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  • Writer's pictureKelly Alica Liman

Top 35 VC Funds and Angel Investors in Japan

As the third-largest economy in the world, Japan's ecosystem and industries are highly developed and sophisticated. The Japanese government's effort in introducing regulations and initiatives to promote foreign investment and startup development has paid off - with a vast pool of investments pumping into the thriving startup ecosystem. Furthermore, the country has a strong long-term investment culture, making it an ideal market for startups seeking patient capital. Japan is undoubtedly an appealing destination for entrepreneurs looking to obtain funding for their growth. In this article, we have compiled a comprehensive list of VCs and Angel Investors in Japan, so you may find the right funding partner for you.


➡️ Click on the link to download ​the FULL LIST of VCs & Angel Investors including over 1,000+ listings with contact links!



VCs and Angel investors in Japan
VCs and Angel investors in Japan

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Why Should You Raise Funds in Japan?


Here are some of the main reasons why raising funds in Japan may be an effective growth path for your startup:

  1. High Investment Activity: Japan's venture capital and angel investment scene are growing and thriving. In 2022, startups reached another record high, raising JPY 877.4 billion which broke 2021's record of JPY 850.8 billion. Furthermore, the Japan Foreign Trade Organization estimates that there are roughly 2200 active angel investors in Japan as of 2020, a number that has surely increased since then. Japan has also established programs to promote foreign investment, such as the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), along with a slew of regulations and tax incentives that make investing in Japan easy and attractive for foreign investors.

  2. Strong Government Support: Promoting the startup ecosystem is a domestic policy priority in Japan. The Japanese government designated 2022 as the "first year of startup creation," with a growth plan and supplementary budget prepared for developing Japan's startup ecosystem as a growth engine. These include a slew of deregulations allowing autonomous driving and crowdsourcing, as well as decreasing the period between listing approval and IPO. The Japan Finance Corporation has also developed a fund to invest in startups and small enterprises, while the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry has formed the "J-Startup" program, which provides assistance and resources to entrepreneurs.

  3. Strong Corporate Involvement: Open innovation and collaboration with startups are gaining traction in Japan. Corporate venture capital and accelerator programs have increased in popularity among large corporations seeking to diversify beyond in-house innovation strategies. To respond to the market's rapid technological growth and radical changes in recent years, corporations are keen to invest in and collaborate with startups to seek and promote commercial synergies using their internal reserves and R&D capacities. These corporate partnerships provide startups with numerous opportunities to access resources and networks and receive funds to deploy and pilot their solutions, as well as build their credibility in the market.



Venture Capitalist Funds in Japan


The venture capitalist funds below are actively looking for investments in promising companies throughout various stages and sectors. The stages stated do not limit the possibility of getting funding if your company is at any stage other than what is listed.



HAX

  • Year of Inception: 2011

  • Stage: Pre Seed

  • Focus: Hard Tech

  • Notable Portfolio: Somatic, R-Zero, Formlabs, Drip, Nura

  • Contact



Samurai Incubate

  • Year of Inception: 2008

  • Stage: Pre Seed, Seed, Series A

  • Focus: Sector Agnostic

  • Notable Portfolio: Classmate, ILEO, Morus, PaylessGate, Ventus

  • Contact



Scrum Ventures

  • Year of Inception: 2013

  • Stage: Seed, Series A

  • Focus: Sector Agnostic

  • Notable Portfolio: GrubMarket, OSSO VR, NOOM, Photosynth, Origin, Vidpresso

  • Contact



Coral Capital

  • Year of Inception: 2019

  • Stage: Seed, Series A

  • Focus: Sector Agnostic

  • Notable Portfolio: Aipass, Skysense, Woodstock.club, Zeroboard, AnyReach

  • Contact



DCM

  • Year of Inception: 1996

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B

  • Focus: Communications & Infrastructure, Components, Internet & Digital Media, Social & Gaming, Software & Services

  • Notable Portfolio: Analogix, Augmedix, BitTorrent, Coffee Meets Bagel, Honeycomb

