Japanese venture capital firm Genesia Ventures said Wednesday it has raised $110 million in final close of the third fund.
Genesia Ventures said in a statement that organizations including Canal Ventures, Cygames, DBJ Capital, FFG Venture Business Partners GREE Ventures, JA Mitsui Leasing, Japan Investment Corporation, Mizuho Capital, Mizuho Bank, Oriental Land Innovations, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Withus, together with undisclosed domestic institutional and individual investors, have participated in the fund.
According to the statement, the investment thesis for the fund is as follow:
1. Digital Transformation (DX) Business models around digital transformation, such as anything as a service (XaaS) solutions that improve efficiency in various industries, and platforms that eliminate complex and fragmented middle layers.
2. New economy business models such as OMO, C2C (E-Commerce, service), the sharing economy, decentralized platforms, etc., that optimize individual empowerment and customer experiences.
3. Media and Entertainment Business models around media and entertainment, such as content, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) that provide value in the form of moving experiences.
4. Frontier Technology New industries that include robotics, digital twinning, and space technologies, as well as areas related to digital innovation through the application of information science.
According to Soichi Tajima, Genesia Ventures Chief Executive Officer / General Partner, the firm has invested in more than 140 startups, mainly in Japan and Southeast Asia, that tackle circular economy, prosperous lifestyle, equal access to information and opportunity, knowledge, coexistence and symbiosis, and a healthy society.
He also said the firm has set forth its mission to “build a platform that creates sustainable industries in Asia,” which is an initiative aimed at building a platform that enables the creation of sustainable, large-scale industries in cooperation with stakeholders that form our society throughout Asia.
“These are efforts to provide the knowledge and networks necessary to maximize the probability of success and the corporate value of startups that take on challenges of creating large-scale industries,” he said.
Takahiro Suzuki, Genesia Ventures Head of Investments in Southeast Asia / General Partner, said the Southeast Asian startup market, which is the main battleground for the overseas investment team, has grown to a scale that far surpasses the Japanese market in terms of both the total amount and number of fundraising.
According to him, in recent years, along with talented entrepreneurs from countries in the region, entrepreneurs from various markets including India, Europe, and America, are taking on the challenge of building solutions for the Southeast Asian market.
In addition, he said venture capitalists from North America, India, South Korea, Greater China, Europe, and other countries and regions are expanding their operations into Southeast Asia.
“I believe that the startup ecosystems in Asia, especially between Southeast Asia and India are becoming more seamless,” he said.
In light of such changes in the market environment and the enormous potential of the Indian startup ecosystem, he said the firm plans to establish an investment base in India within this fiscal year.
“As a unique venture capital firm with expertise in Southeast Asia and Japan, we will further hone our strengths in Southeast Asia and are determined produce great results in India,
“We will continue to serve as a bridge connecting Japan, Southeast Asia, and India to promote regional collaboration and co-creation between startups and large corporations to realize our mission of ‘building a platform that creates sustainable industries in Asia’,” he said.
As a Japanese venture capital firm with an overseas team, he also believes in the potential of Japanese entrepreneurs to succeed in the global market, and will continue supporting them in their journey to build and expand globally.
According to Masafumi Kawai, Genesia Ventures Partner / Chief Sustainability Officer, in addition to actively investing in environmental technology and other areas of sustainability, the firm supports the portfolio companies with environmental, social and governance (ESG) management, focusing on strengthening human capital and establishing appropriate governance systems to help them build businesses with sustainable growth.
Moving forward, he said the firm will consider setting key performance indicators (KPIs) and improving reporting.
“From the third fund, we will also focus on investing in deep tech companies that include university-launched ventures and companies that focus on sustainability, and have so far invested in fields such as space tech, renewable energy, resource recycling, and microbial biotechnology,
“We will continue to develop and improve ourselves, and take on new challenges so that we can provide solid support to startups with superior technological capabilities that can compete on the global stage,” he said.
Genesia Ventures is an independent venture capital firm that provides investment and management support to pre-seed and seed stage startups.
With three offices in Japan (Tokyo), Indonesia (Jakarta), and Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City), it aims to build a platform for the creation of large-scale sustainable industries across Asia, together with stakeholders that include startups, corporations, investors, governments, and non-profit organizations.
The company also plans to establish an office in India by the end of 2023, and will be investing in startups that are operating in Japan, Southeast Asia, and India.
The first fund completed its final close in December 2017 with a total of $35 million raised.
It invested in 47 pre-seed and seed-stage startups: 35 in Japan and 12 in Southeast Asia (SEA) (as of March 31, 2023).
The second fund completed its final close in October 2020 with a corpus of $70M, and invested in 59 companies: 41 in Japan and 16 in SEA (as of March 31, 2023).