Top 5 Japanese Startup Accelerators & VC Firms in Japan

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If you are pursuing a Japanese startup space, you will quickly see that there is a significant number of venture capital firms and startup accelerators.

Before partnering or doing business with them, you will need to do due your due diligence. Of course, Gloture can help with that.

This article will briefly outline our top five picks of Japanese startup accelerators and VC firms, including a short introductory description of each of them.

This startup accelerator is similar to VC firm groundbreakers such as TechStarts and Y Combinator. Open Network Lab is based in Tokyo and was established by the trio of kakaku.com, Netprice.com, and Digital Garage.

Their objective is to provide funding and mentorship to startups coming from abroad.

Movida Japan is owned by Taizo Son, the younger brother of Masayoshi, the owner of Softbank. The company’s objective is to develop a robust ecosystem for Japanese startups to grow. They primarily deploy their resources into the following sectors:

  • Smartphones
  • Digital content distribution
  • Social media
  • Cloud-related innovations
  • Social Curations
  • Smart robots
  • Education
Established in May 2009 and based in Tokyo, Movida Japan has so far made ¥5million in investments. Those investments were made in exchange for convertible bonds.

Samurai Incubate is a leading startup Venture Capital firm in Japan. The company was founded in 2008 with the sole aim of supporting startup businesses that focus on management, finance, human resources, sales, and marketing. Along with the support they provide startups, Samurai Incubate serves as an external director for some companies.

Samurai Incubate is the first startup accelerator with branches spread across both Tokyo and Tel-Aviv. They’ve empowered over 120 startups, including 30 Israeli firms. Their first branch opened outside of Japan in Tel-Aviv in 2014.

Plus, they have a cool-sounding name.

Branching from the telecommunications network, Docomo Innovation Village is a startup accelerator that primarily focuses on Japan-based companies. Their major area of concern is promoting any businesses, services, or technology connected to the field of mobility. 

Docomo Innovation Village has a reputation for maintaining follow-ups with startups until they have achieved stability.

CyberAgent Ventures is a subsidiary of CyberAgent Inc and it is a leading Japanese VC firm. They specialize in empowering startups and companies that are still in the incubation stage. The firm’s objective is to invest in the following areas:

  • Mobile application
  • Mobile application developers
  • E-commerce
  • Mobile gaming
  • Online shopping
  • Advertising
  • Social media
  • Online education
  • Mobile Internet
  • Online jobs
  • Internet
  • Offline-to-online sectors
  • Fintech
  • Internet-related sectors
The company prefers to deploy resources to East and Southeast Asian countries such as Taiwan, China, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand.