Japan VC Radar 2024

As is customary, we are publishing once again our annual VC Radar™ for Japan. The 2024 edition of the VC Radar™ reflects Japan’s most active Lead VCs in 2024.

Specifically, this infographic depicts the number of new investments led by Japan’s independent venture capital funds into domestic startups last year. Serving as Lead VC on an investment means issuing the investment proposal (typically a term sheet), structuring the transaction, coordinating the drafting of the binding legal agreements, and setting the closing schedule.

We believe that founders in Japan need to know whether the VC they are pitching is capable of serving as Lead in order to prioritize their time spent during the fundraising process. This VC Radar™ brings some transparency to the market in service to founders. You can read more about our rationale here.

For avoidance of doubt, only investments in which the VC served as Lead investor for a startup that was not already in their portfolio are counted here (believe it or not, some VCs in Japan issue investment proposals for subsequent fundraising rounds on startups which are already in their portfolio — a practice which is condemned in more mature VC markets).

We believe that the VC Radar is an important tool for Japan’s growing startup ecosystem (special thanks to Mayumi for compiling this data !).

[One additional note: we strive for full accuracy on this infographic and apologize for any mistakes. Feel free to direct any requested corrections to infographic@shizen.vc].