Led · Equity · Jan 2024

Motorist, founded in 2015 and based in Singapore, provides digital solutions that streamline car appraisals, used-car listings, and loan and insurance applications. It launched a consumer app in 2019 and says 15% of Singaporean car owners use the app. The startup has expanded regionally with a launch in Vietnam last year and offers services in Malaysia and Thailand. Motorist claims its network has facilitated over USD 1 billion in vehicle sales transactions, reaching that milestone in 2023 after hitting USD 100 million five years earlier. The company received a strategic investment from Tokyo Century Leasing (Singapore) and said the funding will increase the accessibility and efficiency of its solutions. Motorist is seeking additional investors for a Series A round.

Participated · Series A · Jan 2024

KAICO, founded in April 2018 and headquartered in Fukuoka, is a Kyushu University–origin venture that leverages silkworms to express difficult-to-produce proteins as pharmaceutical ingredients, diagnostics and reagents. Its core product focus is oral vaccines made from silkworm-expressed protein antigens, with an initial commercial application as a swine feed-additive to replace burdensome injection vaccination. The company plans to begin sales of the swine feed-additive oral vaccine in Vietnam and use Vietnam as a foothold to expand across other Asian markets. KAICO has filed patents covering oral vaccines using silkworm-produced antigens and is advancing programs for multiple swine infections as well as oral vaccines for farmed fish and companion animals into demonstration/validation phases. Financially, KAICO completed an additional Series A third-party allotment of ¥290 million, bringing its cumulative Series A funding to ¥810 million. In September 2023 the company's project to develop manufacturing platform technology for swine oral vaccine commercialization was selected for NEDO’s Deep Tech Startup Support program.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2023

ThinkCyte develops VisionSort, the company’s flagship AI-based, dual-mode fluorescence and morphometric cell sorting platform, launched in June 2023. VisionSort has been adopted by major biopharmaceutical companies and leading academic research institutions worldwide. The company plans to use new funding to scale production and manufacturing and to accelerate global commercial expansion of VisionSort. ThinkCyte completed a Series C financing (including a recent extension) and also secured a loan to support growth. The new proceeds bring ThinkCyte’s total funding to $91 million. ThinkCyte was founded in 2016 and maintains offices in Tokyo, Japan and Redwood City, California. ThinkCyte develops scientific instruments that combine proprietary optics, microfluidics, and artificial intelligence to enable high‑throughput, label‑free single‑cell analysis and sorting using its Ghost Cytometry technology. Its flagship product, VisionSort, commercially launched in June and is an AI‑based dual‑mode fluorescence and morphometric cell sorting platform. Since the summer launch the company has completed deliveries to major pharmaceutical companies and leading research institutions in the U.S. The company plans to use new funding to expand production capacity for VisionSort and accelerate sales across North America, Europe, and Asia. ThinkCyte says it will continue developing complementary technologies and products to broaden the impact of Ghost Cytometry in life sciences. The company was founded in 2016 and has offices in Tokyo and Redwood City, California. ThinkCyte develops life‑science research, diagnostic, and therapeutic platforms built around its proprietary image‑based high‑throughput cell sorting technology, Ghost Cytometry. The company focuses on drug discovery, cell therapy, and clinical diagnostics applications of its image‑based cell analysis and sorting system. ThinkCyte intends to use new funding to accelerate development of its cell‑therapy sorting system, expand clinical diagnostics and drug‑discovery activities, and pursue global business growth. The company was founded in 2016 and is led by CEO Waichiro Katsuda. ThinkCyte is based in Tokyo, Japan, and also maintains offices in San Carlos, California. The recent financing strengthens its balance sheet to support product development and international expansion plans.

Participated · Series B · Aug 2023

SEQSENSE builds and operates autonomous mobile robots, primarily the SQ-2 security robot, and provides an operations management system called SQ-Guard. Since launching SQ-2 in 2019, about 40 units have been deployed at active security sites across Japan. SQ-2 uses proprietary 3D LiDAR, path-planning, object and pedestrian recognition, and a cloud-linked remote-command system to perform patrols and detect unusual changes. The company is also commercializing service robots in partnership with industrial partners, including the FORRO indoor delivery robot developed with Kawasaki Heavy Industries for hospital specimen and drug delivery. FORRO entered trial service at Fujita Medical University in July 2023 as part of customer interviews and real-world validation. SEQSENSE says it will continue applying its autonomous navigation technology across multiple domains to address labor shortages. The company is headquartered in Tokyo and was founded on October 3, 2016.

Participated · Series C · Jun 2023

Founded in 2010 and based in Tokyo, Terra Motors is known for its electric motorcycles and its Terra Charge EV charging infrastructure. Terra Charge comprises an app for scheduling and payments, a managed cloud platform, and installation services for charging equipment. The service has been adopted by local governments, condominiums, hotels, and golf courses, and the company reports over 4,700 unit orders as of June 27, 2023. Terra Motors has become a leading domestic provider of EV charging infrastructure in Japan. The company plans to use new funding to accelerate expansion of its charging network and to further develop software, hardware, and services. It also intends to strengthen recruitment and organizational capabilities to pursue EV-based energy management, electricity supply, and demand-response initiatives. Terra Motors develops, manufactures and sells electric two- and three-wheelers. Its flagship vehicle is the A4000i, an electric two- and three-wheeler with smartphone connectivity. Led by founder and CEO Toru Tokushige, the company operates overseas affiliates in Vietnam and the Philippines. Terra plans near-term expansion into India and Bangladesh and intends to enter Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand and other Asian markets in the coming years. It also plans to enhance production in Vietnam and the Philippines to support regional growth. The company completed a $10M financing round to fund its Asian expansion.