Japan-based venture capital firm Global Catalyst Partners Japan (GCPJ) launched its second fund last month having raised ¥8bn ($75.4m) from limited partners (LPs) that included multiple corporate backers, it announced yesterday.
The LPs include insurer Sompo Holdings, IT product maker NEC Corporation, tyre manufacturer Bridgestone, motor vehicle manufacturer Yamaha Motor Company, chemicals producer Lion Corporation and energy utility Kansai Electric Power’s K4 Ventures unit.
Financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation also provided capital, as did logistics services provider Suzuyo, according to The Bridge.
GCPJ was formed in 2014 as an offshoot of US-based VC firm General Catalyst Partners, and targets seed to growth-stage IT startups globally, mainly in Japan and the US.
The firm intends to invest the cash raised for the second fund over a 10-year period, with the possibility of extending for two more years.
GCPJ’s first fund was sized at $41.9m and began investing in 2015. It counted NEC, Yamaha Motor, media company Asahi Shimbun and software producer Access among its LPs.
GCPJ representative managing director Koji Osawa said: “Our first vehicle has been supporting outstanding entrepreneurs, having made 15 investments including those that have already exited, such as Raksul. There are still many excellent entrepreneurs in Japan, and we will engage with them actively through the newly formed second fund.” (Translated from Japanese by Global Corporate Venturing)
