Top 9 Angel Investors in Japan [2023]

Japan is the third largest economy in the world. It has a highly developed infrastructure and offers many investment opportunities for startups. However, due to its small size, there are not many angel investors in Japan compared to other countries. In this article, we will discuss some of the top angel investors in Japan and how to contact them for your startup idea or business plan.

1.Global Brain Corporation

Global Brain Corporation is a Japanese company that makes investments in artificial intelligence. It was launched in 2000 and has been one of PAVCO’s largest shareholders since its launch. Global Brain is also a subsidiary of SoftBank Group, which means it has unlimited resources to invest.

Global Brain Corporation has made several investments in robotics companies, including HIRO-3D, which helps create realistic human faces for robots.

2. Take action

PAG is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage startups. Over the past two decades, PAG has invested in over 100 companies, including Mercari and My Navi.

PAG stands for Public Association for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE). The group was formed by entrepreneurs with experience from companies such as Yahoo! and Google. Today, PAG has become one of Japan’s most prominent angel investors with an investment portfolio that includes some of the country’s most successful startups like Mercari and Mynavi (which is now known as Dena).

3. Beyond borders

Beyond Borders is a private equity firm founded in 2008 by Yoichiro Inoue. Beyond Borders is headquartered in Tokyo and is a member of the Private Equity Council of Japan (PECJ).

Inoue has over 25 years of experience with companies like Sumitomo Chemical, Toshiba and Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering. He was also Chairman of the Board of Yuasa Battery Co., Ltd., acquired by Panasonic Corporation in 2006.

4. Mistletoe

Mistletoe is a Tokyo-based venture capital firm. The company was founded in 2012 by Hirotaka Maeda, who previously worked at Softbank and Gree. Mistletoe has invested in over 30 companies, including Dena, Naver and Line (all listed below).

The Mistletoe focuses on mobile gaming and social media platforms. Recently, they have also started working with AI-driven technologies.

5. Power Solutions Japan

Power Solutions Japan is an investment company that focuses on the energy sector, particularly solar energy and wind turbine technology. The company is based in Tokyo and was founded in 2006.

The company has a portfolio of over 1,500 companies with over 1 GW of installed renewable energy capacity globally. It was supported by the government capital of Japan for much of its history; However, he recently closed a fundraising round led by Sumitomo Corporation (Sumyy).

6. Yakumi

Yakumi is a venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage companies in the consumer internet, fintech, and EDTech sectors. The company was founded by Yoshihisa Yamada, who previously worked at Softbank Group.

Yakumi has invested in more than 30 companies since its founding in 2013. The firm has also made connections with several other investors to help build a network of supporters for potential portfolio companies.

7. Endeavor United

Endeavor United is a venture capital firm that invests in start-up companies. It was founded in 2007 by former Softbank CEO Junichi Miyakawa, who is still its chairman. Endeavor has invested in over 70 companies, including Grab and Blue Field Technologies. The company also has offices in Tokyo, San Francisco and Tel Aviv.

8. Aruhi Group

Aruhi Group is a venture capital firm with offices in Tokyo and San Francisco. It was founded in 2016 by Yoshihiro Maruyama, who was previously chairman of Softbank Ventures. Aruhi Group has invested in companies such as Line, CloudFlare and Misfits Gaming.

Aruhi Group typically invests between million and million per startup. The typical size of one of his seed investments is around 0,000 to million; The average growth tower size is around -15 million; And its largest investment so far has been million for pay line Pay Holdings Inc., which operates Japan’s most popular mobile payment app called “Line Pay.”

9. Guardian Advisors

Guardian Advisors is a venture capital firm that was founded in 2015 by former employees of Softbank Group and Yahoo Japan. Guardian Advisors is one of Japan’s largest venture capital firms, investing in early-stage startups like Worklancer, which provides crowd-working solutions for businesses, and Mobicart, a commerce platform mobile that allows companies to integrate their online stores with their physical points of sale.

Guardian Advisors has also invested in several other companies, including Uber Technologies Inc., Line Corp., Rakuten Inc., Canva Inc. and Osmo LLC (a manufacturer of educational toys).

Conclusion

Investing in a start-up is a risky business, but it also has enormous potential. The nine angel investors on this list all have experience with both sides of the equation; They have also been involved in successful and failed investments. Their advice: listen to your heart when choosing between two options that are both good and bad – it will help you make better decisions on your next investment!