Venture Capital Firms in Tokyo

Adams Street Partners is a leading global private markets investment manager headquartered in Chicago. Established in 1972, the firm has over five decades of experience in private equity, offering a comprehensive suite of investment strategies including venture capital, growth equity, buyouts, private credit, and secondary investments. The firm is 100% employee-owned, fostering a culture of alignment and long-term commitment to its clients. With a presence in more than 30 countries across five continents, Adams Street Partners leverages its extensive network and deep industry insights to identify and capitalize on investment opportunities. The firm's global footprint includes offices in key financial centers such as Austin, Beijing, Boston, London, Menlo Park, Munich, New York, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto, enabling it to maintain close relationships with portfolio companies and investors worldwide. Managing approximately $62 billion in assets under management, Adams Street Partners serves a diverse client base comprising corporate and public pension plans, foundations, family offices, and endowments. The firm's commitment to excellence and innovation in private markets investment management has solidified its reputation as a trusted partner for institutional investors seeking long-term value creation.

Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., founded in 1992, is a leading global alternative investment firm headquartered in New York City. With approximately $65 billion in assets under management, Cerberus specializes in private equity, credit, and real estate strategies. The firm leverages its integrated investment platforms and proprietary operating capabilities to drive long-term value for investors. The firm is known for its flexible and disciplined investment approach, often targeting distressed assets and underperforming businesses across the capital structure. Cerberus has built a strong track record through value-driven turnarounds, including high-profile investments such as Chrysler and various non-performing loan portfolios worldwide. With a presence across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and Africa, Cerberus operates through a global network of affiliate and advisory offices. Its diversified strategies and operational depth allow it to navigate complex markets and deliver consistent returns across asset classes and geographies.

Eight Roads is a global investment firm that manages over $11 billion of assets, with a strong focus on partnering with ambitious entrepreneurs to build transformational businesses. With a legacy of over 50 years, the firm operates as a long-term capital partner, offering more than just funding by providing strategic support, deep sector expertise, and a broad global network.The firm specializes in growth-stage investments, backing innovative companies in healthcare, technology, and consumer sectors. Eight Roads is known for its operational insight and collaborative approach, often taking an active role in helping portfolio companies scale and succeed in competitive markets.With offices in Europe, India, China, Japan, and the US, Eight Roads leverages a truly global perspective while tailoring support to local contexts. Its mission is to empower businesses that challenge the status quo and create long-lasting impact across industries and geographies.

Geodesic Capital is a venture capital firm that bridges Silicon Valley innovation with Japanese market opportunities. Founded in 2015 by former U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos and venture investor Ashvin Bachireddy, the firm specializes in supporting U.S.-based technology companies aiming to expand into Asia, particularly Japan. With deep roots in both regions, Geodesic offers strategic guidance and capital to help startups navigate international growth. The firm's investment strategy focuses on mid-to-late-stage technology companies across sectors such as artificial intelligence, enterprise software, cybersecurity, and fintech. Geodesic provides more than just funding; it offers access to a network of senior executives, partners, and government officials, facilitating market entry and expansion in Asia. This holistic approach ensures that portfolio companies are well-equipped to succeed in new markets. In 2025, Geodesic launched the $250 million Geodesic Alliance Fund, aimed at strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance by investing in early-stage startups developing technologies relevant to national security, including AI, space, and robotics. Backed by Japanese government entities and leading corporations, the fund underscores Geodesic's commitment to fostering innovation that benefits both nations.

Headline Asia, formerly known as Infinity Ventures, is a premier venture capital firm founded in 2008 by Akio Tanaka and Hirofumi Ono. Headquartered in Tokyo, with offices in Taipei and Beijing, the firm invests in early-stage technology companies across Asia. It is part of the global Headline network, a VC platform with independent teams in the US, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. This global alliance allows Headline Asia to provide strategic cross-border support to startups with international ambitions. Headline Asia specializes in sectors such as internet services, mobile applications, consumer technology, fintech, and emerging technologies like Web3. With a highly selective investment approach, the firm has backed more than 100 startups to date and achieved nine IPOs. It is particularly known for its hands-on involvement with portfolio companies, offering operational guidance, regional expansion expertise, and connections across its global network. The firm's 2021 rebranding from Infinity Ventures to Headline Asia symbolized a strategic move to unify its brand with its sister firms across continents. This repositioning strengthened its global identity and reinforced its mission of supporting visionary founders from seed to scale. With a focus on Japan, Greater China, and Southeast Asia, Headline Asia remains a key player in nurturing Asia's next generation of tech leaders.

