Global Brain

Global Brain is a Tokyo-based venture capital firm founded in 1998, specializing in early-stage investments across various sectors, including e-commerce, software, gaming, media, IoT, education, entertainment, and fintech. The firm has expanded its investment activities to the US and Asia, targeting series A-stage technology companies. Since its inception, Global Brain has invested in approximately 30 companies, achieving seven initial public offerings and seven mergers and acquisitions. The firm supports its portfolio companies by providing not only capital but also strategic guidance, partnerships, and team-building resources to help them reach their milestones. Global Brain is particularly adept in e-commerce, operating a platform called EC-PLANET, which encompasses several group companies, including a large online sports goods store and a logistics firm offering comprehensive fulfillment services. This network, along with Global Brain's connections to established Japanese companies, facilitates market entry for US and Asian businesses into Japan.

Kaori Akiba

Principal, Corporate Management Group

Tatsunori Arai

Director, Investment Group

Megumi Asatsuma

Corporate Management Group, Director

Anjani Bansal

Partner, India Office Representative

Brooke Beers

Partner

Takuji Chida

Director, Investment Groups

Hogil Doh

General Partner, Investment Group

Thomas Duong

Principal

Brian Flucht

Partner and Head, US Division

Daisuke Furukawa

Venture Partner

Hajime Furuya

Venture Partner

Kenji Hayashi

Principal, Investment Group

Shohei Hayashi

Partner

Harue Hayashi

Partner and Vice Chief Fund Management Officer

Yosuke Hirai

Director

Joopyo Hong

Partner Investment Group

Naoki Horie

Principal, Investment Group

Jang Hyeokjin

Principal, Investment Group

Shohei Ichimiya

Partner, US Office

Nozomu Ikuta

Principal

Kotona Inaida

Director, Fund Management Group

Tomoaki Ishikure

Investment Group Partner

Yoshinari Ito

Venture Partner

Yuki Ito

Director

Hiroyuki Izumi

Partner, Investment Group

Ken Kajii

General Partner, Investment Group

Naoki Kamimaeda

Partner and Europe Division Head

Masaru Kaneshiro

Principal

Daisuke Kashiro

Partner, Investment Group

Kirin Kato

Principal

Takashi Kato

Partner, San Francisco Office Representative

Masaya Kawakami

Partner

Hiroyuki Kawamoto

Principal

Ko Kawaragi

Director

Maiko Kayata

Principal

ByeongJin Kim

Principal, Fund Management Group

Jungyong Kim

Principal, Investment Group

Riichiro Kimura Ph.D

Director, Investment Group

Kenta Kitsuka

General Partner

Issei Kokubu

Principal, Investment Group

Yoshiomi Kubota

Principal

Jinya Kurita

Director

KyungHun Lee

Partner, South Korea Office Representative

YingQi Liang(Joy)

