Japan-based venture capital firm Rebright Partners launched a ¥2.4bn ($20.2m) fund backed by undisclosed corporates today that will invest in India-based mobile-focused technology startups.
Rebright Partners II Investment Partnership has been instituted so that Rebright can bring its experience in the Japanese mobile app industry to bear in the Indian sector. It will look to fund consumer internet startups, mobile app developers, mobile e-commerce and digital media companies.
The firm will ideally invest at seed stage and is willing to let other investors with more local experience lead. It typically invests a six-figure dollar amount in seed rounds, with the size of the investment rising to $1m to $2m for series A.
Rebright, which has also partnered with technology companies to invest in Southeast Asia, has already invested in four India-based startups, including big data technology developer Tookitaki and mobile news app News in Shorts.
Explaining the fund’s corporate backing, Takeshi Ebihara, founder of Rebright Partners, told Tech in Asia: “Most of our fund investors are large Japanese corporations in the IT sector. They are very keen to enter the Indian market. For that, they would like to have partnerships with local startups.
“At this moment, most of them do not have any activity in India, so they need us on the ground. We like to be the gateway between these two markets.”