Japan-based crowdfunding website Cerevo plans to set up a $20m corporate venturing fund with Osamu Ogasahara, co-founder of Japanese internet service provider Sakura Internet, to help local technology hardware startups.
Takuma Iwasa, CEO of Cerevo, told news provider The Bridge that Ogasahara is joining Cerevo’s board to run the corporate venturing unit ahead of a forthcoming “big funding round” that will be raised by Cerevo.
Cerevo’s existing investors include venture capital firms Inspire Technology Innovation Fund, Neostella Capital and Voyage Ventures, and Inova, a fund focused on investing in electronics manufacturing startups formed by three Japanese companies: Thine Electronics, Chip One Stop and Ant Capital Partners.