Led · Equity · Aug 2026

Founded in 2020, Letara commercializes hybrid rocket combustion technology originating from work at Hokkaido University by its co-CEOs Shota Hirai and Landon Thomas Kamps. Its hybrid engines use a plastic-based fuel (HTPB) paired with an oxidizer, which the company says is safer to handle than many conventional fuels while maintaining performance. Letara initially focused on miniaturized in-space thrusters but has expanded ambitions to build both satellite thrusters and scalable launch-class hybrid engines. Its in-development product lines include two spacecraft thrusters for satellite propulsion and one hybrid engine designed for launch vehicles and point-to-point logistics. The company raised ¥2.6B ($16M) in a pre-Series A to advance these development efforts, backed by a mix of U.S. and Japanese venture and strategic investors.

Participated · Series D · Jul 2026

Asuene is a Tokyo-based sustainability AI company founded by CEO Kohei Nishiwada that serves over 50,000 clients worldwide. Its flagship ASUENE platform supports greenhouse gas measurement, reduction, and reporting, and the company also offers NZero, an AI Energy Optimization Platform, and Carbon EX, an Integrated Carbon Credit AI Platform. The company raised $87M in Series D financing in 2026, bringing its total funding to $161M. Asuene plans to use the new capital to pursue M&A to accelerate business expansion in Japan and internationally, to advance AI and product development, and to launch new businesses. Corporate investors in the round included firms such as DAIKIN and RICOH alongside other domestic and international backers.

Led · Equity · Jul 2026

NUJP operates a platform that integrates culture investment, M&A, management consulting, overseas sales, and marketing for Japanese culture, brands, and products. The company supports a range of investees, including domestic fashion brands, a Yamanashi sake brewing brand with over 100 years of history, and a Japanese craft gin brand. Beyond investment and management support, NUJP provides technology-enabled business implementation in the DX/AIX domain, offering services such as generative AI agents, web and mobile app development, system implementation/PMO, generative AI design, and prompt optimization. NUJP plans to accelerate brand business succession through M&A and investment while providing hands-on support to investees and promoting their overseas expansion. The company recently secured approximately ¥100 million in capital and a loan to fund these initiatives.

Led · Series D · May 2026

Pixie Dust Technologies commercializes technologies derived from University of Tsukuba research that control waves for applications in healthcare and spatial acoustics. Its healthcare products include the ultrasonic scalp-care device SonoRepro and the gamma-wave sound care device kikippa, while its spatial and acoustics offerings include communication tools for the hearing impaired such as VUEVO and VUEVO Display. The company reports over nine years of activity, during which it has pursued more than 108 R&D themes and filed 238 domestic and 38 international patent applications, with 43 domestic and 5 international patent registrations. Pixie Dust says it will use the new funding to expand sales channels, grow its customer base, continue R&D, develop new products, pursue global expansion, and repay interest-bearing debt. With this financing the company intends to move from R&D and development phases into a full business expansion phase and accelerate growth.

Participated · Seed · May 2026

ReFiBuy develops infrastructure that transforms product catalogs so they can be evaluated, compared, and recommended by AI agents. The company describes its work as creating Agentic Commerce Optimization to bridge the gap between current retailer catalogs and agent-driven purchasing workflows. Its product aims to make product data machine-usable for discovery and purchase decisions on AI platforms. ReFiBuy announced an oversubscribed $13.6M Seed raise, providing its current financial runway. The company presented the funding as a response to most brands and retailers not being ready for agentic commerce and as a way to help them adapt.