# Top 10 Startup Investors in Japan in June 2026 ## Kakao Investment - Type: VC Fund - Location: Seongnam, Kyonggi-do, South Korea - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Software Incorporated in 2015, Kakao Investment is a 100% subsidiary of Kakao which specializes in venture capital investments.Based on Kakao’s philosophy of “Connect Everything”, Kakao Investment seeks to invest and support innovative start-ups that can realize interpersonal connection and the connection of all of us to the things around us. Also KakaoInvestment strives to foster a virtuous circle with in the venture environment by facilitating M&As and IPOs. ## SuMi TRUST Innovation Fund - Type: VC Fund - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A - Focus: Beauty, Education, Agriculture SuMi TRUST Innovation Fund is a vehicle jointly established by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and SBI Investment. ## SMBC Venture Capital - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A, Series B - Focus: Information Technology, Health Care, Software Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and its group companies offer a broad range of financial services centered on banking. They are also engaged in the leasing, securities, credit card, investment, mortgage securitization, venture capital and other credit related businesses. The following lists the activities of SMBC, its subsidiaries andaffiliates in the various business segments. ## David Smilow - Type: Angel - Location: New York, New York, United States - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A - Focus: Incubators, Venture Capital Mr. Smilow serves as Managing Director of Avenida and is a member of the Investment Committee. Mr. Smilow is a founder of Avenida, where he is responsible for portfolio and risk management. Mr. Smilow has been a sponsor of over a dozen start-up companies and has acquired approximately USD $250 million of real estate assets in the United States andLatin America over the course of his career. Mr. Smilow was the Founder and Chairman of Jefferson National Financial (“JNF”), an insurance company with over USD $2 billion of assets that offers variable annuity and other retirement products. Mr. Smilow oversaw investment activities and strategic planning for JNF, which was sold to Citibank in 2011.In addition, Mr. Smilow was the Founder, Chairman, CEO and CIO of TeleBanc (now E*Trade Bank). Under his direction, Telebanc became the largest Internet bank worldwide before its sale to E*Trade in 1999. Prior to founding TeleBanc, Mr. Smilow was a fixed income portfolio manager and trader at Goldman Sachs and Drexel Burnham Lambert.Mr. Smilow serves or has served on the Board of Directors of nine different companies, as well on the Board of Outward Bound Minnesota, Trust for Public Land Maine, and the Johns Hopkins Second Decade Society. Mr. Smilow has also lectured at Harvard Business School, New York University and Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Smilow received a BA from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. ## Headline - Type: VC Fund - Location: San Francisco, California, United States - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A, Series B, Seed - Focus: Software, E-Commerce, Information Technology Headline is a Venture Capital firm actively on the ground in 7 cities around the world. We invest across categories and geographies, leading rounds at every stage. Once we commit to a team, we go to the ends of the earth to make their success global. ## Kevin Ryan - Type: Angel - Location: New York, New York, United States - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Series A, Series B - Focus: Software, E-Commerce, Real Estate Kevin Ryan is the Founder and CEO of AlleyCorp. He previously worked at MongoDB as a Founder and Chairman. Kevin Ryan attended Yale University. ## Seibu Shinkin Capital - Type: VC Fund - Location: Shioya, Kumamoto, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A, Seed - Focus: Task Management, Artificial Intelligence, Apps Seibu Shinkin Capital is an investment, M & A, and incubation office that contributes to the promotion of the local economy. ## Sony Innovation Fund - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A, Series B - Focus: Artificial Intelligence, Software, Health Care Sony Innovation Fund is investing in technology-driven transformational companies shaping the future of business, entertainment and society. ## Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Debt Financing, Post-IPO Debt - Focus: Financial Services, Energy, Information Technology Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation offers a broad range of financial services centered on banking. They are also engaged in leasing, securities, credit card, investment, mortgage securitization, venture capital, and other credit-related businesses. The following lists the activities of SMBC, its subsidiaries, and affiliates in the various businesssegments.It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. As of the year 2009, SMBC was the second largest bank in Japan in terms of assets. ## Kiyoshi Nishikawa - Type: Angel - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed - Focus: News, Social Media, Big Data After working at KDD Corporation （Currently known as KDDI Corporation）, 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 world’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 “Shibuya Bit Valley Concept” and is well known for his various speeches and writings. He is a graduate of the Department of Education at Tokyo University.