Principal, Investment Group

Chukaku Lin

Principal

Atsushi Matsuda

Venture Partner

Akira Matsumoto

Principal, Investment Group

Natsumi Matsuoka

Principal

Hiroshi Mihayashi

Principal

Tomoko Minagawa

Director, Investment Group

Ai Minamizaki

Principal, Investment Group

Shigeru Mitarai

Principal

Kazuhiko Miyama

General Partner

Shuhei Mori

Principal

Seiichiro Mukai

Director

Satoko Murata

Principal, Investment Group

Kohtaro Nagawa

Director, Investment Group

Tasuke Nakagawa

Partner / M&A

Mitsutaka Nakao

Principal, Investment Group

Shien Nakayama

Director, Investment Group

Yuya Namiki

Director

Ying Jian Ng

Director, Investment Group

Daisuke Nishida

Partner, Investment Group

Akiko Noguchi

Director, Corporate Management Group

Rina Obi

Investment Director

Sho Ohtani

Principal, Investment Group

Tetsui Okada

Director, Investments Group

Mayu Okamoto

Principal

Akane Okuyama

Director

Shingo Otaki

Partner, Investment Group

Naoki Sadakuni

Venture Partner

Enen Sai

Principal, Fund Management Group

Kazuki Sakuragawa

Partner and Editor in Chief, Corporate Management Group

Masumi Sato

Principal

Naoki Sato

Principal, Investment Group

Tomoki Sekiguchi

Principal

Rie Shibata

Director, Fund Management Group

Takeru Shigemura

Director

Miku Shimamura

Principal

Hiroshi Shimazu

Managing Director

Masamune Shin

General Partner, Investment Group

Ayu Shinoyama

CFO and Board Member

Chisa Shinsakaue

Director

Divyansh Singh

Principal

Hiroto Sorita

Director, Investment Group

Sachiko Sugiura

Principal

Yusuke Suzuki

Partner

Kazumo Tachibana

Director

Mana Takabayashi

Director, Investment Group

Hiroki Takai

Director, Investment Group London Office

Toko Takao

Principal

Hideyuki Tanaka

Principal

Marika Tazaki

Partner

Hirotaka Togashi

Director, Investment Group

Haruka Tsujii

Principal

Atsushi Ueda

Principal, Investment Group

Takuya Ukai

Principal, Investment Group

Tetsuya Urimoto

Director, Investment Group

Noriko Usui

Partner and Chief Fund Management Officer

Keita Washizu

Principal

Hirokazu Watanabe

Partner

Keita Wazhizu

Principal, Investment Group

Masao Yamada

Senior Partner, Investment Groups

Kazunori Yamaguchi

Partner, Investment Group

Ryozo Yamamoto

Partner, Investment Group

Michiko Yamazaki

Principal, Investment Group

Isao Yasuda

Senior Partner

Takuro Yoda

Principal, Investment Group

Sayaka Yoshino

Director

Miku Yoshio

Partner, Investment Group

Yasuhiko Yurimoto

Founder and President and CEO & Board Member

Miyazawa Yusuke

Venture Partner

Lusheng Zou

Director, Investment Group

Past deals in Crowdsourcing

KAUCHE

Series B in 2022
Developer of a social commerce application designed to help users to shop together. The company's application employs a group buying model where customers are asked to bring in other users in order to purchase a product or service, enabling users to buy products at a discount by inviting friends, family, and others.

Engate

Series A in 2022
Engate is A community that delivers fans' support to athletes

KAUCHE

Seed Round in 2021
Developer of a social commerce application designed to help users to shop together. The company's application employs a group buying model where customers are asked to bring in other users in order to purchase a product or service, enabling users to buy products at a discount by inviting friends, family, and others.

Any

Venture Round in 2021
Any Inc. operates a knowledge and information sharing platform that was founded in 2016 and is based in Tokyo, Japan. The company has developed a cloud-based information-sharing tool that allows users to store and search internal knowledge efficiently. With a Q&A-style and memo-style interface, the platform is particularly beneficial for new employees, as it provides answers to common queries, thereby enhancing productivity. This tool streamlines the process of addressing recurring internal questions, ultimately helping organizations save time and improve operational efficiency.

Any

Series A in 2021
Any Inc. operates a knowledge and information sharing platform that was founded in 2016 and is based in Tokyo, Japan. The company has developed a cloud-based information-sharing tool that allows users to store and search internal knowledge efficiently. With a Q&A-style and memo-style interface, the platform is particularly beneficial for new employees, as it provides answers to common queries, thereby enhancing productivity. This tool streamlines the process of addressing recurring internal questions, ultimately helping organizations save time and improve operational efficiency.

Qlue

Series B in 2021
QLUE is a part of initial program for Smart City Jakarta to help report problems to the governor. The head of districts (lurah) will quick-follow up all reports to create a better neighborhood. Download Qlue for Android & start contributing to your community

Upsider

Series B in 2021
We enable people to trust upsiders by organizing the world's B2B transactions.

KAUCHE

Seed Round in 2020
Developer of a social commerce application designed to help users to shop together. The company's application employs a group buying model where customers are asked to bring in other users in order to purchase a product or service, enabling users to buy products at a discount by inviting friends, family, and others.

Upsider

Venture Round in 2020
We enable people to trust upsiders by organizing the world's B2B transactions.

CAMPFIRE

Series E in 2020
CAMPFIRE, Inc. is a leading provider of cloud funding platforms in Japan, offering a range of services designed to support diverse projects and initiatives. Its flagship platform, CAMPFIRE, enables users to confidently launch projects, while additional specialized services include GoodMorning for socially beneficial projects, CLOSS for fashion-related ventures, and FAAVO for regional initiatives. The company also operates polka, a crowdfunding application that facilitates fundraising among friends for personal events, and CAMPFIRE Bank, which focuses on financial services and loans. Gojo, another of its offerings, is a community wallet application that allows users to share funds with family and community members. Catering to individuals, creators, corporations, non-profit organizations, universities, and local governments, CAMPFIRE has successfully facilitated approximately 15,000 projects, raising around $70 million from over 700,000 contributors since its inception in 2011 in Tokyo, Japan.

