# Top 50 Cryptocurrency Startup Investors in Japan in May 2026 ## Ceres - Type: VC Fund - Location: Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 4 - Stages: Seed, Corporate Round - Focus: Cryptocurrency, Content, Internet Ceres is a company providing internet marketing services and is engaged in the planning, development, and operation of smartphone media. ## East Ventures - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 4 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Software, Information Technology, E-Commerce East Ventures is an early stage venture capital (VC) focused on Southeast Asia, Indonesia & Japan. Success cases include Tokopedia, Traveloka, and Mercari. ## Shintaro Yamada - Type: Angel - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 3 - Stages: Seed, Angel, Pre-Seed - Focus: Internet, Finance, Information Technology During his years at Waseda University, Shintaro worked at Japan’s biggest e-commerce mall, Rakuten, Inc. On August 1st 2001, Shintaro established “Unoh Inc.” after graduating university. At Unoh he was responsible for designing and developing several web services, one of which was the online magazine subscription . Services provided by Unohinclude planning, development and management of the film enthusiast community site “Movie Life” (acquired by PIA Corporation) as well as “Sugu.CC” , “NeoAd” (both acquired by GMOAP) and the photo sharing site “Photozou” (acquired by Digital Garage).In 2009 Unoh entered into social gaming, creating multiple successful social games. Among these games, “Machitsuku!” has been its biggest hit with over 5 million users. On August 3rd 2010, Unoh joined Zynga and Shintaro became General Manager of Zynga Japan. He resigned on January 2012. After traveling around the world, He established the new company “Mercari, Inc.” on February 2013 and released the resale shopping app “Mercari” on July 2013 in Japan.He is a true Internet geek, spending a lot of time on the Internet and boasts around 180,000 followers on Twitter. ## FreakOut Holdings - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 2 - Stages: Series B, Series C - Focus: SNS, Content, Finance We are spread out into global with our mission "Give people work that requires a person" through our freak'in technology. ## DeNA - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 2 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: E-Commerce, Education, Internet DeNA provides a social game platform, social games, e-commerce, and other Web services for mobile devices and PCs. Its current flagship business is its mobile social games platform Mobage which offers first, second, and third-party games on multiple localized player networks worldwide. ## Komura Fujio - Type: Angel - Relevant deals: 2 - Stages: Seed, Angel - Focus: Content, Ethereum, Marketing Komura Fujio ## SMBC Venture Capital - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 2 - Stages: Series A, Series B - Focus: Health Care, Information Technology, Software Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and its group companies offer a broad range of financial services centered on banking. They are also engaged in the leasing, securities, credit card, investment, mortgage securitization, venture capital and other credit related businesses. The following lists the activities of SMBC, its subsidiaries andaffiliates in the various business segments. ## D4V - Type: VC Fund - Location: Minato, Chiba, Japan - Relevant deals: 2 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Financial Services, Software, Fashion D4V (Design for Ventures) is a Tokyo-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests in disruptive, consumer and enterprise technology startups. ## Kotaro Chiba - Type: Angel - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 2 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Internet, Content, Software Kotaro Chiba is the founder of ChibaDojo Fund. Kotaro Chiba attended Keio University. ## ANOBAKA - Type: VC Fund - Location: Shibuya, Kanagawa, Japan - Relevant deals: 2 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Software, Content, Food and Beverage ANOBAKA is a Tokyo-based venture capital firm with rich group resources to add value to seed-stage startups. ANOBAKA actively invests in and supports startups aiming to be a global leader in the innovative Internet business and promising to greatly grow up in the future. ANOBAKA's investment focuses on fledgling seed-stage startups. Inaddition to investment financing, ANOBAKA provides founders with a variety of business support such as development consulting by our engineers, sales support, and international marketing support. ## Yuzuru Honda - Type: Angel - Relevant deals: 2 - Stages: Seed, Angel - Focus: SNS, Internet, Software Yuzuru Honda is a Founder & Global CEO of FreakOut. ## Money Forward - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 2 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Software, Financial Services, FinTech Money Forward provides online personal accounting for individuals, allowing them to easily manage their daily expenses by integrating with their bank passbooks and credit purchase history with information scraped from their web bank and credit accounts. The service is also available for desktop, as well as iOS and Android platforms. The companyalso announced that it will launch a cloud-based accounting service for individual and corporate users, and it will also start publishing an online newsletter. ## MIRAISE - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 2 - Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed, Series A - Focus: Apps, Health Care, Software We are engineers investing in engineers. With experienced mentors, MIRAISE supports you hands-if basis, for business model, financial planning and presentation. All founders of our potfolio automatically join MIRAISE online community that gives you the peer-learning opportunities with other founders. Join us updating the normal! ## Internet Initiative