HSG (HongShan Capital Group), formerly known as Sequoia Capital China, is a premier global venture capital and private equity firm founded in 2005. With over two decades of experience, HSG has backed more than 1,600 companies featuring transformative technologies, disruptive business models, and high-growth potential. The firm has nurtured entrepreneurship and innovation across multiple stages of investment, including seed, venture, growth, buyout, and infrastructure, managing approximately $56 billion in assets.Headquartered in Hong Kong, HSG operates offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, London, and Tokyo, serving a global client base of top institutional investors such as sovereign wealth funds, foundations, pension funds, corporations, and family offices. Its portfolio companies collectively serve billions of customers in over 150 countries, with more than 160 companies having gone public and over 140 achieving unicorn status.HSG is committed to helping founders build enduring, legendary companies while delivering superior returns to its limited partners. The firm leverages extensive resources, including a robust entrepreneurial community and deep industry expertise, to support its portfolio companies.

Insight Partners is a global growth‑stage investor that focuses exclusively on software and technology‑enabled businesses. Since its founding in 1995, the New York‑headquartered firm has deployed capital across more than 800 companies worldwide and guided over 55 of them to public offerings. With more than US$90 billion under management, Insight invests at every stage from minority growth rounds to majority buyouts, but always with an eye toward helping founders scale efficiently. The firm’s Onsite program provides portfolio companies with a dedicated team of operators, marketers, engineers and talent specialists who help drive product development, revenue growth, sales effectiveness and executive hiring. Insight’s portfolio spans vertical and horizontal software, cybersecurity, fintech, data analytics and digital infrastructure across North America, Europe, Israel and Asia. Unlike many investors, the firm is comfortable writing very large checks and often leads financing rounds. Insight prioritizes partnership, often remaining involved for years as companies expand into new markets or prepare for IPOs. Its culture blends analytical rigor with entrepreneurial empathy, rooted in the belief that enduring software companies are built through disciplined execution, customer obsession and continuous innovation.

LYFE Capital is a leading healthcare investment platform founded in 2015, with a presence across Asia and the United States. The firm is led by seasoned investment veterans and operators who have navigated multiple market cycles. LYFE Capital focuses on investing in critical healthcare supply chain assets, specialized product platforms, and next-generation research and development services, enabling portfolio companies to generate significant and resilient revenues from mature global markets.The company actively supports a diverse portfolio of healthcare companies, including contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), surgical robotics, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), pharmaceutical development, and clinical research organizations (CROs). LYFE Capital leverages its global ecosystem and strategic partnerships to help companies scale operations, expand geographically, and enhance operational efficiency, particularly bridging markets between Asia and the U.S.With offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, and Palo Alto, California, LYFE Capital manages approximately USD 2 billion in assets under management. The firm invests across multiple healthcare sectors, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, healthcare services, and digital health. LYFE Capital emphasizes ESG principles and supports companies at various stages, primarily focusing on early to growth-stage ventures with established products seeking international expansion.

Remiges Ventures is a cross-border venture capital firm primarily focused on the life sciences sector, with a particular emphasis on drug discovery and development. The firm actively engages in company creation, leveraging intellectual properties from Japanese academia to establish innovative ventures. Beyond incubation, Remiges Ventures also takes lead positions in syndicating Series A and later-stage investment rounds globally, supporting the growth of therapeutic companies. They manage RDiscovery, an incubator dedicated to nurturing early-stage drug discovery seeds and advancing them towards more mature development stages.The firm was founded in 2014 by Taro Inaba, who brings over 30 years of extensive experience in business, including more than two decades in life science start-up financing and company creation. Remiges Ventures operates with a distinctive cross-border strategy, aiming to bridge the entrepreneurial and biotech ecosystems of the United States and Japan, and capitalize on Japan's rich innovation in life sciences. This approach allows them to build new companies based on groundbreaking seed technologies from Japanese researchers while also investing in promising early-stage companies worldwide.Remiges Ventures boasts a diverse portfolio of companies, reflecting its commitment to advancing medical science. Notable investments include Immunis, which has licensed treatment candidates for Parkinson's disease and announced positive results for sarcopenic seniors; Cyrano Therapeutics, focused on regenerative therapy for smell loss; Glycomine, a provider of replacement therapies for rare genetic diseases; and Kupando, a biopharmaceutical company developing cancer and infectious disease therapies. Other portfolio companies include Viage Therapeutics, Myrodia Therapeutics, Ride Health, KisoJi Biotechnology, IMEL Biotherapeutics, OMEICOS, InFlectis BioScience, Tranquis Therapeutics, and Capacity Bio. The firm's involvement extends to supporting significant research findings, such as those from LUCA Science published in Nature Metabolism, and strategic collaborations like KisoJi Biotechnology's partnership with Cancer Research UK.The team at Remiges Ventures comprises experienced professionals with deep expertise in the life sciences and investment management. Key members include Managing Partner Taro Inaba, Operating Partner Walter Olesiak, and Partners Takaaki Tobaru and Taka Koda. The team also includes a Director of Finance, additional partners, venture partners, senior associates, investment managers, and advisors. The RDiscovery team further strengthens their scientific capabilities with a Chairman, Chief Medical Officer, scientific advisors, and researchers, ensuring comprehensive support for their portfolio companies from scientific validation to market development.

