a hands-on, private Internet Holding Company and focuses on long-term value creation in South East Asian online markets. Asia Venture Group targets the sweet spots of the Asian internet space by combining: state of the art international know-how and expertise, rigorous execution excellence, outstanding international managementtalent, and the best local partners. Asia Venture Group focuses on digital distribution models and is extremely selective in terms of the companies it supports, which allows strong engagement in day-to-day operations.
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Investment focus
- E-Commerce, Artificial Intelligence, Food and Beverage
- Seed, Series A, Series C
- Malaysia, India, Japan
Portfolio highlights
- iPrice Group — Shop now with the largest selection of top brands and products in the region - all in a single website! Discover new products, compare smartphone prices and products. Get the latest coupon and voucher codes for Lazada, Zalora, Qoo10, Grab Car, and more!
- BeatFit — BeatFit is a fitness-tech startup based in Japan.
- Flower Chimp — Best Price online for fresh Flowers by #1 florist in Malaysia with same day FREE Delivery on all orders. Shop for Roses, Sunflowers, Baby Breath flower bouquets & gifts from a wide selection for any occasion at FlowerChimp. Over 200 bouquets, stands and hampers to choose from - all prepared by experienced professionals
Nagoya Small and Medium Business Investment & Consultation Co. Ltd. operates as a venture capital company. The Company provides small businesses investments, medium size businesses investments, and other businesses. Nagoya Small and Medium Business Investment & Consultation serves customers throughout Japan.
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Investment focus
- Video, Drones, Medical
- Series A, Series B, Funding Round
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- UniFa — UniFa is the developer of LookMee, an AI and IoT-powered healthcare solution for tracking kindergarteners' physical and mental growth. The system consists of LookMee Nap Check, an IoT sensor that aims to secure a baby's naptime; LookMee thermometer, which measures and monitors the baby's body temperature; and LookMee Photo, acommunication and photo-sharing service that collects data from children at kindergarten to give parents a better idea of their child's well-being
- Opt Fit — Opt Fit is a fitness industry that provides fitness, wellness and health-care services.
- Carbon Fiber Recycle Industry — Carbon Fiber Recycle Industry co.ltd. offers carbon fiber recycling services and further sells the fiber. It also sells carbon fiber recycling plant and equipment. The company as founded in 2006 and is based in Kani Gun, Japan.
Asuka Holding is a principal investment firm.
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Investment focus
- Sports, Banking, FinTech
- Seed, Series A, Funding Round
- India, Japan
Portfolio highlights
- BeatFit — BeatFit is a fitness-tech startup based in Japan.
- WorkIndia — With WorkIndia.in a Job seeker can search the best jobs throughout India and schedule the Interview at their convenience. And an employer can post the vacancy and get calls directly from the prospective candidate.
- Cube — Cube is enabling everyone to invest in the simplest manner possible along with guidance from the world’s top performing investment managers - the same that guide the world’s richest families. The service is already live in India, and soon to be available across USA and multiple Asian countries. Cube has an experienced team that comes from theworld of fintech, entrepreneurship, design, systems, banking, and global sales. It is founded by Satyen Kothari, a battle scarred entrepreneur who is on his 5th adventure. He has previously founded Citrus Pay in India and three companies in the Silicon Valley. Citrus was sold in 2016 in India’s largest fintech cash deal at the time and was processing $2 bn at its peak and servicing 20 mn users.
Dai-ichi Kangyo Credit Cooperative is the company research and investing information.
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Investment focus
- Content, Task Management, E-Learning
- Funding Round, Seed, Corporate Round
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- Pathee — Pathee is a search engine that finds specific information for people starting from their current location. The next-generation search engine to find information of close ones starting from the current location.
- Insight Core — Insight Core is a store promotion specialized application platform service.
- Omatsuri Japan — Omatsuri is Japan's first festival company specializing in Japan.We provide planning, management, promotion, and customer support for festival organizers from local governments to store associations.
Z Venture Capital is the venture capital arm of Z Holdings that invests in companies that focuses on the insurance and finance industry.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Content, E-Commerce
- Seed, Series A, Series B
- Japan, South Korea, Thailand
Portfolio highlights
- k-ID — At k-ID, we specialize in integrating safety and privacy by design compliance solutions for digital platforms, focusing on creating a safer, more responsible online environment for children and teenagers.
- Utaite — Utaite is an operator of an entertainment platform that focuses on planning, production, and development of entertainment content.
- Turing — Turing develops and manufactures fully autonomous vehicles.
JAPANET will send timely and profitable information, mainly on information on Japan Takata's program information and flyers and catalogs.
