Japan-based venture capital firm The Seed’s second fund reached a ¥600m ($5.5m) first close last month featuring commitments from investors including advertising agency Daiko Advertising and online gifting platform Giftee.
TheSeedCapital2’s first batch of limited partners (LPs) also featured private investors including Tommy Tomishima, Ryōsuke Matsumoto, Shinsuke Usami and Kazutaka Muraguchi.
The seed-stage vehicle has a target of up to $13.7m for its close and is set to operate for 10 years, targeting entrepreneurs based in Japanese metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto.
The Seed’s $4.5m first vehicle was formed in September 2018, the month after it was founded. Currency exchange operator Monex Group, mobile payment service Merpay, word-of-mouth portal owner DesignOne Japan and internet company United contributed to the first fund, as did Nippon Technology Venture Partners and Kazutaka Muraguchi.
The firm’s portfolio includes New Innovations, the creator of an artificial-equipped café robot dubbed Root C; Agri Smile, which provides farmer-focused software-as-a-service Agri Suite; and virtual and augmented reality video game publisher Character Bank.
