Tokyo-based Telexistence, the Japanese startup developing remote-controlled robots, announced on Friday that it has secured about 23 billion yen (about $160 million US) in a series B round. Participating investors in this round are Monoful Venture Partners, KDDI Open Innovation Fund, Airbus Ventures, Softbank Group (TSE: 9984), Foxconn, and Globis Capital Partners (GCP).
Monoful Venture Partners, KDDI Open Innovation Fund, and Airbus Ventures followed their previous investments in Series A1 and A2 rounds. The latest round brought the robotics startup’s funding sum up to over 27.5 billion yen ($190 million US).
Telexistence also secured a strategic partnership with Softbank Robotics Group (SBRG) to promote its robotics business in North America and other regions. In addition, Telexisistence will collaborate with Foxconn to establish mass production technology for the startup’s next model GHOST. In conjunction with the funding, Telexistence invites Kenichi Yoshida of SBRG and Ryohei Nomoto of GCP to the company’s board of directors.
Telexistence is developing remotely controlled robots using a variety of technologies, including robotics, telecommunications, VR, tactile sensation, and AI. TX SCARA, the company’s current model, is known for having installed in many FamilyMart convenience stores in Japan. Demand for these robots is increasing in Japan where manpower is in short supply, and in North America where labor costs are skyrocketing after COVID-19.
Japanese startup Fuller, the company offering mobile app development and usage data analysis services, announced on Monday that its initial listing application on the Tokyo Stock Exchange had been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Growth Market on July 25 with plans to offer 80,000 shares for public subscription and to sell 44,200 shares in over-allotment options for a total of 215,200 shares. The underwriting will be led by SBI Securities while Fuller’s ticker code will be 5583. Based on the company’s estimated issue price is 990 yen (about $7) per share, its market cap is approximately 1.66 billion yen (about $11.7 million). Its share price range will be released on July 5 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on July 7 and pricing on July 13. The final public offering price will be determined on July 14. According to its consolidated statement as of June of 2022, the company posted revenue of 1.24 billion yen ($8.7 million) with an ordinary profit of 166.1 million yen ($1.2 million). Fuller was founded in November 2011. Currently, the company’s founder, Shuta Shibuya, serves as Chairman of the Board while Shoji Yamazaki serves as President. The company had been headquartered in…
From left: Founder and Chairman Shuta Shibuya, President Masashi Yamazaki Image credit: Fuller
Japanese startup Fuller, the company offering mobile app development and usage data analysis services, announced on Monday that its initial listing application on the Tokyo Stock Exchange had been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Growth Market on July 25 with plans to offer 80,000 shares for public subscription and to sell 44,200 shares in over-allotment options for a total of 215,200 shares. The underwriting will be led by SBI Securities while Fuller’s ticker code will be 5583.
Based on the company’s estimated issue price is 990 yen (about $7) per share, its market cap is approximately 1.66 billion yen (about $11.7 million). Its share price range will be released on July 5 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on July 7 and pricing on July 13. The final public offering price will be determined on July 14. According to its consolidated statement as of June of 2022, the company posted revenue of 1.24 billion yen ($8.7 million) with an ordinary profit of 166.1 million yen ($1.2 million).
Fuller was founded in November 2011. Currently, the company’s founder, Shuta Shibuya, serves as Chairman of the Board while Shoji Yamazaki serves as President. The company had been headquartered in Tokyo’s suburb of Kashiwanoha for a long time. In November of 2020, their registered head office was moved to Niigata, where hibuya was born and raised, and the company now has two head offices, in Niigata and Kashiwanoha. This will be the first listing from Niigata Prefecture since Snow Peak (TSE: 7816) and Yukiguni-Maitake (TSE: 1375).
Major shareholders include Founder and Chairman Shuta Shibuya (16.08%), B Dash Ventures (8.42%), Global Catalyst Partners Japan (7.97%), Asahi Net (6.26%), Ibaraki New Industry Creation Fund (5.17%), Kimiya Yamamoto (President of Open Road Associates, 4.23%), Executive Vice President and CDO Hiroki Sakurai (3.45%), Niigata Venture Capital (3.41%), and President Masashi Yamazaki (3.33%).
This guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). He is the Managing Partner of Shizen Capital (formerly known as Tachi.ai Ventures) in Japan. You can read more on his blog at http://rude.vc or follow him @markbivens. The Japanese translation of this article is available here. France shows no signs of throttling back its ambition to maintain one of the world’s most vibrant startup ecosystems. At the VivaTech conference in Paris last week, French president Emmanuel Macron announced an extension of TIBI, an initiative which successfully catalyzed $30 billion of funding into French startups over a three-year period by encouraging financial institution partners to re-orient $6 billion into VC funding. When financial institutions back a venture capital fund as an anchor LP, a virtuous multiplier effect occurs, enabling the VC fund to raise more capital from other LPs. The TIBI extension will mobilize an additional $7 billion to be invested into French VC funds from such government partner institutions, with an increased focus on early-stage venture…
This guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.”
