Spiral Capital

Spiral Capital Research

Investment Thesis

Spiral Capital is a Tokyo-based venture capital group whose mission is to "Spiral into Growth" — drawing startups that transform society through imagination and technology into a compounding spiral of growth alongside every stakeholder in their ecosystem. The group is structured as two sister firms: Spiral Capital, which manages pure-play General Funds for institutional LPs, and Spiral Innovation Partners (SIP), which manages single-LP Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) funds and runs corporate operations (middle office and back office) for the whole group. Spiral Capital looks for startups that combine a vast market opportunity (transformation of existing large industries, DeepTech with global expansion potential, or advanced industry-agnostic technology) with a strong management team (exceptional vision/execution or serial entrepreneurs). SIP's CVC philosophy is to help corporate LPs achieve both strategic and financial returns while building win-win relationships with investee startups, emphasizing quality control (one fund investor per industry, a cap on new mandates per year), maximized returns, and long-term partnership.

Sector Focus

Investment activity is organized around a "BIG4" framework: three transformation-heavy sectors — Smart Infrastructure (including ClimateTech), FinTech, and Healthcare — plus AI as a cross-cutting theme being implemented across every industry. DeepTech is called out as an additional core focus area sitting alongside BIG4. In practice the portfolio is highly diversified across energy/DeepTech (Power Laser, elleThermo, ReNu Industries, MiRESSO, LINEA Innovations, AZUL Energy, Monochrome, Planet Savers), fintech (carbase, Fivot, Paytner, OLTA, SmartBank, LayerX, Bloomo Securities), healthcare/biotech (PENTAS, Dioseve, Restore Vision, Zpeer, aba, Life Log Technology), AI/enterprise software (bellFace, StoryHub, Actelligent, route-D, Spiral.AI, Turing, POCKETALK), mobility (Turing, T2, Dodai, newmo, Nealle), robotics (SOLARIS, MUSE, Eight Knot), semiconductors/hardware (OOKUMA DIAMOND DEVICE, KOALA Tech), aerospace (Space BD), logistics (souco, ecbo, orosy), proptech/real estate (Piece, Live Search, iYell), and crypto/Web3 (BACKSEAT, Kreation Verse, Light).

Stage Focus

The main focus is lead investments in seed/early-stage startups during the hypothesis-validation and product-market-fit phases, with a portion of the fund reserved for middle/later-stage business-expansion investments and active follow-on into existing winners as they scale toward unicorn status.

Check Size

Initial investment amounts range roughly JPY 50 million to JPY 500 million (approximately $330K–$3.3M at current exchange rates), with the ability to deploy up to JPY 1–2 billion (roughly $6.7M–$13.3M) per startup once additional/follow-on rounds are included.

Lead Tendency

Spiral Capital explicitly states it focuses on lead investments in seed/early-stage rounds, positioning itself as a lead investor rather than a pure follower.

Recent Activity

Spiral Capital Japan Fund III (established 2024, targeting JPY 15 billion) is actively deploying, following Fund I (2016, JPY 7 billion, 35 investments) and Fund II (2019, JPY 12 billion, 39 investments). The group has been highly active through 2026, with investments including Power Laser (Sept 2026), Paytner (Sept 2026), elleThermo (Aug 2026), Piece (Jul 2026), Money Forward Private Bank (Jun 2026), iiba (Jun 2026), Space BD (Jun 2026), MW (Jun 2026), WAKA (Jun 2026), Solaris (May 2026), Yosemite (May 2026), Stayway (Apr 2026), Dodai (Apr 2026), ReNu Industries (Apr 2026), Monochrome (Apr 2026), and route-D (Jan 2026). The firm also held its FY2024 Limited Partners' Meeting in August 2025 with over 180 attendees.

Portfolio Highlights

The combined portfolio spans 160 companies (87 under Spiral Capital, 74 under Spiral Innovation Partners, with some overlap), including 142 current holdings and 18 exits. Notable exits include Pragtech (software-based parking services), enpay (collection-process DX), and Curreio (cryo-EM structural drug discovery). Standout current holdings span deep-tech energy (Power Laser, elleThermo, MiRESSO, LINEA Innovations), fintech infrastructure (LayerX, OLTA, carbase, Fivot), AI-driven sales and creative tools (bellFace's "bellSalesAI", StoryHub), autonomous mobility (Turing's generative-AI self-driving vehicles, T2's autonomous trucking), and space (Space BD).

Team

• Tomokazu Okuno — General Partner, CEO (Spiral Capital). Former 13-year investment banker (Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Nikko Salomon Smith Barney); joined CCC Group in 2015 as CFO of the Digital Division and founded the predecessor of Spiral Capital in 2016. Wharton MBA.
• Takashi Chiba — General Partner (Spiral Capital, General Fund). Founding member of Fund I (2016); previously co-founder/COO-CFO of real estate tech startup ITANDI, and spent 6 years in investment banking/private equity at Deutsche Bank and The Carlyle Group.
• Hiroshi Oka — General Partner (Spiral Innovation Partners). With the group since its 2012 launch as IMJ Investment Partners; has led open-innovation/CVC programs (T-Venture, Tokyu Accelerate, ASICS Accelerator) since 2014.
• Kazuhiro Kamada — General Partner (Spiral Innovation Partners). 11 years as a Goldman Sachs TMT investment banker leading startup investment initiatives (including Sansan); prior BCG and Future Architect consulting experience. Wharton MBA.
• Akitomo Naoi — Principal (Spiral Capital). Former Deloitte Tohmatsu senior consultant and EY Strategy and Consulting manager, focused on ESG/sustainability and clean technology.
• Keigo Agata — Principal (Spiral Capital). 7 years in investment banking (Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse) executing IPOs and capital markets transactions.
• Hiroki Yamamoto — Principal (Spiral Capital). Formerly at MUFG Bank/Mitsubishi UFJ Capital for 7 years across fintech, real estate tech, SaaS, AI, and entertainment deals.
• Yasukuni Ichikawa — Partner (Spiral Innovation Partners). Former head of corporate planning at CADDi; 8 years investment banking at Goldman Sachs; started career at Accenture Strategy.
• Mizuki Yoshida — Partner (Spiral Innovation Partners). 15 years in Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Division Advisory Group.
• Masao Hirano — Senior Advisor. Former Japan Office Head of McKinsey & Company and Co-Head of Carlyle Japan; professor at Waseda Business School.
• Daisuke Iwase — Senior Advisor. Representative Director, Chairman & CEO of Benesse Corporation; co-founder of Lifenet Insurance.

Decision Process

The firm operates as a multi-partner partnership across two entities (4 General Partners across Spiral Capital and Spiral Innovation Partners, plus multiple Partners/Principals), rather than a solo-GP structure, indicating a partnership-style investment decision process.

Founder Preferences

Spiral Capital targets founders with either exceptional vision and execution capability or prior serial-entrepreneurship experience, particularly technical/DeepTech founders and management teams capable of transforming large existing industries.

Geographic Focus

All three General Funds (Fund I, II, III) are explicitly scoped to "domestic startup companies" — Japan is the core investment geography, though select portfolio companies (e.g., Dodai in Ethiopia, AMPHICO in the UK) reflect Japanese startups expanding internationally rather than a broadened firm geography.