Hike Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Hike Ventures is a seed-stage venture firm investing in AI startups across North America, run from San Francisco and Tokyo. It has invested in AI since 2018. The stated thesis is that large language models have learned the public internet, and the next frontier is private, operational context: proprietary data created in real-world operations, customer workflows, and industry-specific environments. The firm says it backs startups that solve real-world problems with proprietary data, not foundation models themselves. Its founding principle is "Algorithm + Human > Algorithm or Human": it prefers companies where AI amplifies people rather than replacing them.
The site frames two themes. The first is AI built on operational data, with examples such as radiology images (Rad AI), wildfire frontlines (BurnBot), ship decks (ShipIn), farms (Greeneye), ICUs (Calmwave) and police patrols (Barricade). The second is the AI-native execution layer: verification, integration, permissions and operations that let AI agents execute work safely and continuously.
Stage Focus
Seed stage, per the site header ("Seed-stage AI, North America"). Several portfolio companies are shown going from seed to Series A, B or C with Hike staying in, so the firm appears to follow on in winners. No explicit check size is published; none is claimed here.
Check Size
Not disclosed on the website. Left blank rather than inferred.
Lead Tendency
Not stated. Recorded as unknown.
Recent Activity
The firm's news page lists four items in 2026, all portfolio milestones rather than new Hike investments:
- Oct 2026: Charter Space announced a $5M seed round for space-industry insurance.
- Aug 2026: Matic Robots launched Matic Cues voice and gesture control for its home cleaning robot.
- Aug 2026: ShipIn Systems raised $52M for its AI platform for commercial shipping, deployed on 1,300+ vessels.
- May 2026: Human Archive raised $8.2M for human work data for physical AI, with 1,000+ headsets deployed.
The site says it has run three funds. Fund sizes and the current fund status are not published, so fund status is recorded as unknown.
Portfolio Highlights
The site claims 70+ portfolio companies in total and lists 57 organized by theme. Highlights called out on the homepage are Rad AI (Fund I, seed to Series C; used by over 55% of the U.S. radiology market), Matic (Fund I, seed through Series A+), and Mesh (Fund II, seed to Series C; crypto and stablecoin payment interconnect supporting Google's AP2). Marked exits on the portfolio page are Medmain, Pitstop, Konnecto, Percept.AI and Readlee. Other named companies include Calmwave, Legion Health, BurnBot, Greeneye, Paladin, Barricade, Ragas, Botpress, Cekura, Firmly, Antigen and Cyberdesk.
Portfolio themes: Healthcare (11), Physical and Operational World (16), Money and Commerce (7), Creative Work (3), AI Stack (11), and AI-Native Applications (9).
Team
- Mikihiro Yasuda, General Partner, San Francisco. Started as a programmer at Netscape Japan, then board member, CTO and COO of Kakaku.com. Later board member at Digital Garage, CEO of Open Network Lab, and head of DeNA's Silicon Valley investment team. Co-founded Hike Ventures. Board member of UCSF Health Hub.
- Taka Shoji, General Partner, Tokyo. Worked on search products at Baidu Japan, then helped U.S. startups enter Japan at Digital Garage. Managing Director of DG Incubation, leading seed investing across North America and Asia. Co-founded MUSIC FOR MUSIC, then co-founded Hike Ventures.
Decision Process
Two general partners who co-founded the firm. The process is not described publicly; recorded as partnership.
Founder Preferences
Founders with access to data the internet cannot see, built through trust and repeated interaction with customers and industries. The GPs say they understand the value of operational data because they come from the operating side as programmers, product managers and company builders.
Limited Partners and Geography
Hike is backed by Japanese corporations and financial institutions and offers LPs monthly briefings, working sessions, deal and PoC sourcing, and San Francisco ecosystem access. Investments target North America; the firm operates between San Francisco and Tokyo, and a few portfolio companies are Tokyo-based (X-Locations, UPBOND, 6over3).