Led · Equity · Dec 2019

ChatBook builds marketing-automation solutions based on Messenger bots that turn conversations into conversions and accelerate lead generation, evaluation, management, completion and analysis across customers, sales and marketing teams. Led by CEO Maiko Kojima, the startup has integrated its chatbots into the B2B enterprise landscape and established partnerships with Facebook, Salesforce and Marketo. Since their start in 2018, ChatBook has processed more than 1 million data points of customer information. The company raised $1M in funding to strengthen its solution offering through product innovation and sales growth. The injected capital is intended to support continued product development and expansion of sales efforts.

Participated · Equity · Apr 2017

Emerada develops a financial‑customer integrated platform called Emerada Cash Manager and AI products such as Emerada Analytics (a credit Copilot). It also offers a BaaS promotion cloud, Emerada SmartBank Assistant, and plans a B2B cash‑conversion improvement payment service, Emerada Payment, for 2024. The company focuses on partnering with regional financial institutions to drive supply‑chain DX and improve financial workflows for small and medium enterprises. Emerada reports partnerships with about 80 financial institutions to date. Its stated capital (including reserves) is ¥1,103 million, and the company completed fundraising that brought cumulative post‑seed financing to about ¥1.9 billion. Proceeds are earmarked to deepen financial institution partnerships, accelerate AI and BaaS commercialization, develop online/data lending and guarantee‑backed loan digitization, and launch credit+payment offerings such as BNPL for banks. Emerada is preparing an online platform to give unlisted companies access to a broad range of fundraising options, including equity-type investments and borrowings. The company’s stated mission is to bring transparency to the 99% of the financial market made up of unlisted firms by ensuring necessary information is disclosed to investors. Its first product is a platform that enables growth-stage startups to raise equity-style capital from many individual investors online. Within the year it plans to begin trial operations of a lending platform that will allow unlisted companies to obtain loans online. The company said it will use the newly raised capital to advance both its equity and borrowing businesses, hire staff, and strengthen marketing and compliance. Emerada was founded in June 2016 and is headquartered in Chiyoda‑ku, Tokyo.

Participated · Equity · Jan 2017

Alpaca operates a brokerage infrastructure API that powers fintechs, banks, broker-dealers, wealth managers, algorithmic trading firms, active traders, and crypto-native financial platforms. The company supports over 10 million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in more than 40 countries. Alpaca has expanded its regulated footprint through acquisitions, including an IFSCA-regulated broker-dealer and payment service provider in GIFT City and UK/European entities with passporting across the EEA, and has launched global equities access beginning with European equities. It has onboarded major global crypto exchanges and tokenization platforms, reported doubling revenue year-over-year for three consecutive years, and surpassed $1.5 billion in assets under custody for underlying stocks backing tokenized equities. Alpaca plans to use the new financing to accelerate its agent-first brokerage and API-first prime brokerage infrastructure to support tokenized markets and AI-native financial services.