Mizuho Capital

Mizuho Capital is one of Japan’s top five largest venture capital firms. Mizuho Capital has a special interest in technology and biotechnology companies and has six major funds:

Growth Support Fund – The core fund that supports companies aiming for exponential growth.
Life Science Fund – A fund focused on helping companies in the life sciences sector grow.
Growth Fund – A hands-on fund for startups in the growth stage.
FinTech Fund – A fund focused on investing in fintech startups.
Business Succession Fund – A fund geared to support business succession in SMEs.
6th Industrialization Fund – A fund that backs companies focused on industrialization of forestry, fishery and agriculture.

Overview of Mizuho Capital

Background

Established in 1983, Mizuho Capital is the venture capital arm of Mizuho Bank, Japan’s second-largest bank in terms of assets. It was formed through the merger of three subsidiaries of the Industrial Bank of Japan, Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, and Fuji Bank. The subsidiaries are IBJ Investment, Tokyo Venture Capital, and Fujigin Capital.

Geographically

The Mizuho Capital headquarters are located in Tokyo, Japan and there is a branch in Osaka, Japan. Most of the company’s investments are made in the capital area, with some in Kansai and other Japanese regions, and selected investments abroad.

Significant Investments

As of August 2020, Mizuho Capital has made over 290 investments and has had 26 exists. Some of the most notable exits are Mode Media, GENIEE and Money Forward. The majority of the investments made by Mizuho Capital (over 40%) are in the IT/Internet industry. Other industries include biotechnology, medicine and healthcare, and service related industries. Significant investments include:

BeaTrust – An employee collaboration platform with powerful search capabilities.
Lestas – An e-commerce company that supplies custom-made products.
Brave Group – An IP development, marketing and support services company.
Zehitomo – A digital platform that connects users with local service professionals like personal trainers, plumbers, and photographers.
ABCash Technologies – A technology company that provides advice on financial products like investments, mortgages and insurance.
PR Table – A SaaS platform that creates, accumulates and utilizes corporate storytelling for marketing and advertising purposes.
Onedot Japan – A tech company that created Babily, China’s largest parenting platform.
Hackazouk – An HR technology company that runs official-alumni.com, an alumni relationship management system.

In the News

In August 2020, Commercial Observer reported on a fundraising drive in which Mizuho Capital, SBI Investment, Japanese Finance Corporation and Aozora Bank raised $8.5 million for the Japanese property management software startup Wealthpark. Also in August 2020, Tech Crunch published an article about a successful $2.8 million seed round landed by BeaTrust in which Mizuho Capital was a key participant. During the same period, Fitch Ratings announced that an ‘A’ rating was assigned to Mizuho Capital’s debt issuance program for the senior unsecured notes.