The Venture Codex

Led · Series A · Jul 2026

CORE Biomedicine applies a lineage-based therapeutic approach to identify and target core biological pathways that define cancer cell identity, aiming to discover first- and best-in-class oncology medicines. The company intends to expand potential patient populations beyond genomics-defined groups by focusing on lineage drivers. CORE was founded by former leaders of H3 Biomedicine and operates in Boston, Tokyo and Suzhou. Following its $21 million Series A and an AMED grant to its Japanese subsidiary, CORE says it will use the funds to advance lead programs through discovery and early clinical development and to strengthen collaborations with Japanese academic and clinical partners. The company positions itself as building an innovative precision medicine business leveraging the global biotech ecosystem.

Participated · Series A · Apr 2026

Founded in 2023 by Yuma Sasaki in Ethiopia, Dodai assembles electric motorcycles and batteries locally and operates an infrastructure of battery-exchange stations that let riders swap depleted batteries. Since launch the company reports it has assembled and deployed more than 2,000 electric motorcycles. Dodai raised $7 million in 2024 and has now completed a $13 million Series A that mixes $8 million in equity and $5 million in debt. The company plans to use the new funding to expand its battery-swap network in Addis Ababa—aiming for 30 stations and 3,000 users within 12 months—and to scale to 30,000 users and 1,000 stations over three years. Dodai also targets regional expansion to several African cities starting in 2028, leveraging its integrated model of local assembly plus battery-exchange infrastructure.

Participated · Series C · Apr 2026

STORM Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotech headquartered in Cambridge, UK, led by CEO Jerry McMahon. Its lead candidate, STC-15, is an oral small-molecule inhibitor of METTL3 and is described as the first RNA‑modifying enzyme inhibitor to enter human clinical trials. STC-15 is currently being assessed as a monotherapy in a Phase 2 study for selected sarcoma indications, and the company has reported dosing the first patient in that study. In April 2026 STORM raised $56M in a Series C to support advancement of STC-15 and to enhance the Phase 2 program. The company’s core focus is developing therapies that target RNA modifications to reprogram malignant cells.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2023

QSimulate is a Boston-based technology company focused on applying quantum simulation to problems in drug discovery and broader industrial R&D. Its core offering is a cloud-based platform that models molecular interactions with quantum-level precision, helping researchers optimize leads, especially covalent drug molecules and compounds interacting with metal ions. In November 2025 the firm released QUELO v2.3, adding enhanced sampling techniques and support for larger molecules and peptide drugs. Current collaborations span multinational enterprises such as Google, Mitsui, and JT Pharma, underscoring early commercial traction. The company plans to use newly raised capital to scale operations and broaden its platform’s capabilities to meet growing partner demand. Led by CEO Toru Shiozaki, QSimulate has secured $11 million in total funding to date.

Participated · Series B · Aug 2023

Better Place operates the "Hagukumi" corporate pension fund and provides pension DX tools (including the "Hag uONE" system) and corporate defined‑contribution (DC) plan services to help SMEs implement pension and retirement benefit schemes. The company reports rapid adoption: as of April 2024 the fund had been introduced by 2,263 participating employers, 2,606 subscribing offices, and 67,180 members. Nearly 98% of adopting firms have 300 or fewer employees, and over 40% of adopters are in welfare, medical, or education sectors. Better Place has partnered with regional banks and plans to deepen those ties to expand nationwide distribution; it also established a business partnership with Credit Saison to broaden corporate DC outreach. Financially, the company completed a Series C equity financing in which it raised ¥299,910,000, bringing cumulative funding to about ¥1.54 billion. Management says the new capital will be used for hiring, marketing, and pension DX system development to position its service as a leading solution for talent retention in an era of labor shortages. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Better Place operates the "Hagukumi Fund," a corporate defined-benefit pension scheme and related digital tools (including the Hagukumi ONE system and Work/Life shift tool) aimed at enabling asset formation for workers in sectors like healthcare, childcare, and eldercare. Since launching the Fund in 2018, the company has grown to 1,386 subscribing businesses and about 45,722 enrolled members as of July 2023, with roughly 73% of subscribing firms in medical and welfare sectors. The business emphasizes low-barrier pension access—guaranteed principal and benefits that can be paid at retirement, leave or other life events—targeting employees at small and medium enterprises who lack employer pension programs. Better Place plans to strengthen partnerships with regional banks to expand the Fund nationwide and to digitize and complete pension onboarding online to reduce administrative barriers. The company aims to reach 175,000 Hagukumi Fund members by fiscal 2026 and to enable online annual onboarding of 850 firms. The press release also notes a recent capital raise that increased the company’s cumulative funding, which management intends to deploy to accelerate bank partnerships and the online completion of pension introduction. Better Place operates a welfare- and healthcare-focused pension fund service ('福祉はぐくみ企業年金基金') and develops industry IT products such as the Work/Life shift-scheduling system and the in-development care-record system Notice. The company says its pension fund saw rapid adoption—543 member organizations and about 25,000 enrolled members (≈14.6x growth) as of November 2021—and the fund has been described as growing roughly 210% year-over-year. Better Place positions its offerings to improve staff quality of life and retention while supporting institutional DX across childcare, nursing care and other welfare operators. The company plans産学連携 research and new service development with the University of Tokyo and to expand service penetration among welfare and medical corporations. Founded in October 2011 and headquartered in Yotsuya, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Better Place emphasizes combining academic insight and corporate partnerships to create additional value for the sector. Recent strategic partnerships include collaboration arrangements with LITALICO and Chatwork to extend services and distribution into industry customer bases.