Venture Investment
What we value most is standing with entrepreneurs and walking alongside them through both good times and bad. As the "closest partner" of our portfolio companies, we aim to continue delivering meaningful value that propels their growth, flexibly adjusting to shifting landscapes.
With over 50 years of domestic investment experience, we have in place a system that allows us to work closely with a wide range of entrepreneurs.
By also pursuing investments scheme beyond conventional frameworks, we are committed to supporting the growth of businesses that will shape the future.
With over 50 years of domestic investment experience, we have in place a system that allows us to work closely with a wide range of entrepreneurs.
By also pursuing investments scheme beyond conventional frameworks, we are committed to supporting the growth of businesses that will shape the future.
Investments to date
4,233
Total IPOs
1,040
*The above are cumulative figures as of Sep. 30, 2025 representing domestic and foreign portfolio companies (both venture and buyout).
Characteristics of Our Venture Investment
We engage with entrepreneurs from the earliest stages, investing in
pre-founding, seed, and early-stage startups and playing an active
role in subsequent financing. With continued funding and provision
of management resources, we remain deeply involved in supporting
their growth.
Bold investment in young startups backed by many years of experience
We primarily invest in entrepreneurs before or shortly after founding their businesses as well as seed and early-stage companies.
With investments to pre-founding and beginning-stage ventures ranging from several hundred million to over a billion yen, we contribute to new businesses by providing the capital that forms the foundation for rapid growth and engaging deeply in management to help create new possibilities.
Development stage of startups at initial investment
Development stage ratio of portfolio companies under the SV7 Fund as of the initial investment (ratio by the number of portfolio companies; invested in 60 companies as of March, 31, 2025)
Investment per Startup
*Average for VC industry is based on the section “Average Investment Amount per Deal by Portfolio Company Stage (Domestic), 2023” in Venture Enterprise Center, Japan’s Venture White Paper 2024 *JAFCO’s amount of initial investment is as of the end of March 2025.
Playing an active role in financing and providing ongoing funding to support rapid growth
As the initial lead investor, we take the initiative to support large funding rounds after our initial investment.
With additional investments made as needed to support business growth, we flexibly and continuously support our portfolio companies throughout their journey.
Ratio of deals where we acted as lead investor
86.1 %
Ratio of companies we invested in multiple times
67.6 %
*Ratio of portfolio companies under the SVX Fund(?) that received multiple investments from JAFCO (as of March 2024)
Proactive management involvement to deliver businesses to the world more quickly and widely
According to the business domain, structures, challenges, and growth stages of portfolio companies, we assemble a support unit with optimal members.
In addition to proactively engaging in management decisions and business development as an investor, we support startups whose organizational structures may not yet be solid to be able to focus on their core business, aiming to maximize corporate value.
We have a highly specialized business development team that works alongside our investment professionals. In order to accelerate the growth of our portfolio companies, we actively engage in key areas and aim for shared success.
Business Development Track Record
Number of contacts with business firms
5,000+
*Number of JAFCO's unique contacts calculated from our in-house CRM tool, Salesforce, as of March 31, 2025.
Number of companies supported in
organizational and recruitment matters
126
*Number of JAFCO's portfolio companies supported in solving the issues about Organization and Human Resource from April 2018 to March 2025.
Number of companies supported in back-
office structuring and IPO preparation
70
*Number of JAFCO's portfolio companies supported in solving BO structuring and IPO preparation issues from January 2020 to March 2025.
More about business development
Business Development
Case Studies
Visional, Inc
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Established
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2007 (As the predecessor company)
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Line of business
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Creating a Human Capital Management Ecosystem through our solutions such as “BizReach” a job change site that connects professionals to companies, “Internal BizReach by HRMOS” that prevents the outflow of human resources through internal scouting activities, and “HRMOS” series, a human capital management cloud, as well as promoting industrial DX through business development in M&A, logistics Tech, and cybersecurity domains.
Initial investment
2010
IPO
Apr. 22, 2021
After the global financial crisis and market downturn, JAFCO executed an initial investment of ¥0.2 billion in Visional. We supported the company from the very early stage, when the management team was working out of a single apartment to launch the business. JAFCO was deeply involved, including co-founding a new company together with the team.
Money Forward, Inc.
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Established
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2012
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Line of business
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Provider of "Money Forward" personal asset management/ accounting service and "MF Cloud Accounting/ Finance/ Payroll" cloud services for small and midsize companies
Initial investment
2013
IPO
Sep. 29, 2017
JAFCO invested in Money Forward for the customer value its product delivers, the advanced technology behind it, and the company's dedicated founding team comprised of highly capable and principled individuals. We actively provided the funding and resources needed to support the business’s rapid growth and played a central role in arranging financing from financial institutions and forming business alliances to enable its expansion.
dely Inc.
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Established
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2014
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Line of business
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A video recipe service
Initial investment
2017
IPO
Dec. 19, 2024
In an industry saturated with similar services domestically and abroad, dely was showing signs of rapid growth even while still in the PMF stage. JAFCO executed investments to help accelerate the growth of dely's recipe video business. Since then, as an early-stage key shareholder, JAFCO accompanied dely on its journey all the way to its IPO more than ten years after its founding.
Synspective Inc.
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Established
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2018
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Line of business
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Development and manufacture of small SAR satellites and satellite data solution provider service
Initial investment
2018
IPO
Dec. 19, 2024
JAFCO supported Synspective’s IPO with an initial investment just two months after the company’s founding, followed by multiple additional investments that helped it go public within seven years. Our support also catalyzed the world’s fastest early-stage fundraising for a space-related startup and guided subsequent financing totaling ¥36.5 billion.
Timee, Inc.
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Established
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2017
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Line of business
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Operation of a matching service for spare time jobs
Initial investment
2019
IPO
Jul. 26, 2024
JAFCO supported a young entrepreneur dedicated to realizing new workstyles and transforming lifestyles and society, as well as a service and team with the potential to address pressing social challenges, as the lead investor. We continued to be deeply involved in key management decisions all the way through to its IPO, which achieved a market cap exceeding ¥100 billion.
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Event Report
JAFCO SEED 2025: A Conference for Seed-Stage Entrepreneurs—A Report on Sessions by Entrepreneurs in High-Growth Sectors (Part 1)
#JAFCO SEED
Sep. 12, 2025
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The Reality of Venture Support
Beyond the "30-Person Wall": How Business Media PIVOT Partnered with JAFCO to Strengthen Management and Reshape Their Organization, Guided by a "Sherpa-like" Presence Aiming for Greater Heights
Jul. 10, 2025
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Interviews with Entrepreneurs
Creating New Experiences Through “Chatting AI”: A New Relationship Between Humans and AI That Goes Beyond Convenience
#AI
Jun. 23, 2025
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Interviews with Entrepreneurs
Transforming Japan's Major Corporations into "AI-Native Companies": A Vision from the Frontline of AI Agent Development
#AI
Dec. 19, 2024
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Interviews with Portfolio Companies
Transforming Society Together with Financial Institutions: A Fintech Startup Aiming to Establish a New Financial Ecosystem
#Saas
Oct. 03, 2024
Contact Us
We value every initial meeting with entrepreneurs who have a vision for new businesses, and we welcome inquiries from those seeking funding or preparing to launch.
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