Global Brain Research
Investment Thesis
Global Brain is an independent Japanese venture capital firm founded in 1998 with a mission of "creating unexplored societies through business creation." The firm operates as both a traditional VC and a corporate-venture-capital (CVC) platform manager, pairing capital with intensive hands-on operational support and open-innovation partnerships between startups and large enterprises. Rather than a narrow thesis, Global Brain positions itself as a broad-spectrum deep-tech and technology investor, with particular conviction in AI, climate tech, and healthcare, extending into enterprise software, fintech, mobility, and space. The firm's differentiator is its network: it manages more than two dozen dedicated CVC funds on behalf of major Japanese corporations (KDDI, Mitsui Fudosan, Sony Financial, Kirin, Mitsubishi Electric, ANA, and others), giving portfolio companies direct access to corporate development, distribution, and co-creation opportunities in Japan and Asia.
Sector Focus
Global Brain's public sector taxonomy spans FinTech, AI, Mobility, Life Science/Healthcare, Space, Enterprise/Cloud/SaaS, Education, HR Tech, and Gaming. In practice the 450+ company portfolio is far broader still, with meaningful concentrations in climate/clean energy, robotics, quantum computing, XR/metaverse, cybersecurity, agtech/food tech, real estate/proptech, and advertising/marketing tech. This breadth reflects the firm's role as the investment manager for many single-LP corporate funds, each with its own sector mandate (e.g., Seiko Epson CVC in GreenTech/robotics/XR, Kyocera CVC in Japan/Asia deep tech, Toho Holdings CVC in pharma distribution).
Stage Focus
Global Brain invests from seed through later-stage and growth rounds ("seed to later stage" per the firm's own positioning), with no hard stage restriction. Given ¥400B+ in AUM across dozens of vehicles, the firm can and does follow companies from early rounds through pre-IPO and public-market exits.
Check Size
Publicly disclosed investment range is roughly ¥0.3B–¥50B per deal (approximately $2M–$340M USD equivalent at recent exchange rates). 2024 disclosed activity showed 168 investments totaling ¥33.6B, averaging roughly ¥200M (~$1.3M) per deal, suggesting the bulk of check activity clusters at the smaller end of the disclosed range with select large growth checks pulling the average range wider.
Lead Tendency
Mixed. Recent press releases describe Global Brain both leading rounds (e.g., RevComm's July 2026 round, JIJ's August 2026 follow-on) and participating alongside co-investors and corporate-fund partners. Given the CVC-platform structure, the firm frequently syndicates with its own sponsor corporations and outside VCs rather than leading every round outright.
Recent Activity
Global Brain has been actively deploying through mid-2026:
- August 2026: Additional/follow-on investments in FLASH Inc. (short drama/anime production platform), JIJ Inc. (quantum optimization platform), and Knowledge Work Inc. (sales AI agents)
- July 2026: Led a new round in RevComm Inc. (MiiTel voice-analysis AI)
- July 2026: Portfolio company Securitize, Inc. completed a SPAC merger and began trading on the NYSE — a notable public-market exit
- May 2026: Announced 10 new General Partner and Managing Partner appointments, signaling continued platform expansion
- March 2026: Announced a strategic partnership with Techstars to accelerate innovation programming in Japan and globally
Portfolio Highlights
With 450+ portfolio companies, 1,300+ total investments, 45 IPOs, and 92 M&A exits, Global Brain has one of the largest and most diversified track records among Japan-based VC platforms. Notable names include Mercari (Japan's leading C2C marketplace, IPO'd), Raksul (print/logistics marketplace, IPO'd), Timee (spot-work staffing, IPO'd), Groq (AI inference chips), Securitize (tokenization infrastructure, recently NYSE-listed via SPAC), WealthNavi (robo-advisory, IPO'd), Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Kyoto Fusioneering (fusion energy), Healx (AI drug discovery), and Voicy and SHOWROOM (media/entertainment platforms). The portfolio also includes a deep bench of frontier deep-tech names in space (Axelspace, GITAI, ElevationSpace), quantum (JIJ, QunaSys, OptQC), and robotics (Telexistence, Connected Robotics).
Team
Global Brain organizes its team into four groups: Investment, Platform, Fund Management, and Corporate Management, with 200+ listed staff across offices in Tokyo, Kyoto, San Francisco, New York, the UK, Germany, China, South Korea, India, and Singapore. Key leadership includes:
- Yasuhiko Yurihon — Representative / General Partner
- Managing Partner (Platform Group) overseeing portfolio operational support
- Partner (Investment Group), San Francisco-based, covering North American deal flow
- Director-level leadership across Fund Management and Corporate Management groups
- 10 additional General Partners and Managing Partners appointed in May 2026, reflecting a broadening of investment decision-making authority across the platform
Decision Process
Global Brain describes a structured, three-phase process: initial screening (~2 weeks), comprehensive due diligence covering legal, financial, and IP review (1–3 weeks), and investment decision/execution (roughly 1 week) — a minimum of one month from first meeting to funding. Given the number of sponsor-corporation CVC funds under management, individual fund investment committees likely govern capital allocation decisions for their respective mandates.
Founder Preferences
The firm emphasizes transparent, fair evaluation processes with clear communication, and positions itself as offering more than capital — operational and corporate-partnership support tailored to each portfolio company's growth stage and needs.
Geographic Focus
Japan-dominant (56.3% of investment activity), with meaningful allocations to North America (17.2%), Asia ex-Japan (10.9%), Europe (7.8%), and other regions (7.8%). Headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, with a global office network supporting cross-border deal sourcing and portfolio company expansion into Japan.