Global Brain

Founded in Tokyo in 1998, Global Brain is a venture capital firm focusing on seed to late-stage investments across various sectors globally. They have invested in over 300 startups, facilitating 25 IPOs and 61 M&As through hands-on support services.

Kaori Akiba

Director

Hidetaka Aoki

Investment Group Partner and Fellow Chief of Space Lab

Tatsunori Arai

Director

Megumi Asatsuma

Director

Anjani Bansal

Partner / India Office Representative

Brooke Beers

Partner

Takuji Chida

Director

Thomas Duong

Director

Brian Flucht

Partner / US Division Head

Hajime Furuya

Venture Partner

Harue Hayashi

Partner / Vice Chief Fund Management Officer

Kenji Hayashi

Director

Shohei Hayashi

Partner

Jie He

Director China office Representative

Joopyo Hong

Venture Partner

Naoki Horie

Investor

Takuya Hosomura

Partner

Shohei Ichimiya

Partner

Sho Ikeda

Partner, Indonesia Office Representative

Kotona Inaida

Director

Tomoaki Ishikure

Partner

Yoshinari Ito

Venture Partner

Hiroyuki Izumi

Partner

Jang Hyeokjin

Principal

Ken Kajii

General Partner

Naoki Kamimaeda

Partner and Europe Division Head

Daisuke Kashiro

General Partner

Kirin Kato

Principal

Masaya Kawakami

Principal, Investment Group

Hiroyuki Kawamoto

Principal

Ko Kawaragi

Director

Maiko Kayata

Director

ByeongJin Kim

Principal

Kim, Jungyong

Venture Partner

Riichiro Kimura Ph.D

Director

Kenta Kitsuka Ph.D

General Partner, Investment Group

Issei Kokubu

Director

Yoshiomi Kubota

Principal

Jiro Kumakura

General Partner and Board Member

Jinya Kurita

Director

KyungHun Lee

Partner

YingQi Liang(Joy)

