Taisu Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Taisu Ventures is a Web3-focused venture capital firm that invests in and empowers early-stage blockchain and decentralized technology companies. Founded by Managing Partner Takashi Hayashida, a veteran of 20+ years in investment banking and private equity, the firm's mission is to accelerate the growth of innovative blockchain and decentralized infrastructure startups and foster a more connected, decentralized digital future. The firm is chain-agnostic and structures investments across both token and equity instruments (SAFE, SAFT, equity, tokens, and convertible bonds), giving it flexibility to back founders regardless of how a project is capitalized. Taisu leans on a global network spanning Asia, the US, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, with a particular concentration of activity and relationships in Japan and Singapore.
Sector Focus
Taisu's stated focus areas are: blockchain infrastructure/utility, DeFi (decentralized finance), IP/Entertainment, User Platforms, AI, and DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks). Recent portfolio activity skews heavily toward real-world-asset (RWA) tokenization and stablecoin-yield infrastructure (AmFi, Spout Finance, Unitas, Yuzu Money, Tru Market, TBook), prediction markets (HyperOdd), and restaking infrastructure (Verio Network). The firm has also published research on decentralized/user-owned AI, signaling growing interest at the intersection of AI and Web3.
Stage Focus
Taisu invests from seed through early-stage. Public materials describe the fund as backing "early-stage web3 companies," and its 130+ portfolio companies skew toward pre-token, pre-TGE (token generation event) startups.
Check Size
No specific check-size range is disclosed publicly. Given a first-close fund size of ~$56M deployed across 62+ companies as of April 2024 (and 130+ by 2026), average check sizes appear to be in the low-to-mid six figures, consistent with a high-volume seed-stage strategy, but this is inferred rather than confirmed.
Lead Tendency
Not publicly disclosed. Given the breadth of the portfolio (130+ companies from a ~$56M fund) and typical Web3 seed syndicate structures, Taisu likely participates alongside other investors more often than it leads, but this could not be confirmed from public sources.
Recent Activity
Taisu Ventures Web3 Fund Limited Partnership was established in October 2023 and announced the first close of its maiden fund in May 2024, raising 8.83 billion JPY (~$56.25M) from institutional LPs including Elements Capital Research LLC, SBI Group, and blockchain protocol operating companies, with a final close targeted for October 2024. As of that announcement the fund had already deployed into 62 companies, including 11 with listed tokens. By 2026 the portfolio had grown to 130+ companies. In August 2025, Taisu announced a strategic partnership with Data Section, a Tokyo-listed AI data center operator and analytics solutions provider, to facilitate technical collaboration with portfolio companies. The firm also partnered with Hakuhodo Key3 (June 2025) to connect global Web3 startups with Japanese corporates, and was active at TOKEN2049 Singapore (October 2025) and WebX Tokyo 2026 (July 2026), where it ran portfolio events and discussions on stablecoins and generative AI governance.
Portfolio Highlights
Representative portfolio companies span RWA/DeFi infrastructure (AmFi, Spout Finance, Unitas, Yuzu Money, Tru Market, TBook), prediction markets (HyperOdd), restaking (Verio Network), and earlier-vintage names across infrastructure, gaming, and platforms including Biconomy, SubQuery, Koii Network, Solv Protocol, Movement Labs, Kroma, Port3, Haven1, exaBITS, MetaCene, Aspecta, Reap, Elixir, Soarchain, InvestaX, Coinstreet, BluWhale, HELIX, Kaidro, Xociety, and Fan Controlled Sports.
Team
- Takashi Hayashida - Founder & Managing Partner. 20+ years of investment banking and private equity experience prior to founding Taisu.
- Ken Kodama - Executive Advisor. Founder/CEO of EMURGO, the founding entity behind the Cardano blockchain.
- Raphael Ng - Business Development & Investment.
- Simran Hathiramani - Investment. 4+ years in financial services.
- Tian Yukun (Yuna) - Investment. 6+ years of Web3/Web2 experience.
- Ziwei (Kenny) Wu - Vice President.
- Ryan Seow - Middle Office. 4 years of corporate experience.
- Julian Lim - Operations. 6 years of audit/financial reporting experience.
- Kaimin Hu - Advisor. 3+ years VC, 8+ years fintech/digital assets.
- Venture Partners: Daniel Jean, Orion Parrott, Navi Singh, Bo Yang (Robert).
Decision Process
Not explicitly disclosed, but the presence of a multi-person investment team (Managing Partner, Executive Advisor, and a dedicated Investment/BD bench) suggests a partnership-style process rather than a solo-GP model.
Founder Preferences
Public materials do not spell out explicit founder preferences beyond a general orientation toward teams building infrastructure, DeFi, gaming, AI, or DePIN products in the Web3 space, with willingness to structure around token-based cap tables.
Geographic Focus
Global, with stated reach across Asia, the US, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Operationally, the firm appears most active in Japan (fund domiciled/marketed there, LPs including SBI Group, WebX Tokyo presence) and Singapore (team community events, TOKEN2049 Singapore presence).