SBI Investment Co., Ltd., founded in 1996 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a core venture capital company within the SBI Group. It operates and manages venture capital funds with a mission to become a "New Industry Creator," focusing on creating and cultivating core industries of the 21st century. As part of the SBI Group, which offers a broad range of online financial services including banking, securities, and insurance, SBI Investment supports the growth and business development of unlisted startups through strategic VC investments. The firm has invested in a total of 1,314 companies domestically and internationally, with 219 successful exits via IPOs or M&As as of March 31, 2025. Its investment philosophy emphasizes backing ventures in growth sectors such as information technology, biotechnology, and life sciences, while expanding into emerging fields like 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), big data, robotics, healthcare, infrastructure, and agriculture. SBI Investment leverages the SBI Group’s extensive management resources to help portfolio companies overcome operational challenges and enhance corporate value. Investment decisions at SBI Investment are guided by a comprehensive evaluation of management talent, market potential, uniqueness, competitive differentiation, and business model feasibility. An advisory board of specialists and fund investors ensures diversified and well-rounded investment judgments. With a commitment to supporting venture companies’ growth aspirations, SBI Investment contributes to societal advancement and the realization of innovative technologies aligned with Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 goals.

Founded in 2013 by Tak Miyata, Scrum Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in San Francisco and Tokyo, with satellite offices in Minneapolis, New York, Illinois, and Seattle. The firm leverages deep expertise from Silicon Valley and Japanese corporate networks to invest in and accelerate startups across the U.S. and Japan. Scrum Ventures emphasizes a thematic investment approach, targeting emerging trends and transformative technologies. Scrum Ventures partners with major Japanese corporations such as Panasonic, Biprogy, Fujitsu, and DeNA, providing portfolio companies with strategic support and partnership opportunities to expand into the Japanese market and beyond. The firm also operates Scrum Studio, a platform connecting global corporations with startups to foster innovation and collaboration. Scrum Ventures launched its first vertical fund, the $68 million Scrum Sports & Entertainment Fund I, focusing on startups transforming sports, media, and lifestyle sectors. The firm supports its portfolio with capital, strategic advice, and extensive networks to facilitate global growth, emphasizing hands-on involvement in hiring, fundraising, and business operations.

Tencent is a world-leading internet and technology conglomerate with a robust investment arm, actively shaping the digital landscape globally. The firm's investment strategy, primarily executed through Tencent Investment and its Corporate Development Group (CDG), focuses on enriching internet users' lives and facilitating the digital transformation of enterprises. Its extensive investment portfolio spans a diverse array of sectors, including technology, gaming, fintech, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and digital content. Tencent operates as both a corporate venture and private equity investor, seeking opportunities across various stages, from early-stage startups to pre-IPO companies.Founded in Shenzhen, China, in November 1998 by Pony Ma, Tony Zhang, Xu Chenye, Charles Chen, and Zeng Liqing, Tencent's origins are rooted in instant messaging and online gaming, anticipating the burgeoning demand for chat applications in China's rapidly expanding internet cafe culture. The company's guiding principle, "Value for Users, Tech for Good," underscores its commitment to leveraging technology for societal benefit. Since its inception, Tencent has evolved into one of the world's largest and most influential technology and investment corporations.Tencent has made hundreds of strategic investments across the globe. Notable portfolio companies include those in artificial intelligence, such as Zhipu AI, and a significant presence in the fintech space with investments in firms like Upvest, TrueLayer, UPSIDER, Qonto, N26, and Raisin. In the gaming industry, Tencent holds stakes in major players like Supercell, Riot Games, Funcom, Stunlock Studios, and Turtle Rock Studios. The firm has also invested in e-commerce platforms like JD.com and logistics companies such as China South City Holdings. A key characteristic of Tencent's investment approach is allowing its portfolio startups to maintain operational autonomy.The firm's team expertise is deeply embedded in its diverse business groups. The Interactive Entertainment Group (IEG) drives its gaming and esports ventures, while the Cloud & Smart Industries Group (CSIG) focuses on cloud services and industrial internet solutions. The Platform & Content Group (PCG) manages its social and content ecosystems. Specifically, the Corporate Development Group (CDG) is responsible for new business incubation, strategic planning, and investment activities, bringing a wealth of industry knowledge and operational experience to its portfolio companies. The leadership, including co-founder Pony Ma, contributes extensive experience in internet and technology development.