Crowd Credit

Series E in 2020
Crowdcredit, Inc. is a cross-border marketplace lending platform that connects investors from financially stable countries with individuals and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in countries facing financial deficits. Established in 2013 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, the company has expanded its operations globally, with subsidiaries in Lima, Peru; Tallinn, Estonia; and Cuauhtemoc, Mexico. Through its crowdfunding platform, Crowdcredit provides debt capital to various entities, including peer-to-peer platforms, balance sheet lenders, microfinance institutions, and development projects. The platform enables Japanese investors to lend to individuals and SMEs in several countries, including Peru, Cameroon, Estonia, Finland, Spain, and Italy. Looking ahead, Crowdcredit aims to broaden its lending operations to include additional Asian markets outside of Japan.

Any

Venture Round in 2020
Any Inc. operates a knowledge and information sharing platform that was founded in 2016 and is based in Tokyo, Japan. The company has developed a cloud-based information-sharing tool that allows users to store and search internal knowledge efficiently. With a Q&A-style and memo-style interface, the platform is particularly beneficial for new employees, as it provides answers to common queries, thereby enhancing productivity. This tool streamlines the process of addressing recurring internal questions, ultimately helping organizations save time and improve operational efficiency.

Crowdport, Inc.

Venture Round in 2019
Crowdport operates “Funds,” a P2P platform, connecting individual investors who wish to manage their assets with companies that wish to borrow operating funds.

Crowd Realty

Venture Round in 2019
Crowd Realty, Inc. operates a crowdfunding platform focused on real estate assets and loans backed by real estate in Japan and internationally. Established in 2014 and headquartered in Tokyo, the company facilitates stable, mid- to long-term funding solutions for commercial real estate and privately led urban development projects, including the renovation and revitalization of underutilized properties. The platform serves as an investment marketplace, enabling businesses and investors to realize their ideas in a changing urban landscape.

CAMPFIRE

Series C in 2019
CAMPFIRE, Inc. is a leading provider of cloud funding platforms in Japan, offering a range of services designed to support diverse projects and initiatives. Its flagship platform, CAMPFIRE, enables users to confidently launch projects, while additional specialized services include GoodMorning for socially beneficial projects, CLOSS for fashion-related ventures, and FAAVO for regional initiatives. The company also operates polka, a crowdfunding application that facilitates fundraising among friends for personal events, and CAMPFIRE Bank, which focuses on financial services and loans. Gojo, another of its offerings, is a community wallet application that allows users to share funds with family and community members. Catering to individuals, creators, corporations, non-profit organizations, universities, and local governments, CAMPFIRE has successfully facilitated approximately 15,000 projects, raising around $70 million from over 700,000 contributors since its inception in 2011 in Tokyo, Japan.

Mirrativ

Venture Round in 2019
Mirrativ borrows the familiar user interaction models that have been pioneered by to live-streaming services Periscope and Meerkat. Streams are shared with a user’s followers, and those watching can comment on what they see and add stars to show their appreciation. Right now, Mirrativ isn’t saving broadcasts though, so there’s no way to revisit streams once they are over.

Crowd Credit

Series D in 2018
Crowdcredit, Inc. is a cross-border marketplace lending platform that connects investors from financially stable countries with individuals and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in countries facing financial deficits. Established in 2013 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, the company has expanded its operations globally, with subsidiaries in Lima, Peru; Tallinn, Estonia; and Cuauhtemoc, Mexico. Through its crowdfunding platform, Crowdcredit provides debt capital to various entities, including peer-to-peer platforms, balance sheet lenders, microfinance institutions, and development projects. The platform enables Japanese investors to lend to individuals and SMEs in several countries, including Peru, Cameroon, Estonia, Finland, Spain, and Italy. Looking ahead, Crowdcredit aims to broaden its lending operations to include additional Asian markets outside of Japan.

LifeRobotics

Series B in 2016
Through us it is, provides the development of co-robot to help people, People will contribute to the creation of new value.

LifeRobotics

Series A in 2016
Through us it is, provides the development of co-robot to help people, People will contribute to the creation of new value.

LifeRobotics

Series A in 2015
Through us it is, provides the development of co-robot to help people, People will contribute to the creation of new value.

Teamblind

Venture Round in 2015
Teamblind aims to provide open and flat communication to office workers around the world and enrich their work styles.

Crowd Realty

Seed Round in 2015
Crowd Realty, Inc. operates a crowdfunding platform focused on real estate assets and loans backed by real estate in Japan and internationally. Established in 2014 and headquartered in Tokyo, the company facilitates stable, mid- to long-term funding solutions for commercial real estate and privately led urban development projects, including the renovation and revitalization of underutilized properties. The platform serves as an investment marketplace, enabling businesses and investors to realize their ideas in a changing urban landscape.

PORT

Series A in 2014
Social Recruiting intends to offer social recruiting service. The company was founded in 2011 and is based in Japan.
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