Principal

Chukaku Lin

Director

Atsushi Matsuda

Venture Partner

Tatsuya Matsumoto

Partner, Singapore Office Representative

Yuki Matsuo

Director

Tomoko Minagawa

Director

Shigeru Mitarai

Director

Miyazawa Yusuke

Venture Partner

Shuhei Mori

Director

Satoko Murata

Director

Kohtaro Nagawa

Director

Tasuke Nakagawa

Partner / M&A

Mitsutaka Nakao

Director

Shien Nakayama

Director

Yuya Namiki

Director

Ying Jian Ng

Director

Daisuke Nishida

General Partner

Yukari Nishiyama

Director, Investment Group

Akiko Noguchi

Director

Rina Obi

Investment Group Director, Berlin Office

Sho Ohtani

Principal

Tetsui Okada

Director

Mayu Okamoto

Director

Akane Okuyama

Director

Shingo Otaki

Partner

Karthik Rampalli

Principal

Naoki Sadakuni

Venture Partner

Enen Sai

Principal

Youichi Sakagawa

Director

Kazuki Sakuragawa

Partner / Editor in Chief

Masumi Sato

Principal

Naoki Sato

Director

Tomoki Sekiguchi

Director

Rie Shibata

Director

Takeru Shigemura

Director

Masamune Shin

General Partner

Ayu Shinoyama

CFO and Board Member

Chisa Shinsakaue

Director

Divyansh Singh

Principal

Hiroto Sorita

Director

Sachiko Sugiura

Director

Mana Takabayashi

Director

Hiroki Takai

Director

Toko Takao

Director

Hideyuki Tanaka

Director

Keisuke Tatsuoka

General Partner and Board Member

Marika Tazaki

Partner

Hirotaka Togashi

Director

Haruka Tsujii

Director

Atsushi Ueda

Director

Takuya Ukai

Principal

Tetsuya Urimoto

Director

Noriko Usui

Partner / Chief Fund Management Officer

Keita Washizu

Principal

Keita Wazhizu

Principal

Masao Yamada

Senior Partner

Kazunor Yamaguchi

Partner

Kazunori Yamaguchi

Partner, Investment Group

Ryozo Yamamoto

Partner

Michiko Yamazaki

Principal

Isao Yasuda

Senior Partner and Board Member

Takuro Yoda

Principal

Sayaka Yoshino

Director

Miku Yoshio

Partner

Yasuhiko Yurimoto

Founder, Owner, CEO and General Partner

Lusheng Zou

Director

Past deals in Lending

HAKKI AFRICA

Series C in 2025
Founded in 2018, HAKKI AFRICA specializes in providing microfinance solutions for small businesses and gig workers across Africa. The company offers short-term loans and credit-scoring technology, empowering local financial institutions to assess creditworthiness and provide funding.

Upsider

Series D in 2024
Upsider is a provider of corporate cards and payment tools designed for fast-growing companies, particularly startups preparing for public offerings. The company focuses on facilitating B2B transactions by offering high card spending limits and intuitive spending management solutions. Its platform integrates with external services, including accounting software, to enhance governance and administration. Upsider aims to streamline financial and operational processes for its clients, enabling them to manage their expenses more effectively while fostering trust in business transactions.

Funds

Series D in 2023
Funds is a loan investment firm that operates an online peer-to-peer lending marketplace, facilitating connections between individual investors and businesses seeking operating capital. Through its platform, Funds allows companies to secure financing by investing in funds via silent partnership agreements, starting from increments as low as 1 yen. This approach enables individual investors to manage their assets online while providing businesses access to necessary funds. By focusing on middle-risk, middle-return financial instruments, Funds aims to create a streamlined investment experience that benefits both lenders and borrowers.

Validus

Series C in 2022
Validus is a Southeast Asian fintech company that leverages data and artificial intelligence to provide growth financing to underserved small and medium enterprises. Headquartered in Singapore, it operates in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, partnering with corporations to deliver supply‑chain financing solutions that support local SME ecosystems. The firm holds a Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and its Indonesian subsidiary is registered with the OJK. Backed by prominent venture capital investors, Validus offers a comprehensive suite of financial services—including SME lending, crowd‑lending, business accounts, corporate cards, expense management, money transfers, and foreign remittance—positioning it as a leading all‑in‑one SME financing platform in the region.

AwanTunai

Series A in 2022
AwanTunai is an Indonesian fintech company that digitizes the cash economy and the FMCG supply chain through a mobile platform for micro merchants. The platform enables online ordering, payment acceptance, and inventory management while providing embedded financing and mobile-based credit to working-capital needs, connecting borrowers with banks and finance partners to originate and service loans within a regulated ecosystem. It operates as a licensed fintech that can originate, service, and collect bank-compliant loan assets for partner funders and also distributes micro-insurance through insurer partners. By integrating financial services with digital tools, AwanTunai aims to increase financial inclusion for Indonesian small businesses that have limited access to traditional banking products.

Plum Fintech

Series A in 2021
Plum Fintech Limited, established in 2016 and headquartered in London with additional offices in Athens and Nicosia, develops Plum, an AI-driven money management application operating on Facebook Messenger. The company's software employs algorithms to analyze users' spending habits, enabling automated tracking and management of finances. As of now, Plum has assisted over 2 million individuals across Europe, offering services such as effortless saving, empowered spending, and accessible investing, including pension and tax-wrapper products.

Upsider

Series B in 2021
Upsider is a provider of corporate cards and payment tools designed for fast-growing companies, particularly startups preparing for public offerings. The company focuses on facilitating B2B transactions by offering high card spending limits and intuitive spending management solutions. Its platform integrates with external services, including accounting software, to enhance governance and administration. Upsider aims to streamline financial and operational processes for its clients, enabling them to manage their expenses more effectively while fostering trust in business transactions.

