Incubate Fund, a Japan-based venture firm primarily backed by local games developer Dena, plans to raise Y2bn ($21m) for its second fund.
News provider Japanese Venture News said Dena had yet to commit to the second Incubate fund, which instead had raised money from corporations Infocom, Sega, the Japan Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, D2C, Nissay Capital, Mixi, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and others.
It said: “In the early times of the first fund [raised in 2010], Incubate Fund invested in gaming start-ups, such as [the] successfully exited Pokelabo or Istopika. However, the VC has gradually expanded the categories of investment area such as crowd sourcing or social media.”
The second fund is expected to back 100 start-ups over the next three years.
The firm has already invested in more than 100 start-ups in the past five years and also runs Incubate Camp, an accelerator, since 2010.