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Investment focus
- Sports, Education, Information Technology
- Pre-Seed
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- SPORNIA — SPORNIA is an editor of sports knowledge technology.We provide support for athletes using content and monetization using emerging media such as SNS and YouTube.
The Chugoku Electric Power Company, Incorporated is engaged in the provision of total solutions for electric business.The Company operates in four business segments. The Electricity segment is engaged in the provision of electricity. The General Energy Provision segment is engaged in the sale of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as the provisionof services utilizing electricity and heat energy. The Information Communications segment is engaged in the telecommunication business, information processing and the design of information systems. The Others segment is involved in the provision of engineering services, the agent sale of real estate and the repair of instrumentations, among others.
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Investment focus
- Fitness, Wellness, Food Processing
- Seed, Funding Round
- Japan
Innovation Engine has been is promoting investment to create and grow promising business areas created from technology. Established in 2001 and it is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
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Investment focus
- Robotics, Information Technology, Medical
- Funding Round, Series A, Series C
- Japan
Portfolio highlights
- LisB — LisB provides cloud service development, smartphone, tuplet, PC application development web system.
- Astroscale — Astroscale is the first private company with a vision to secure the safe and sustainable development of space for the benefit of future generations, and the only company solely dedicated to on-orbit servicing across all orbits.
- Ispace Technologies — ispace is a private lunar robotic exploration company that is developing micro-robotic technology to provide a low-cost and frequent transportation service to and on the Moon, conduct lunar surface exploration to map, process and deliver resources to our customers in cislunar space.
Future Venture Capital Co., Ltd. is a venture capital firm specializing in early stage investment. The firm invests in diversified investment in a broad range of industrial sectors. It seeks to invest in Japan. The firm prefers to be the lead investor in its portfolio companies. Future Venture Capital Co., Ltd. was founded in 1998 and is based inKyoto, Japan with offices in Tokyo, Aomori, Iwate, Yamagata, Kanazawa, Mie, Sakai, Kobe, and Ehime.
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Investment focus
- Information Technology, Manufacturing, Health Care
- Funding Round, Seed, Series A
- Japan, United States, Myanmar
Portfolio highlights
- Torana — Torana provides "Toysub!" well known as educational toy subscription service in Japan market. We plan to go global and will be more bigger market share holder in East Asia. We collect month-age base toy feedback data and children's development status information. We plan best combination of toys and deliver. Customer returns and getsnew toys which fit children's growth and it is eco friendly service. We plan to build our own brand toys based on massive customer feedback and growth data and enter D2C market.
- LIFESCAPES — LIFESCAPES is a research and manufacturer of brain-computer interface equipment.
- IGNITE IMPULSE, INC. — As a digital agricultural enhancing service, Ignite impulse offers a variety of services, some of which include the following: agricultural software and equipment rentals, sales, maintenance, and leasing solutions; self-regulated farm shells with pre-installed vertical farming solutions; machined irrigation consulting and installations; artificialintelligence (AI) powered farming solutions; hydroponics farming consultation- partnership and installations; supply chain and logistics partnership; and more.Ignite Impulse also offers hydroponics solutions, as well as controlled farming assistance and consulting, to corporate, government, and educational organizations as part of our cooperation with these entities.
Global Brain Corporation is a venture capital firm that invests in companies from seed or early to pre-IPO startups. Global Brain has invested in 300+ startups from seed/early to pre-IPO startups and achieved 25 IPOs and 61 M&As as a result of providing hands-on support services and resources to its portfolio startups. Global Brain hasmanaged a pure investment fund as well as multiple corporate venture capital funds partnered together with tier 1 public companies of telecom, real estate development, financial service, beverages, agriculture food, logistics, and electronic devices.
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Investment focus
- Software, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence
- Series A, Series B, Funding Round
- Japan, United States, United Kingdom
Portfolio highlights
- Symbiobe — Symbiobe develops and promotes a resource-recycling material production platform that effectively utilizes natural biomass resources and photosynthetic organisms, which have not been fully exploited in the past, and to update manufacturing around the world to a form that can be passed on to the next generation, thereby making sustainable society...
- DoctorMate — DoctorMate is a service that allows you to consult with your doctor about problems at your nursing home.They will reduce the risks and burdens related to medical care from the field of nursing care, and support the creation of a system that allows nursing care providers to concentrate on daily care with peace of mind.
- GC Therapeutics — Discover GC Therapeutics, a pioneer in scalable, cutting-edge cell therapies designed to revolutionize treatment across a broad range of therapeutic areas.
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 Shimbunhas 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.
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Investment focus
- Big Data, Apps, Art
- Seed, Series A, Series C
- Japan, United States
Portfolio highlights
- Fuller — 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.
- ookami Japan — 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.
- Binded — 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.
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