Japan-based internet company DeNA launched a ¥10bn ($92.5m) investment fund yesterday that will be managed by a newly formed venture capital firm, Delight Ventures.
The corporate announced in May 2019 that it planned to form a designated vehicle for corporate venturing initiatives, having also made a number of equity investments in the past. Delight Ventures intends to leverage the global network DeNA has built to date.
The unit will target investments in early-stage businesses to create an intrapreneurial culture within DeNA and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Japan, generating spinoff companies and partnering external startups.
DeNA founder and chief executive Tomoko Namba and Dai Watanabe, its former vice-president of strategy and corporate development, will oversee Delight Ventures as managing partners. Watanabe is among the unit’s shareholders along with additional independent founders. Its corporate venturing strategy consists of three categories: venture investments, Venture Builder and Springboard.
Namba said: “Instead of a headquarters-oriented corporate venture capital (CVC) unit, we aim to be a fund that supports independent intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs inside and outside DeNA. While there are many active VCs, what sets Delight Ventures apart is its active support for DeNA’s business and employee spinouts.”
Watanabe added: “Delight Ventures is not a typical CVC fund but a hybrid between CVC and an independent fund that helps not only DeNA employees but also talented people to start up and challenge the world. DeNA, the birthplace of Delight Ventures, has produced many entrepreneurs and startup executives.
“DeNA has accumulated the knowledge and experience necessary to launch a new business. Rather than saving these assets within DeNA, we have created a mechanism to share that know-how with the Japanese startup ecosystem.”
The company has been an active participant in Japan’s startup scene for a number of years, and was the lead investor in VC firm Incubate Fund when it formed in 2010 with a $27.5m first fund.