AwanTunai

Venture Round in 2021
AwanTunai is an Indonesian fintech company that digitizes the cash economy and the FMCG supply chain through a mobile platform for micro merchants. The platform enables online ordering, payment acceptance, and inventory management while providing embedded financing and mobile-based credit to working-capital needs, connecting borrowers with banks and finance partners to originate and service loans within a regulated ecosystem. It operates as a licensed fintech that can originate, service, and collect bank-compliant loan assets for partner funders and also distributes micro-insurance through insurer partners. By integrating financial services with digital tools, AwanTunai aims to increase financial inclusion for Indonesian small businesses that have limited access to traditional banking products.

Divido

Series B in 2021
Divido is a global white-label consumer lending platform that enables financial institutions and multinational retailers to offer finance options at the point-of-purchase. Its omnichannel platform, available online, in-store, and via mobile across multiple countries through one integration, helps partners improve customer experience and increase conversion rates.

Funds

Series C in 2021
Funds is a loan investment firm that operates an online peer-to-peer lending marketplace, facilitating connections between individual investors and businesses seeking operating capital. Through its platform, Funds allows companies to secure financing by investing in funds via silent partnership agreements, starting from increments as low as 1 yen. This approach enables individual investors to manage their assets online while providing businesses access to necessary funds. By focusing on middle-risk, middle-return financial instruments, Funds aims to create a streamlined investment experience that benefits both lenders and borrowers.

Upsider

Series B in 2021
Upsider is a provider of corporate cards and payment tools designed for fast-growing companies, particularly startups preparing for public offerings. The company focuses on facilitating B2B transactions by offering high card spending limits and intuitive spending management solutions. Its platform integrates with external services, including accounting software, to enhance governance and administration. Upsider aims to streamline financial and operational processes for its clients, enabling them to manage their expenses more effectively while fostering trust in business transactions.

Upsider

Venture Round in 2020
Upsider is a provider of corporate cards and payment tools designed for fast-growing companies, particularly startups preparing for public offerings. The company focuses on facilitating B2B transactions by offering high card spending limits and intuitive spending management solutions. Its platform integrates with external services, including accounting software, to enhance governance and administration. Upsider aims to streamline financial and operational processes for its clients, enabling them to manage their expenses more effectively while fostering trust in business transactions.

Plum Fintech

Venture Round in 2020
Plum Fintech Limited, established in 2016 and headquartered in London with additional offices in Athens and Nicosia, develops Plum, an AI-driven money management application operating on Facebook Messenger. The company's software employs algorithms to analyze users' spending habits, enabling automated tracking and management of finances. As of now, Plum has assisted over 2 million individuals across Europe, offering services such as effortless saving, empowered spending, and accessible investing, including pension and tax-wrapper products.

Solaris

Series C in 2020
Solaris is a technology company delivering an embedded finance, API-based Banking-as-a-Service platform that enables businesses to integrate digital banking and payment services into their products. The platform provides a comprehensive suite of APIs for developers to create customized banking solutions, including digital bank accounts, payment cards, identity verification, lending, and digital asset custody, with access to services from integrated third-party providers.

Crowd Credit

Series E in 2020
Crowdcredit is a cross-border marketplace lending platform that connects borrowers in financial deficit countries with investors in financial surplus countries. The company provides risk capital to individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) facing funding challenges. By offering attractive lending opportunities, Crowdcredit enables Japanese investors to lend to borrowers in a range of countries, including Peru, Cameroon, Estonia, Finland, Spain, and Italy. The platform aims to address the funding gaps experienced by borrowers while providing investors with viable credit investment options. In addition to its current operations, Crowdcredit plans to expand its lending activities into the Asian region outside of Japan.