He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). He is the Managing Partner of Shizen Capital (formerly known as Tachi.ai Ventures) in Japan. You can read more on his blog at http://rude.vc or follow him @markbivens. The Japanese translation of this article is available here.
Image credit: Viva Technology
France shows no signs of throttling back its ambition to maintain one of the world’s most vibrant startup ecosystems. At the VivaTech conference in Paris last week, French president Emmanuel Macron announced an extension of TIBI, an initiative which successfully catalyzed $30 billion of funding into French startups over a three-year period by encouraging financial institution partners to re-orient $6 billion into VC funding.
When financial institutions back a venture capital fund as an anchor LP, a virtuous multiplier effect occurs, enabling the VC fund to raise more capital from other LPs. The TIBI extension will mobilize an additional $7 billion to be invested into French VC funds from such government partner institutions, with an increased focus on early-stage venture funds in particular.
Whether it be by happy coincidence or direct inspiration, Japan Post Bank just announced today an identical level of funding in Japan for “turning startups into unicorns.” So this strikes me as an opportune time to examine how France produced its 36 unicorns.
36 Unicorns and counting
Through its dedicated efforts over nearly two decades, France has emerged as the leading ecosystem for startups in Europe, and arguably by some metrics third in the world behind the U.S. and China. Several years ago, the French government set out its aspiration to produce 25 tech unicorns by the year 2025. France has already shattered this goal, having already attained 36 unicorns.
The unicorn count is a metric that governments around the world like to use as a proxy to represent the vibrancy of their domestic startup ecosystems. I believe that France represents an interesting case study in a country’s unicorn production, so let’s analyze how France produced its 36 unicorns.
Three primary factors contribute to the successful cultivation of tech unicorns:
Volume of seed stage startups
Time
Capital
As the above funnel illustrates, producing unicorns requires starting with an abundant pool of seed stage startups. At the risk of sounding glaringly obvious, most startups do not become unicorns. In France’s case, approximately 1,000 seed stage startups are necessary to produce one unicorn. Failing to foster a sufficiently large volume of seed stage startups fundamentally tightens the reins on unicorn growth.
Secondly, it takes time. Unicorns do not grow overnight. For France, the average time for a startup to grow from seed stage to unicorn stage has been 8 years.
Finally, it takes capital. Two decades ago, France was not a country with abundant risk capital interested in the VC asset class. Nor was it a country of startups. Sources of capital were conservative in mindset, and French society espoused a culture which encouraged young people to pursue careers of stability rather than entrepreneurship. This is where the French government stepped in with a policy change which catalyzed the flow of capital into startups, and over time, transformed the mindset of French society to embrace entrepreneurship: the Angel Tax program.
Over 17 years, the French Angel Tax program produced the bulk of the 35,000 seed stage startups necessary for the unicorn funnel. Subsequently, initiatives from the BPI (the French Public Investment Bank) and more recently the aforementioned TIBI, provided the additional boost to VC funds to enable them to fill their capital coffers in order to finance the continued growth of the startups as they progress through the unicorn funnel.
The trajectory of France’s startup ecosystem represents an admirable success story. Moreover, the French government is not resting on its laurels by curtailing its ambitions. I submit that France will remain an interesting model to watch.
Tokyo-based Brave group, a Japanese VTuber studio, announced that it has founded a US subsidiary to begin full-scale global operations. Their first initiative is V4Mirai, a VTuber production project focused on English-speaking markets, in which two VTubers (Abi Kadabura and Serina Maiko) will debut on June 11. Brave group US plans to use this as a springboard to expand their VTuber business globally. The company was founded in 2017 by Japanese serial entrepreneur Keito Noguchi. The company runs the BlitzWing virtual music label and the V-Spo next-gen virtual eSports project in addition to producing other VTuber groups, IP businesses, platform business utilizing their own Brave metaverse engine, and the development of emerging areas such as eSports and Web3. In January of 2023, Brave group raised 300 million yen (about $2.2 million) from the Japanese subsidiary of Animoca Brands, which brought their funding sum up to date to 3.04 billion yen ($21.9 million). via PR Times Summarized by ChatGPT
Image credit: Brave group
Tokyo-based Brave group, a Japanese VTuber studio, announced that it has founded a US subsidiary to begin full-scale global operations. Their first initiative is V4Mirai, a VTuber production project focused on English-speaking markets, in which two VTubers (Abi Kadabura and Serina Maiko) will debut on June 11. Brave group US plans to use this as a springboard to expand their VTuber business globally.