Toranomon Impact Capital LLC is an impact-oriented venture capital firm based in Tokyo, Japan. The firm was established through a collaboration between Monex Ventures Inc. and Capital Medica Ventures Co., Ltd. Its primary objective is to manage the Tokyo Wellness Impact Investment Limited Partnership, also known as the Tokyo Wellness Impact Fund (TWIF). The firm is dedicated to fostering social impact alongside financial returns by investing in startups focused on solving challenges within the wellness domain.The firm was officially established on October 11, 2022, with the Tokyo Wellness Impact Fund being formed on March 31, 2023. Toranomon Impact Capital aims to address domestic issues across four key wellness areas: Social/Economic, Healthcare, Care, and Medical. They employ an Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) framework to provide hands-on support to entrepreneurs, guiding them through a process of goal setting, gap analysis, and strategic implementation to enhance corporate value. The ultimate goal is to facilitate responsible exits, such as Impact IPOs or Exit to Community scenarios.The Tokyo Wellness Impact Fund is targeting a total investment amount of 10 billion yen. Notable investments by the fund include 株式会社CaTe, a company developing applications for cardiac rehabilitation treatment. Other portfolio companies mentioned include Heal-III, operating in the entertainment software industry, and Melon, which provides B2C non-financial services.The leadership team includes Hiroshi Aikawa, a representative from Monex Ventures Inc., and Takeshi Aoki, the representative director of Capital Medica Ventures Co., Ltd. Seiichiro Wada, President of Monex Ventures Inc., is also listed as a Representative Partner for Toranomon Impact Capital LLC. The firm actively seeks impact capitalists and communicators to support its mission of accompanying and nurturing entrepreneurs.

Two Sigma Ventures is the venture capital arm of Two Sigma Investments, LP, a prominent financial sciences company. The firm focuses on early to growth-stage companies that leverage data science, machine learning, and advanced computing to create transformative solutions across various industries. Their investment thesis centers on the belief that as the world becomes increasingly information-rich, innovative companies will harness these technological advancements to develop breakthrough solutions. Two Sigma Ventures actively invests in sectors such as enterprise software, financial technology (fintech), techbio and life sciences, healthcare technology, consumer technology, Web3 and crypto, developer tools and infrastructure, security and cybersecurity, real estate technology (PropTech), insurance technology, and AI/ML infrastructure.Founded in 2011, Two Sigma Ventures emerged from the broader Two Sigma organization, drawing upon its deep legacy in quantitative research and technology. Colin Beirne, a key partner, was instrumental in launching the venture capital arm. The firm's approach is rooted in applying scientific rigor and data analysis, mirroring the methodologies that have driven success in its parent company's investment management business. This foundation allows Two Sigma Ventures to provide not just capital, but also institutional-grade expertise and hands-on support in areas like data science, software engineering, and product development to its portfolio companies.The firm has built a diverse portfolio of over 100 companies, demonstrating its commitment to data-driven innovation. Notable investments and successful exits include Recursion Pharmaceuticals (AI-driven drug discovery), WHOOP (wearable health technology), GitLab (DevOps platform), and Remote (distributed workforce management). Other significant portfolio companies include CoverWallet, Carbon Health, Insitro, Timescale, and Wealthsimple. Recent investments in 2025 include Bedrock Robotics and NetBox Labs, showcasing their continued activity in cutting-edge technologies.The Two Sigma Ventures team comprises a blend of entrepreneurs, data scientists, mathematicians, and operators. Key partners include Colin Beirne, Dusan Perovic, Dan Abelon, Sidney Costabile, and Frances Schwiep, alongside principals like Joe Botsch. The investment team is supported by the extensive technical network and expertise of the broader Two Sigma ecosystem, which includes over 250 PhDs and a wealth of experience in software engineering, data science, quantitative modeling, and machine learning. This collective intelligence provides a unique advantage in identifying and nurturing companies that are pushing the boundaries of technology and data.