  • Contact





Cyber Agent Capital

  • Year of Inception: 2006

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B

  • Focus: Internet

  • Notable Portfolio: Paidy, Retreat Technologies, Allesgood, Glocalist

  • Contact



Strive

  • Year of Inception: 2011

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B

  • Focus: Sector Agnostic

  • Notable Portfolio: Playthink, Qoala, Grab, Galapagos, RABO, Relook, Pintek

  • Contact



XTech Ventures

  • Year of Inception: 2018

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B

  • Focus: Sector Agnostic

  • Notable Portfolio: Tricot, Spacemarket, Cocolive, Slogan, Monokabu, Rabo

  • Contact



JAFCO

  • Year of Inception: 1973

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B

  • Focus: Sector Agnostic

  • Notable Portfolio: Repro, Money Forward, Chatwork, LayerX, Air Closet, TamaHome

  • Contact



Real Tech Holdings

  • Year of Inception: 2015

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B

  • Focus: Technology

  • Notable Portfolio: JALA, Profile Print, Sentient.io, Shiok Meats, Aerodyne

  • Contact





Global Brain

  • Year of Inception: 1998

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: Ad, AgriTech / FoodTech, AI, Blockchain, Climate Tech, Cloud / SaaS, Commerce, Cybersecurity, Education, Electronics and Photonics, Energy, Enterprise, Entertainment Tech, Fintech, Game, HR Tech, IoT, Life Science / Healthcare, Materials, Media, Mobility, Quantum Computing, Real Estate Tech, Robotics, Space, Travel Tech, XR / Metaverse

  • Notable Portfolio: Base Food, Tapjoy, Coins.ph, Giftee, Mercari, eSPORTS, Comnico

  • Contact

East Ventures

  • Year of Inception: 2009

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: AgriTech, Commerce, Crypto, D2C, EdTech, F&B, FinTech, HealthTech, Logistics, SaaS

  • Notable Portfolio: 99.co, Anyplace, AppBrew, Base, Carro, Fairbanc, GoTo, Japan Info

  • Contact


SBI Investment

  • Year of Inception: 1996

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: AI, Blockchain, FinTech, IT Service/DX, Security, EC, Life Science, Healthcare, Bio, Environment, Other Advanced Technologies

  • Notable Portfolio: Space Market, Accuthera, Campfire, Modalis, Ascent

  • Contact



ANRI

  • Year of Inception: 2012

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: Consumer Enterprise, Frontier, Healthcare

  • Notable Portfolio: Conyac, UUUM, CLUE, AppBrew, Rentio, Hubble, Strand Therapeutics

  • Contact



Globis Capital

  • Year of Inception: 1996

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: DeepTech, Technology, Consumer Enterprise

  • Notable Portfolio: Smart Bank, FlyWheel, Anyflow, Photosynth, Leaner

  • Contact





UTEC

  • Year of Inception: 2004

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: Science and Technology

  • Notable Portfolio: MiRTEL, Elixirgen Therapeutics, Faraday Pharmaceuticals, Regcell

  • Contact



Nissay Capital

  • Year of Inception: 1991

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: Sector Agnostic

  • Notable Portfolio: Aillis, Welyco, Axell, Olygogen, KOTAI, Clover Lab

  • Contact



Z Venture Capital

  • Year of Inception: 2012

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: Software, Commerce, Media, Fintech, SaaS, AI, Data, Crypto, Healthcare, HR, Edtech, Cybersecurity

  • Notable Portfolio: Aiming, 17Live, Baseconnect, Dialpad, Geniee, Hubble, KKDay

  • Contact



Incubate Fund

  • Year of Inception: 2010

  • Stage: Series A

  • Focus: Sector Agnostic

  • Notable Portfolio: Aiming, Ceres, bellFace, Aquwa, Axel Mark Group, bitFlyer

  • Contact



Progression Fund

  • Year of Inception: 2020

  • Stage: Series A, Series B

  • Focus: Consumer, Social, Gaming & Entertainment, Social Commerce & Marketplaces, Work, Wellness, & Education

  • Notable Portfolio: Dapper Labs, Sandbox VR, Omeda Studios, Wave XR, Luma

  • Contact





D4V

  • Year of Inception: 2016

  • Stage: Series A, Series B

  • Focus: Consumer & Enterprise Technology

  • Notable Portfolio: Cinnamon AI, Evolany, Scalar, STUDIO, Infostellar, Panalyt

  • Contact



Abies Ventures

  • Year of Inception: 2017

  • Stage: Series A, Series B

  • Focus: Deep Tech, Hard Science

  • Notable Portfolio: Mawari, Cuebus, Lebo Robotics, Rutilea, Telexistence

  • Contact



Mizuho Capital

  • Year of Inception: 1983

  • Stage: Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: IT / Internet, Service, Bio/Healthcare/Medical Manufacturing

