IMJ's Koichi Saito launches new VC fund

Based in Singapore, the new fund - where Saito is now founder and general partner - will target seed stage opportunities in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The size of the vehicle has not been disclosed.

According to Tech in Asia, the fund will have a sweet spot of $100,000-400,000 and look to make 20-30 investments. In terms of sector focus, the firm wants to back scalable business models in the online marketplace and financial technology spaces.

"Once I find good founders who can execute well, I do not have to wait until series A," said Saito. "Series A rounds are getting bigger these days in Southeast Asia, and more investors with big money come down to [contribute to] series A rounds. Therefore, our investment scale does not really fit Series A funding."

Incubate Fund, another Japanese early-stage investor with around $150 million in capital under management, is said to be a major LP. Masahiko Honma, co-founder and general partner with Incubate, is acting as advisor to the fund.

Saito was responsible for many of IMJ's Southeast Asian investments, including Indonesia online marketplace Bukalapak, Malaysian financial service comparison site iMoney, and Philippines property site Zipmatch.

In January, Incubate raised a JPY11 billion ($91.2 million) Internet of Things (IoT) - focused vehicle to target Japanese start-ups.

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