Investment

We invest in startups,
ranging from
seed to later stage,
in various fields.

AUM
$2.3B+
Invested
$1.2B+
Deals
1,000+
Active Portfolio
400+
IPO
38
M&A
78

Investment results

In recent years, we constantly invest in
more than
100 startups every year,
maintaining a top-level
performance
globally.

Year
Deals
Amount (JPY)
2024
168
33.6B
2023
128
26.6B
2022
150
28.8B
2021
125
20.1B
2020
107
14.2B
2019
107
10.6B

Domains

We invest in diverse sectors spanning our
focus area
deep tech—AI, climate tech, and
medical/healthcare to
name a few—and
others like enterprise and commerce.

FinTech / Blockchain
8%
Healthcare
18%
AI
11%
Enterprise
8%
Commerce
6%
Climate Tech
4%
IoT
4%
XR / Metaverse
4%
AgriTech / FoodTech
3%
Mobility
3%
Space
3%
Others
27%

Regions

Our investments cover startups in
regions
around the world with a
focus on Asia including
Japan,
North America, and Europe.

Japan
56.3%
USA
17.2%
Europe
7.8%
Asia
10.9%
Others
7.8%

Investment process

For a fairer investment for entrepreneurs,
Global Brain is
changing the investment
process to be more transparent
and
conducted in a shorter period of time.

We disclose the overall process from the initial interview, share the progress status
as needed, and decide/execute the investment in 1 month at the earliest.

* Depending on investment conditions, timing, involving funds, it may take more time before investment examination and the process may be different.

Investment examined in
1 month(at the earliest)
Investment range
JPY 30M – 5B
01
Initial Examination
Up to 2 weeks
Initial interview
Our capitalists ask the startup details of its business, products / services, and expected support.
Build/verify investment hypothesis
Based on the interview, we assess the startup’s marketability / competitiveness / technology and conduct reference checks with existing customers. Also, we examine and propose how we can support the startup to maximize post-investment support.
Pre-review Committee
After building / verifying the investment hypothesis, we decide on whether to proceed to full-scale examination.
02
Full-scale Examination
1 to 3 weeks
Due Diligence (DD)
Various aspects of DD include legal affairs, finance, intellectual property, labor, HR, IT, ESG, etc. During this process, we identify issues to be solved for startup’s future growth and seek how we can practically and technically support the startup.
Submit term sheet
We submit a term sheet including the summary of major conditions in the contract to be used for investment negotiations.
Executive Presentation
Startup’s executive gives a presentation on the business directly to the Investment Committee members.
03
Decision Making
1 week
Decide on investment
After the whole due diligence is completed, we make a decision at the Investment Committee. The investment agreement is prepared in this phase.
Execute investment/start support
We execute the investment as soon as we decide to invest and start to provide specific support for further business growth.

ESG Policy

Global Brain believes that
addressing ESG issues is important.

Not only for the investment performance of the fund, but also for portfolio companies to continue to grow and increase their corporate value after an exit event. We have a policy to support ESG issues of portfolio companies.