WiL (World Innovation Lab) Research
Investment Thesis
World Innovation Lab (WiL) is a US- and Japan-based venture fund whose capital comes from leading global corporations and government entities in Japan and Asia. It invests in growth-stage companies that want to scale and enter new markets, and it positions itself as a bridge between startups and corporations. The firm uses its limited partner network of large Japanese corporates to open distribution, partnership and customer channels for portfolio companies, with a particular focus on expanding into Japan. WiL describes its focus as "where leading industries and emerging technologies meet", and its tagline is "we invest, empower, create".
Sector Focus
Direct investments span artificial intelligence, B2B SaaS, fintech, insurtech, automation and productivity, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, developer tools, health tech and sustainability. Recent announcements show a heavy tilt to AI applications and tools (Lovable, ElevenLabs, Baseten, HappyRobot, Tabs, Framer) and enterprise software, plus supply-chain and logistics technology (Tive, HappyRobot). In Japan the portfolio includes SaaS, fintech and consumer names such as SmartHR, Mercari, Raksul, UPSIDER, LegalOn, STORES and Soracom.
Stage Focus
WiL describes itself as a growth-stage investor. The portfolio nevertheless spans a wide range of rounds, from early rounds in Japanese startups to later-stage rounds in US companies such as ElevenLabs (Series C, January 2025). Stage per company is not stated on the portfolio page, so no stage is recorded against individual companies.
Check Size
No check size range is published on the firm's site. No figure is recorded; confidence is low.
Lead Tendency
The firm's blog posts are written as "Our Investment in X" by the deal partners, which suggests it takes a visible, often lead or co-lead role, but this is not stated outright. Lead tendency is left as unknown.
Recent Activity
WiL announced over $1 billion in additional capital in June 2022 (Business Wire) and is reported to have about $1.9 billion in total committed capital across its funds, including a WiL Strategic Partners vehicle. Recent portfolio announcements on the firm's blog:
- August 2026: Lovable
- September 2025: Tabs
- September 2025: HappyRobot
- August 2025: Framer
- January 2025: ElevenLabs Series C ($180M at a $3.3B valuation, per TechCrunch)
- January 2025: Tive
PitchBook lists PeopleX (September 2026) as its latest investment. The firm is actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio page lists roughly 150 companies. Notable names include Auth0, Automation Anywhere, Asana, Canva, DeepL, ElevenLabs, Framer, Lovable, Rippling, Gorgias, Mercari, Raycast, DocuSign, HubSpot, Intercom, Twitter, Udemy and Fortinet. The page's later section lists companies that are past investments or exits (for example BrightRoll, Jaspersoft, Ustream and Pokelabo). The page also shows the corporate LPs, including Sony, Panasonic, Mizuho, Tokio Marine, NTT Docomo, KDDI, ITOCHU, Nissan, ANA and Benesse, as well as government-backed INCJ and JIC. Those are limited partners, not portfolio companies.
Team
- Gen Isayama: General Partner and CEO
- Masataka Matsumoto: General Partner and Co-founder
- Rob Theis: General Partner and Chief Investment Officer
- Andy Cohen: Partner
- Milana Kuzmanovic: Partner
- Tak Onishi: Partner
- Cheri Morohoshi: Partner, Investor Relations
- Naomi Hasegawa: Partner, Operations
- Clifford Cohn: Principal
- Yamato Sasagawa: Principal
- Joo-Lee Lim: Chief Investment Officer, WiL Strategic Partners
- Bill Burns: Senior Strategic Advisor
- Tyson Homma: Chief Financial Officer
Decision Process
Not published. The firm runs as a partnership with several General Partners, and deal posts are co-authored by multiple investors, so decisions are likely made by partnership.
Founder Preferences
The team describes itself as startup founders, company builders and corporate leaders who understand global growth. It looks for companies that aspire to scale and enter new markets, especially founders who see Japan and Asia as a growth path and want strategic relationships with large corporates.
Geographic Focus
US and Japan, with Asia more broadly. Offices include Palo Alto, California (636 Waverley St., Suite 100) and Japan. It helps US startups expand to Japan and Asia, and Japanese startups expand to the US.