The company was founded in 2017 by Japanese serial entrepreneur Keito Noguchi. The company runs the BlitzWing virtual music label and the V-Spo next-gen virtual eSports project in addition to producing other VTuber groups, IP businesses, platform business utilizing their own Brave metaverse engine, and the development of emerging areas such as eSports and Web3.
In January of 2023, Brave group raised 300 million yen (about $2.2 million) from the Japanese subsidiary of Animoca Brands, which brought their funding sum up to date to 3.04 billion yen ($21.9 million).
Tokyo-based VC firm W (formerly W ventures) announced on Tuesday that it has increased the fund size of W fund II from its initially-announced size of 5 billion yen to 7 billion yen. The fund invests in toC startups and others with innovative technology in a seed to Series A round. The fund has invested in 102 startups to date, with one IPO (Creema) and four M&As (Monokabu acquired by Sneaker Dunk). LinQ, one of the firm’s portfolio companies, has developed a location sharing app called Whoo, which has been downloaded over 10 million times. In response to portfolio companies creating globally competitive services, the firm has decided to start full-fledged investments in Southeast Asia. The team focused on the region is expected to include Amanda Umezono, a former East Ventures employee with investment experience and network in the region, and Kengo Takada, who has experience in global projects at Dentsu. via PR Times
The W team Image credit: W
Tokyo-based VC firm W (formerly W ventures) announced on Tuesday that it has increased the fund size of W fund II from its initially-announced size of 5 billion yen to 7 billion yen. The fund invests in toC startups and others with innovative technology in a seed to Series A round. The fund has invested in 102 startups to date, with one IPO (Creema) and four M&As (Monokabu acquired by Sneaker Dunk).
LinQ, one of the firm’s portfolio companies, has developed a location sharing app called Whoo, which has been downloaded over 10 million times. In response to portfolio companies creating globally competitive services, the firm has decided to start full-fledged investments in Southeast Asia. The team focused on the region is expected to include Amanda Umezono, a former East Ventures employee with investment experience and network in the region, and Kengo Takada, who has experience in global projects at Dentsu.
Singapore-based cultured seafood developer Umami Meats made an official announcement on Thursday that it will expand into the Japanese market. The company is focused on developing cultured fish for endangered species such as eel, grouper, snapper, and tuna, which are in high demand in Japan. It is actively working to build partnerships with Japanese companies and create an ecosystem to generate technology and manufacturing applications for the Japanese market. Umami Meats, founded in 2020, produces cultured seafood that is nutritious and affordable. The company aims to provide a delicious eating experience by offering cultured seafood that is free of heavy metals, antibiotics, and microplastics and has the same nutritional value as conventional seafood. It has previously signed a licensing agreement with NUProtein in Tokushima, Japan, to license its growth factor production system. In this particular vertical, US startup Finless Foods, backed by Japanese fish wholesaler Dainichi, IndieBio, Twitch founder Justin Kan, and others, has successfully developed plant-based cultured tuna meat. BlueNalu, another American cultured fish startup backed by Sumitomo Corporation (TSE:8053) and others, formed a business alliance with Food & Life Companies (TSE:3563), the company behind Japanese major sushi restaurant chain Sushiro. Tokyo-based startup IntegriCulture has begun joint research on…
The Umami Meats management team. CEO Mihir Pershad stands in the middle. Image credit: Umami Meats
Singapore-based cultured seafood developer Umami Meats made an official announcement on Thursday that it will expand into the Japanese market. The company is focused on developing cultured fish for endangered species such as eel, grouper, snapper, and tuna, which are in high demand in Japan. It is actively working to build partnerships with Japanese companies and create an ecosystem to generate technology and manufacturing applications for the Japanese market.
Umami Meats, founded in 2020, produces cultured seafood that is nutritious and affordable. The company aims to provide a delicious eating experience by offering cultured seafood that is free of heavy metals, antibiotics, and microplastics and has the same nutritional value as conventional seafood. It has previously signed a licensing agreement with NUProtein in Tokushima, Japan, to license its growth factor production system.
In this particular vertical, US startup Finless Foods, backed by Japanese fish wholesaler Dainichi, IndieBio, Twitch founder Justin Kan, and others, has successfully developed plant-based cultured tuna meat. BlueNalu, another American cultured fish startup backed by Sumitomo Corporation (TSE:8053) and others, formed a business alliance with Food & Life Companies (TSE:3563), the company behind Japanese major sushi restaurant chain Sushiro. Tokyo-based startup IntegriCulture has begun joint research on cultured fish meat with Maruha Nichiro (TSE: 1333), one of Japan’s largest fishery processors.
The Bridge