Japan - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A - Focus: Internet, Web Apps, Cryptocurrency Internet Initiative Japan is an Internet-access and comprehensive network solutions provider. IIJ and its group of companies provide total network solutions that mainly cater to high-end corporate customers. The company's services include high-quality systems integration and security services, Internet access, hosting/housing, and contentdesign. Moreover, the company has built one of the largest Internet backbone networks in Japan, and between Japan and the United States. IIJ was listed on NASDAQ in 1999 and on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2006. ## Daiwa Corporate Investment - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A, Seed - Focus: Task Management, Software, Internet Daiwa Corporate Investment is a private investment firm of Daiwa Securities Group that has been engaged in overseas VC investments by taking advantage of an extensive business network in Japan and foreign countries, long experience and professional knowledge, and by supporting the growth of a number of overseas portfolio companies and their stockexchange listings. ## Jay Zaveri - Type: Angel - Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Health Care, Biotechnology, Information Technology Jay Zaveri has been serving Social Capital as a partner since November 2015. He also founded CloudOn and Future Thought Productions. ## Koki Yabu - Type: Angel - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Angel, Pre-Seed - Focus: Content, Finance, Data Mining Koki Yabu is Founder, President & CEO at Mobcast inc. ## DWF Labs - Type: VC Fund - Location: Singapore, Central Region, Singapore - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Pre-Seed, Seed - Focus: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Information Technology DWF Labs Global digital asset market maker and multi-stage web3 investment firm ## Kensuke Furukawa - Type: Angel - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Angel - Focus: Content, Media and Entertainment, Software Kensuke Furukawa was born in June 2, 1981. He graduated Waseda University majoring Political Science and Economics, and in 2000, he launched "Milkcafe", a student community, which has grown to a site with 10 million PV per month. In 2004, he became the CEO of Media Clip, which operates a rental bulletin board service "ShitarabaBBS". After that year, he had transfer "Shitaraba BBS" to Livedoor, and took charge of starting up the Consumer Generated Media sector. In 2006, he joined Recruit, and took charge of starting up a new business at Business development sector. In June of 2009, he left Recruit, and became the CEO of nanapi （formerly Rocket Start), which operates the How-to Site "nanapi". ## Incubate Fund - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Software, Information Technology, E-Commerce Incubate Fund is an independent early-stage venture capital that specializes in providing capital to technology startups at the seed stage. The firm built a portfolio of over 300 companies in Asia, taking 12 companies to public and 20 companies to M&A exit since 2010. ## Fundamental Labs - Type: VC Fund - Location: Shanghai, Shanghai, China - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Initial Coin Offering - Focus: Blockchain, Information Technology, Software A Web3 specialized VC fund, investing in the fundamental innovations that reshape the economy and the society. ## B Dash Ventures - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Internet, Information Technology, E-Commerce B Dash Ventures does seed to late stage tech investments in Japan, Asia Pacific, and the U.S. LPs include Japan's largest technology companies and financial institutions including NTT Docomo, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, GREE, NEC BIGLOBE, Fuji Television, and the Japanese government. B Dash Ventures also operates an incubation space inpartnership with Mori Building Co. and holds the invitation-based B Dash Camp conference. ## giftee - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A, Debt Financing - Focus: Marketing, Internet, CRM giftee is an online service where you can send a small 'thank you' through small gifts by twitter and email. Supported by Open Network Lab. ## GoldenTree Asset Management - Type: VC Fund - Location: New York, New York, United States - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Financial Services, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency GoldenTree is an employee-owned, global asset management firm that specializes in opportunities across the credit universe in sectors such as high yield bonds, leveraged loans, private credit, distressed debt, structured products, emerging markets, private equity and credit-themed equities. GoldenTree was founded in 2000 and is one of the largestindependent asset managers focused on credit. GoldenTree manages over $48 billion for institutional investors including leading public and corporate pensions, endowments, foundations, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds. GoldenTree is headquartered in New York and has offices in West Palm Beach, FL, Charlotte, NC, London, Dublin, Sidney, Singapore, Tokyo, and Dubai. ## Hirofumi Miki - Type: Angel - Location: Shibuya, Kanagawa, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Angel, Pre-Seed - Focus: Content, Marketing, Internet After JTB Co., Ltd. and CYBIRD Co., Ltd. as an initial member of Glee Co., Ltd. is responsible for business development. Currently, he is mainly engaged in venture support in the Internet area, investing in venture and venture capital, and served as management advisor for dozens of companies. Hands-on business development, growth strategydevelopment, financing advice, HR organization design support, partner referral and Recruit Support. He is also engaged in business support for ventures in the healthcare and university venture fields. He served as Digital Health Meetup Advisor, NEDOTCP Mentor and