Rakuten Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of Japan-based internet company Rakuten, doubled the size of its Global Investment Fund to $200m today.
Initially launched in 2013, the Global Investment Fund makes international investments in internet services companies and operates alongside an $85m Japan Fund that was launched by Rakuten in January this year.
SaeMin Ahn, managing director of Rakuten Ventures, stated the increase was due to developments in the wider tech ecosystem, including growth in adtech and messaging platforms which has been facilitated by startups using intutive technology more widely.
Ahn said: “Rakuten Ventures has been given the opportunity to work with some amazing founders who have created great products and businesses.
“With the continued progress and growth of those very leaders, we are happy to be able to dream a little bigger and push even further by partnering up with more core technology and service providers. We will work continuously to support invested companies and organisations in taking the next step to meaningful gains and execution.”
Companies to have so far received investments from the Global Investment Fund include mobile advertising platform PocketMath, mobile marketplace Carousell and file sharing technology developer SendAnywhere.