Japan's Global Brain, Fukoku Life set up $35m VC fund
Japanese VC firm Global Brain has teamed up with Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance to set up a JPY 5bn (USD 35m) fund.
Global Brain will manage the Fukoku Mutual Next 100 Fund (TMN100) on behalf of the insurer, which is seeking to improve its profitability as an institutional investor, support start-ups in their development, and drive business partnerships and collaborations with start-ups.
The launch anticipates Fukoku Life’s centennial anniversary in November 2023 and appears to be part of a broader expansion in business interests. “TMN100 is Fukoku Life's first corporate venture capital fund that invests in a wide range of promising startup companies without limiting the industry sectors,” Global Brain said in a statement.
It comes four months after Global Brain set up a JPY 5bn fund with Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance, a vehicle focused more squarely on insurance industry themes. The company, the product of a 2004 merger between Meiji Life Insurance and Yasuda Mutual Life Insurance, has increasingly turned to digital transformation as it has embraced a more socially conscious agenda in recent years.
These set-ups have become routine for Global Brain, which has similar corporate VC fund partnerships with the likes of electronics manufacturers Sony, Epson, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, as well as Mitsui Chemicals, Tokyu Construction, Yamato Transport, Kirin, and engineering conglomerate JGC Group. In each case, the fund has been established with JPY 5bn.
Repeat partnerships such as those with telecom operator KDDI Corporation and property developer Mitsui Fudosan tend to scale up. A third vintage with KDDI came in 2018 with JPY 20bn. The second fund with Mitsui Fudosan, under the name 31 Ventures, was launched with JPY 8.5bn in 2020. The KDDI series has attracted third-party capital, including a commitment from Mitsui & Co.
Global Brain launched its eighth flagship fund with a target of JPY 40bn and a follow-on fund targeting JPY 10bn in 2021. These are expected to have a more internationally facing mandate, in step with an increasingly outward looking Japanese VC scene. Corporations, including KDDI, have historically been prominent in the LP base.
More on North Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.