Future 2016 Mentor. ## Mizuho Bank - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Debt Financing, Series A - Focus: Information Technology, Internet, Financial Services Mizuho Bank is a commercial bank that began operation on July 1, 2013, with its headquarters in Tokyo in Japan. It offers corporate and investment banking services to major corporations, financial institutions, and public sector entities. It also provides current and ordinary, deposits at notice, time, and specified deposits, deposits for tax,nonresident deposits in yen, foreign currency deposits, negotiable time deposits and loans by bill, loans on a deed, and overdrafts as well as discounts for bank acceptances, commercial papers, and documentary bills. Moreover, it offers investment banking and custodial, syndication, bond administrative, real estate finance, acquisition finance and corporate restructuring, project, and asset finance services, settlement and asset management services. It operates as a subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group. ## Shima Capital - Type: VC Fund - Location: San Francisco, California, United States - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed - Focus: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Gaming Shima Capital is an investment fund that focuses on supporting cutting-edge blockchain startups. The firm is headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. ## COSIMO Ventures - Type: VC Fund - Location: Dublin, Dublin, Ireland - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Enterprise Software, Blockchain, Sports COSIMO Ventures is an emerging venture capital firm that focuses on early stage companies seeking to develop disruptive technology, primarily located in Ireland and the United Kingdom. COSIMO has offices in Boston, Massachusetts and Dublin, Ireland. Our Team have over 100 years of combined entrepreneurial operating and investing experience. We aretechnology pioneers resolute in our mission of helping emerging entrepreneurs build legendary companies. Our mission is to help transform the most promising early stage, Irish and UK technology companies into global leaders that will dominate new market categories or disrupt existing ones. We partner with management teams to help them accelerate and grow into the US market.COSIMO is a team of entrepreneurs that have been at the forefront of value creation for early stage companies over the past 25 years. As technology pioneers, we have developed products used by 100’s of millions of users every day and created many firsts; from the first commercially available financial service on the Internet to the first push notification. ## DD Holdings Venture Capital - Type: VC Fund - Location: Minato, Chiba, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A - Focus: Content, Ethereum, Education DD Holdings Venture Capital is the investment arm of DD Holdings, a restaurant and amusement brand. ## GameWith - Type: VC Fund - Location: Minato, Chiba, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 GameWith is an online game information community that provides its users with hints and tips for smartphone games. Its initial focus is providing strategy guides for the rapidly expanding (and updating) mobile gaming market. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Minato, Japan. ## Stone System - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed - Focus: Cryptocurrency Stone System provides web application development, system consulting, and server administration services. The company was founded in 1990 and based in Tokyo, Japan. ## Septeni - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A - Focus: SNS, Content, Fashion Septeni is developing various one-stop services to solve customers' marketing issues focusing on the Internet advertising agency business that has a proven track record in Japan. ## NOW Japan - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Content, Marketing, Information Technology Next One for the World. ## MTG Ventures - Type: VC Fund - Location: Nagoya, Aichi, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Marketing, Media and Entertainment, Food and Beverage MTG Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of MTG that invests in beauty and wellness tech, food tech, and sports tech sectors. ## Gaku Saito - Type: Angel - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed - Focus: Finance, Cryptocurrency, Asset Management Graduated from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Engineering , Graduate School of Engineering 2007 Graduated from the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Engineering April 2007 Joined Goldman Sachs Securities. He is engaged in a variety of investments, from non-performing loan investment, private equity investment, real estate investment toship investment, in the strategic investment department, which is a proprietary investment team. May 2010 Moved to Goldman Sachs Investment Partners to become an investor at his own discretion. Participate in a global hedge fund with total assets of over 800 billion yen, and as a hedge fund manager, invest and manage up to 80 billion portfolios in stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, interest rates, CDS, derivatives, loans, etc. February 2019 Appointed Cryptact Co., Ltd. ## Remixpoint - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed - Focus: Finance, Cryptocurrency, Asset Management Remixpoint is an electric services company engaged in the used car sales business and retail electricity business. ## Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Corporate Round, Series A - Focus: Financial Services, Finance, FinTech The official site of the TOKAI TOKYO FINANCIAL HOLDINGS, INC. ## Japan Post Bank - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Financial Services, Finance, Internet Japan Post Bank provides general banking services. ## Sotaro Karasawa - Type: Angel - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed, Series B - Focus: Blockchain, Art, Travel