Participated · Series B · Feb 2026

Founded in 2015, Tokyo-based PIAZZA began with a neighborhood SNS app that visualizes local connections and has since evolved into an “area empowerment” company that combines digital platforms with on-the-ground operations. The firm now participates in more than ten major redevelopment projects in the Tokyo metropolitan area and will take over management of a Nakano Ward cultural facility in April 2026. Its core offering is a data-driven, community-centric platform that turns individual residents’ activities and personalities into urban assets, helping municipalities and real-estate developers raise long-term area value. Beyond software, PIAZZA provides consulting, physical facility operations and revenue-generation schemes to support end-to-end city making and management. The company’s mission is to “create towns where people support one another,” and it positions itself as an area management partner from construction through ongoing operation. Proceeds from the latest financing will reinforce its data infrastructure, fund a product overhaul, accelerate expansion into additional metropolitan and regional cities, and support hiring of urban-production talent.

Participated · Series B · Sep 2025

Tenchijin merges satellite big data with proprietary AI algorithms to deliver insights that make invisible ground-level risks and value visible. Its core product, the water-utility digital-transformation service “Uchū Suidokyoku,” launched in April 2023 and has already been adopted by numerous municipalities, surpassing 50 cumulative contracts by September 2025. Beyond water infrastructure, the company is extending its technology stack to agriculture and renewable-energy applications and is even developing its own satellites to build an end-to-end data platform. The newly raised funds will be directed toward hiring engineers, enhancing satellite-data analysis and water-resource-monitoring algorithms, expanding domestic and international sales networks, and strengthening its multi-satellite cloud data infrastructure. Branding and market-awareness initiatives are also planned. Headquartered in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district, Tenchijin positions its mission as “optimizing human civilization through space big data.” Including the latest round, its total funding—equity and debt—now stands at roughly ¥1.9 billion.

Participated · Series C · May 2024

Founded in 2016, NIHON AGRI operates a vertically integrated business that spans production, sorting, packaging, and export of Japanese agricultural produce, with a focus on Asian markets such as Taiwan and Hong Kong. The company pioneered high-density planting for apples in Aomori Prefecture, achieving average yields of about 6 tons per 0.1 hectare—three times conventional methods. Its flagship export, Aomori apples, reached 2,761 tons and ¥1.58 billion in value for the 2024 Lunar New Year season. NIHON AGRI now works with 700 directly contracted apple growers, roughly 2.3 × last year, driving a 2.2 × increase in supply volume. Beyond its own orchards, the firm runs “Nichinou Pack,” an agricultural entry support program that guides other companies from business launch through sales of harvested crops. The new capital will fund working capital needs and value-chain investments to scale apple exports and expand Nichinou Pack. To date, the company has raised about ¥5.7 billion in equity financing.

Participated · Series B · Apr 2024

Sharing Energy operates “Share Denki,” a third-party ownership PPA model that lets homeowners install solar panels without any initial expenditure, with the company handling ownership and maintenance while selling the generated power on long-term contracts. It partners with more than 1,800 builders and other partners nationwide and has received over 24,000 contract applications to date. Beyond the core residential offering, the firm also markets “Share Denki for Biz” for commercial users, “Share Denki FLAT” for zero-upfront energy-saving and storage equipment, and is developing energy-management services. Rising demand for residential solar—driven by new efficiency standards and municipal installation mandates—is expanding the company’s addressable market. Sharing Energy plans to use its latest capital to enhance service quality, accelerate deployment, and design new services and financing schemes so distributed energy can function as critical infrastructure. The firm has previously tapped project finance in 2024 and 2025 and now seeks a more flexible, scalable funding base. Including the Series C first close, cumulative funding stands at ¥26.79 billion.

Participated · Series B · Apr 2021

DAIZ develops plant-based meats and fish built on its proprietary Ochiai high-pressure process that converts germinated soybeans into “miracle chips” for improved texture and flavor without additives. The company is positioning its product as part of a consumer “hybrid strategy,” supplying both domestic and international retail, distribution, food manufacturing, and restaurant customers. DAIZ has partnerships to expand its ingredient base, including a collaboration with France’s Roquette to produce a pea-based version and plans for a future “Miracle Egg” product. The company plans to use the Series C proceeds to build a new 40,000-square-foot plant in Kumamoto Rinku Techno Park, scheduled to launch in February 2025, with initial capacity of 8,000 tons in year one and eventual expansion to 20,000 tons per year. DAIZ has received backing from 33 companies, including 17 listed companies, and says the financing brought its total capital raised to ¥13.1 billion (about US$86.5 million), the largest amount in Japan’s domestic food tech industry. Management highlighted that ministry-backed loan programs enabled long-term, low-cost corporate loans that supplemented equity financing for this expansion. DAIZ develops MIRACLE MEAT, a plant-based meat substitute made from whole germinated soybeans using the Ochiai Germination Method (OGM) to boost taste, nutritional value, and nutrient absorbency while reducing beany off-flavors. MIRACLE MEAT aims to mimic the taste and texture of meat and has been adopted by multiple food manufacturers and restaurant chains, primarily in Japan. The company emphasizes sustainable protein production with lower greenhouse‑gas emissions compared with livestock, and positions its product as a solution for increasing global protein demand. DAIZ intends to expand domestic and overseas adoption of its plant-based meat and contribute to sustainable agricultural production and food supplies. Through a partnership with Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, DAIZ expects technological synergies—particularly in food additives and emulsifiers—to further improve MIRACLE MEAT’s flavor. The company was established December 1, 2015 and is headquartered in Kumamoto‑shi, Kumamoto Prefecture. DAIZ Inc. announced a ¥1,850,000,000 Series B round on April 19, 2021. The capital was raised via a third-party capital increase (equity). The transaction included participation from a broad group of existing, new, and returning investors. Existing investors named include Ajinomoto Co., Kichiri & Co., and the Norinchukin Bank investment arm. New investors listed include Nippon Steel Trading Corporation, KANEMATSU FOODS CORPORATION, Kanematsu Corporation, ENEOS Innovation Partners LLC, Marubeni Corporation, Shinkin Capital Co., Kemuri Ventures LLC, Kirin Holdings Company, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital Co., Global Brain Co., and Golden Asia Fund Venture Ltd. Returning and other participants included Mitsubishi UFJ Capital Co., Ltd., Marubeni Corporation, and QB Capital, LLC. Daiz is a Japanese startup developing plant-based substitutes for meat products. It produces plant-based meat alternatives. The company has raised ¥650 million in a Series A funding round. That amount is approximately $6 million. The round was backed by Mitsubishi UFJ Capital (Mucap). The financing was disclosed as a Series A round.