World Innovation Lab (WiL)

World Innovation Lab (WiL) is a venture capital investment firm founded in 2013, with offices in Palo Alto, California, and Tokyo, Japan. The firm is backed by capital from various governments and leading corporations in Japan and Asia, such as Sony, Suzuki, and NTT. WiL focuses on investing in seed, early, and later-stage companies across a range of sectors, including consumer products, information technology, e-commerce, and artificial intelligence. The firm aims to facilitate the expansion of U.S. startups into Japan and Asia, while also supporting Japanese startups in their global endeavors. In addition to direct investments in companies, WiL invests in both established and emerging venture funds and collaborates with corporate investors to enhance their innovation capabilities through new business creation and strategic partnerships. WiL acts as a bridge between startups and corporations, fostering growth and innovation across key markets.

Clifford Cohn

Investor

Todd Grover

Principal

Takayuki Hoshuyama

Partner, Business Creation

Arata Kokaji

Principal

Aki Koto

Partner, Corporate Innovation

Masaya Kubota

Partner

Masataka Matsumoto

Co-Founder and General Partner

Tomoki Shirakawa

Partner

Tak Onishi

Partner

Mike Sarchet

Investor

Yamato Sasagawa

Investor

Tomo Shikata

Investor

Tsune Shirota

Partner

Rob Theis

General Partner and CIO

Past deals in API

Autify

Series A in 2021
Autify, Inc. is a Tokyo-based company that specializes in developing an artificial intelligence-driven software testing automation platform. Founded in 2016, the platform is designed to streamline quality assurance processes by monitoring user interface changes and automatically updating affected test scenarios with each software release. It offers a variety of features, including cross-browser testing, email testing, local replay, service integration, and parallel execution. These functionalities enable quality assurance teams to enhance productivity, save time, and improve accuracy, ultimately helping organizations deliver superior product versions more efficiently.

Algolia

Series D in 2021
Algolia SAS is a Search-as-a-Service company that provides a hosted search API for websites and mobile applications, enhancing user engagement and conversion rates. Founded in 2012 and based in Paris, France, with an additional office in San Francisco, Algolia enables developers to build and optimize search engines that deliver fast and relevant search experiences. The company operates a distributed search network that synchronizes data globally, ensuring efficient query routing to servers. Algolia serves a diverse clientele across various sectors, including ecommerce and media, allowing consumers to easily find and discover content across digital platforms. As of May 2020, Algolia operates as a subsidiary of Akio SAS.

SendBird

Series C in 2021
At SendBird, they are building the most scalable and powerful chat API in the world. They have customers from over 150 countries around the world serving a truly wide-range of use cases across communities, marketplaces, on-demand services, games, and live-video streaming.

Auth0

Series F in 2020
Auth0, Inc. is a cloud-based identity platform designed for developers and security professionals. The company offers Auth0, a comprehensive solution that includes APIs and tools to streamline the authentication and authorization processes for applications and APIs. Auth0 facilitates single sign-on across various platforms and identity providers, allowing users to integrate authentication with minimal coding. Additionally, it provides features for customizing the authentication pipeline and managing user databases effectively. The platform supports integration with various identity providers, including Active Directory and SAML, and allows users to manage profiles and monitor login activities. Auth0 also offers Auth0 Signals, a suite of threat intelligence tools aimed at protecting customers from identity-related attacks by leveraging data from the dark web. Established in 2013, Auth0 is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, with offices in key international locations, serving a diverse clientele that includes both large enterprises and startups.

Algolia

Series C in 2019
Algolia SAS is a Search-as-a-Service company that provides a hosted search API for websites and mobile applications, enhancing user engagement and conversion rates. Founded in 2012 and based in Paris, France, with an additional office in San Francisco, Algolia enables developers to build and optimize search engines that deliver fast and relevant search experiences. The company operates a distributed search network that synchronizes data globally, ensuring efficient query routing to servers. Algolia serves a diverse clientele across various sectors, including ecommerce and media, allowing consumers to easily find and discover content across digital platforms. As of May 2020, Algolia operates as a subsidiary of Akio SAS.

Auth0

Series E in 2019
Auth0, Inc. is a cloud-based identity platform designed for developers and security professionals. The company offers Auth0, a comprehensive solution that includes APIs and tools to streamline the authentication and authorization processes for applications and APIs. Auth0 facilitates single sign-on across various platforms and identity providers, allowing users to integrate authentication with minimal coding. Additionally, it provides features for customizing the authentication pipeline and managing user databases effectively. The platform supports integration with various identity providers, including Active Directory and SAML, and allows users to manage profiles and monitor login activities. Auth0 also offers Auth0 Signals, a suite of threat intelligence tools aimed at protecting customers from identity-related attacks by leveraging data from the dark web. Established in 2013, Auth0 is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, with offices in key international locations, serving a diverse clientele that includes both large enterprises and startups.

Kong

Series C in 2019
Kong Inc is a cloud connectivity company specializing in application programming interfaces (APIs) and microservices. It offers a popular open-source API Gateway along with its enterprise solutions, which are designed to manage, monitor, and scale APIs effectively. The platform includes features such as API gateways, developer portals, and analytics tools, allowing development teams to distribute, monetize, manage, analyze, and utilize their APIs efficiently. Kong has received funding from prominent venture capital firms and notable investors, further solidifying its position in the industry.

Auth0

Series D in 2018
Auth0, Inc. is a cloud-based identity platform designed for developers and security professionals. The company offers Auth0, a comprehensive solution that includes APIs and tools to streamline the authentication and authorization processes for applications and APIs. Auth0 facilitates single sign-on across various platforms and identity providers, allowing users to integrate authentication with minimal coding. Additionally, it provides features for customizing the authentication pipeline and managing user databases effectively. The platform supports integration with various identity providers, including Active Directory and SAML, and allows users to manage profiles and monitor login activities. Auth0 also offers Auth0 Signals, a suite of threat intelligence tools aimed at protecting customers from identity-related attacks by leveraging data from the dark web. Established in 2013, Auth0 is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, with offices in key international locations, serving a diverse clientele that includes both large enterprises and startups.
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