Sotaro Karasawa - Chief Technology Officer @ STAR FESTIVAL ## KDDI - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A, Series B - Focus: Software, Mobile, Internet KDDI Corporation is a Japanese telecommunications operator. It was created in 2000 through a merger of DDI, KDD and IDO and now employs over 15,000 people.The company provides a broad range of services, including fixed-line phone communication, mobile phone and web services, and Internet services. It also has a ownership stake in two Japanesecable television companies, Jupiter Telecommunications (J:COM) and Japan Cablenet (JCN). KDDI's mobile phone and web arm is branded as "au". The company is the current No. 2 in Japan's mobile communications market, trailing NTT DoCoMo and ahead of SoftBank. ## Orient Corporation - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A, Series D - Focus: Apps, Logistics, Information Services Orient Corporation is a consumer credit company that provides auto loans, credit cards, and direct cash loan services. The company was founded in 1954 and based in Tokyo, Japan. ## Nippon Telegraph and Telephone - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Software, Education, SaaS NTT Group's website. Learn about NTT Group, Press Release, Business, Investor Relations, R&D, CSR, Disaster Countermeasures, Environmental Activities, Procurement, Diversity & Inclusion, Corporate Profile, Careers information. ## Mitsubishi Corporation - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A, Corporate Round - Focus: Software, Internet, Information Technology Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is a global integrated business enterprise that develops and operates businesses across virtually every industry including industrial finance, energy, metals, machinery, chemicals, living essentials, and environmental business. MC's current activities are expanding far beyond its traditional trading operations asits diverse business ranges from natural resources development to investment in retail business, infrastructure, financial products and manufacturing of industrial goods. ## Sansei Capital Investment - Type: VC Fund - Location: Koto, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A, Series B - Focus: Content, Software, Medical Sansei Capital provides portfolio management, corporate management support, and financing services. ## GMO Pepabo - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed - Focus: SNS, E-Commerce, Web Development GMO Pepabo, Inc. established in 2003 as a web hosting service company. Since its foundation the company has focused on consumer-targeted Internet services, and today it comprises four business segments: Hosting which operates consumer domain registration and web hosting services, Ecommerce Support which provides ecommerce platform solutions,Customer to customer (C2C) marketplace for handmade products, and Community that facilitates communication among Internet users through blogging and media portal services. ## Okasan Capital Partners - Type: VC Fund - Location: Chuo, Hokkaido, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Seed, Series A - Focus: Human Resources, Content, Recruiting Okasan Capital Partners is Invest in early-stage venture companies with unique technologies, services, business models and high growth potential, and middle-rater stage companies with a view to listing. ## SBI Investment - Type: VC Fund - Location: Minato, Chiba, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series B, Series A - Focus: Financial Services, Information Technology, Software SBI Investment supports the business development and growth of private venture companies through fund investment. ## Mitsubishi UFJ Capital - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series B, Series A - Focus: Software, Health Care, Information Technology Mitsubishi UFJ Capital is a venture capital firm focusing on life science, ICT, and high technology investments. ## SLD Entertainment - Type: VC Fund - Location: Shiba, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A - Focus: Content, Ethereum, Marketing SLD Entertainment operates and manages cafes and restaurants under "kawara CAFE＆DINING" brand. ## aucfan Co.,Ltd. - Type: VC Fund - Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - Relevant deals: 1 - Stages: Series A, Corporate Round - Focus: E-Commerce, Marketing, Internet Aucfan is the only company in Japan that provides all the eCommerce price data across the big three market, America, China and Japan. The data Aucfan aggregates has reached more than 800millions with last 8 years coverage and Aucfan provides these data through its website Aucfan.com. (www.aucfan.com).The data Aucfan provides both to theconsumers and the retailers include the the price across the major global EC and Auction sites such as Rakuten, the No1 shopping site in Japan, Yahoo! Auction, the No1 Auction site in Japan, and Amazon Japan as well as eBay.com, the No1 EC site in US, and Taobao, the No1 Auction site in China.By visiting the Aucfan.com, buyers and sellers can easily find the price and the value of the product globally.Aucfan currently focuses on the consumer buesinss but Aucfan's next strategy is to expand its business to the BtoB by providing the price data to the EC and retail markets and helping them make the critical judgement for the price setting and purchsing just like the Bloomberg providing the financial informationto the financial brokers and helping them make the business judgement.Aucfan's next ambition is to expand its business globally and as the part of that strategy, Aucfan has already launched the Chinese website in JULY/2010 and plans to open the US site in SEP/2010. # About Shizune Shizune.co is an investor database. Core features: - 48,091 startup investors (angels, VCs, accelerators, and others) - Email, phone, LinkedIn (for intros), socials, and other contact data - Updated daily from public funding news - CSV and Excel export The User can access the full database FOR FREE after signing up: shizune.co