UangTeman

Series B in 2019
UangTeman is an online lending service established in 2014 that specializes in providing instant short-term microcredit to consumers in Indonesia. The company offers unsecured loans of up to 3.5 million Rupiah, with repayment terms spanning a maximum of 30 days. UangTeman aims to serve as a convenient alternative to traditional lending models used by banks and finance companies, allowing consumers to access financing easily and reliably. The service is available in several regions across Indonesia, including Greater Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Solo, Magelang, Klaten, Bandung, Surabaya, Semarang, Bali, Makassar, Palembang, Lampung, Jambi, and Balikpapan.

Funds

Series B in 2019
Funds is a loan investment firm that operates an online peer-to-peer lending marketplace, facilitating connections between individual investors and businesses seeking operating capital. Through its platform, Funds allows companies to secure financing by investing in funds via silent partnership agreements, starting from increments as low as 1 yen. This approach enables individual investors to manage their assets online while providing businesses access to necessary funds. By focusing on middle-risk, middle-return financial instruments, Funds aims to create a streamlined investment experience that benefits both lenders and borrowers.

FUEL

Seed Round in 2019
FUEL Inc. operates an online lending platform that facilitates crowdfunding by connecting borrowers and brokers seeking funding with a diverse pool of investors. Founded in 1999 and based in Tokyo, Japan, the company focuses on creating new financial opportunities by linking investment and business prospects. Its platform caters to businesses looking to raise capital for various purposes, addressing the needs for alternative investments with moderate risk and return. By utilizing a crowdfunding mechanism, FUEL Inc. enables companies to access public funding while offering investors a chance to engage in alternative investment opportunities.

FUEL

Seed Round in 2019
FUEL Inc. operates an online lending platform that facilitates crowdfunding by connecting borrowers and brokers seeking funding with a diverse pool of investors. Founded in 1999 and based in Tokyo, Japan, the company focuses on creating new financial opportunities by linking investment and business prospects. Its platform caters to businesses looking to raise capital for various purposes, addressing the needs for alternative investments with moderate risk and return. By utilizing a crowdfunding mechanism, FUEL Inc. enables companies to access public funding while offering investors a chance to engage in alternative investment opportunities.

Staked

Seed Round in 2019
Staked, LLC is a Massachusetts-based company founded in 2018 that provides infrastructure for institutional investors in digital currencies, enabling them to compound their crypto holdings through staking and lending. The firm operates secure and efficient block production nodes for decentralized proof-of-stake protocols, offering features such as service level agreements for block rewards, automatic payouts, and comprehensive reporting. Staked's platform supports multiple proof-of-stake currencies, allowing cryptocurrency holders to earn substantial interest by running staking nodes. Its architecture emphasizes security, scalability, and decentralization, making it a reliable choice for stakeholders looking to optimize their digital asset investments.

Crowd Credit

Series D in 2018
Crowdcredit is a cross-border marketplace lending platform that connects borrowers in financial deficit countries with investors in financial surplus countries. The company provides risk capital to individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) facing funding challenges. By offering attractive lending opportunities, Crowdcredit enables Japanese investors to lend to borrowers in a range of countries, including Peru, Cameroon, Estonia, Finland, Spain, and Italy. The platform aims to address the funding gaps experienced by borrowers while providing investors with viable credit investment options. In addition to its current operations, Crowdcredit plans to expand its lending activities into the Asian region outside of Japan.

AwanTunai

Series A in 2018
AwanTunai is an Indonesian fintech company that digitizes the cash economy and the FMCG supply chain through a mobile platform for micro merchants. The platform enables online ordering, payment acceptance, and inventory management while providing embedded financing and mobile-based credit to working-capital needs, connecting borrowers with banks and finance partners to originate and service loans within a regulated ecosystem. It operates as a licensed fintech that can originate, service, and collect bank-compliant loan assets for partner funders and also distributes micro-insurance through insurer partners. By integrating financial services with digital tools, AwanTunai aims to increase financial inclusion for Indonesian small businesses that have limited access to traditional banking products.
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