  • Notable Portfolio: Techtouch, Amptalk, Sorajima, Ascenty, Nudge

  • Contact



31Ventures

  • Year of Inception: 2015

  • Stage: Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: PropTech, IoT, Cyber Security, Sharing Economy, E-commerce, FinTech, Energy and GreenTech, Robotics, AI and Big Data, Healthcare, Mobility, Space, Food, Agriculture, Entertainment

  • Notable Portfolio: Yanekara, Gaussy, nearMe, SANU, Photosynth

  • Contact



ABC Dream Ventures

  • Year of Inception: 2015

  • Stage: Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: Social Impact

  • Notable Portfolio: MONOCO, BluAge, OSIRO, Rei Frontier, Loss Zero Corporation

  • Contact





World Innovation Lab

  • Year of Inception: 2014

  • Stage: Series B, Series C

  • Focus: B2B SaaS, FinTech, InsurTech, Automation and Productivity, Cybersecurity, Cloud, Infrastructure, Developer Tools, Health Tech, Sustainability

  • Notable Portfolio: Asana, ADARA, DeepL, Sendbird, Mural, Ladder, SkyDrop

  • Contact



KDDI Open Innovation Fund

  • Year of Inception: 2018

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: AI, IoT, Big Data, XR, Healthcare, Robotics, Home, New Technology, Financial, Sports, Entertainment, New Space

  • Notable Portfolio: Sorajima, PoliPoli, Nudge, Gojo and Company, Mirrativ, Kirilys Therapeutics

  • Contact



NTT DOCOMO Ventures

  • Year of Inception: 2008

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: B2B, B2C

  • Notable Portfolio: Techtouch, Sidetracker, PoliPoli, Senseye, Arcturus, Photosynth

  • Contact



Sony Innovation Fund

  • Year of Inception: 2016

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: Entertainment, FinTech, Healthcare, IoT, Mobility, Deep Tech, Sensor Technologies

  • Notable Portfolio: aba, Caulis, Cinnamon, FastLabel, Infostellar, RUN.EDGE

  • Contact



Dentsu Ventures

  • Year of Inception: 2015

  • Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: Sector Agnostic

  • Notable Portfolio: Arraiy, CLUE, Folio, Kakehashi, Kauche, Loom.ai, OpenWeb

  • Contact





Itochu Technology Ventures

  • Year of Inception: 2000

  • Stage: Series A, Series B

  • Focus: Technology

  • Notable Portfolio: Thinkcyte, Volterra, Skydrive, Beatrust, Kakehashi, Yappli

  • Contact



Mitsubishi UFJ Capital

  • Year of Inception: 1974

  • Stage: Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: IT, Services, Manufacturing, Life Science, Retail

  • Notable Portfolio: LayerX, Link Therapeutics, PostCoffee, Beatrust, Scalar, Aculys

  • Contact



SMBC Venture Capital

  • Year of Inception: 2005

  • Stage: Series A, Series B, Series C

  • Focus: Social Impact

  • Notable Portfolio: Elements, Torico, Modalis, Base, Aiming, Cookbiz

  • Contact





Angel Investors in Japan


The Angel investors listed below are part of an Angel community located throughout Japan. They may act as an individual or as a syndicate to fund projects of their preference, so these networks are the best opportunity for you to find a potential Angel with an aligned vision and interests.


Yakumi

  • Stage: Seed

  • Focus: Sector Agnostic

  • Notable Portfolio: -

  • Contact



Keiretsu Forum Japan

  • Stage: Seed

  • Focus: Sector Agnostic

  • Notable Portfolio: -

  • Contact





Closing Thoughts on VCs and Angel Investors in Japan


Said to be in its fourth venture boom, Japan now has over 10,000 active startups. The Japanese venture capital and angel investor ecosystem are growing more lively, supportive, and varied, making it an appealing place for startups looking for finance and assistance. With numerous regulations and frameworks put in place to assist both entrepreneurs and investors alike, this trend should only continue into the future.













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