Japan-based venture capital firm Global Brain has closed its sixth fund at approximately $180m with the backing of several corporates and public-private partnership Cool Japan Fund, DealStreetAsia reported on Friday.
The corporate limited partners include travel services conglomerate JTB, financial services firm Mitsui Sumitomo Banking, wood products supplier Sumitomo Forestry and IT services provider Information Services International-Dentsu.
A range of unnamed university endowments have also backed the fund, which had raised an initial $130m as of December 2016. Its target size was reportedly $175m.
The fund will operate over the next 10 years and focus on opportunities in Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia as well as Israel and Silicon Valley.
Global Brain will particularly target the internet of things, hardware, enterprise, robotics, education and commerce sectors, but will also consider businesses that positively impact tourism in Japan ahead of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020.
The fund will aim to invest in 70 to 80 companies, committing between ¥200m and ¥1bn ($1.7m and $8.7m) to each. It has already contributed to a $2.7m round for Bizcast, a Japan-based marketing platform for influencers on video streaming service YouTube.
Global Brain, which was founded in 2001, is expected to make an official announcement confirming the fund’s close and investors later this month.