WiL (World Innovation Lab)

WiL (World Innovation Lab) is a venture capital firm headquartered in Palo Alto with an office in Tokyo. It partners with global corporations and government entities to act as a bridge between startups and corporates in the United States and Asia, with a particular focus on Japan. The firm helps portfolio companies by forging corporate partnerships that enable U.S. and European startups to scale globally and Japanese startups to innovate and internationalize. WiL invests across seed, early, and later stages in sectors including fintech, insurtech, automation, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, developer tools, health tech, sustainability, artificial intelligence, machine learning, SaaS, consumer products and services, and information technology. It has backed exits such as Asana, Mercari, Raksul, Wise and Auth0, demonstrating a track record of guiding companies to public markets or strategic acquisitions. Beyond direct investing, WiL also commits capital to venture funds and collaborates with corporate investors to advance innovation capabilities, partnerships, and organizational change within their ecosystems.

Clifford Cohn

Principal

Clifford Cohn

Investor

Todd Grover

Principal

Gen Isayama

General Partner

Aki Jiang

Principal

Arata Kokaji

Principal

Aki Koto

Partner, Corporate Innovation

Masaya Kubota

Partner

Masataka Matsumoto

Co-Founder and General Partner

Toshimichi Namba

Partner

Mike Sarchet

Investor

Yamato Sasagawa

Investor

Tomo Shikata

Investor

Tsune Shirota

Partner

Rob Theis

General Partner and CIO

Past deals in Language Processing

ElevenLabs

Series C in 2025
ElevenLabs specializes in developing AI audio technology for creating realistic speech. Its platform integrates advanced text-to-speech technology, voice cloning, and multilingual support to dub videos and podcasts into other languages, enhancing accessibility and engaging global audiences.

Synthesia

Series D in 2025
Founded in London in 2017, Synthesia Ltd. specializes in AI-driven video generation platforms. Its technology transforms text into professional videos with customizable avatars and voiceovers in over 140 languages, enabling efficient creation of personalized advertising, corporate communications, e-learning content, and more.

DeepL

Venture Round in 2024
DeepL is a deep learning company that develops artificial intelligence-powered translation software and online services for multilingual communication. Its core products include the DeepL Translator, a neural network-based translation service, and the Linguee app, a bilingual dictionary and contextual search. The platform supports multiple languages, offers integration with third-party applications, adaptive writing suggestions, and secure data processing to protect privacy. DeepL aims to deliver accurate, context-aware translations for individuals and businesses, enabling efficient, natural language communication.

DeepL

Venture Round in 2022
DeepL is a deep learning company that develops artificial intelligence-powered translation software and online services for multilingual communication. Its core products include the DeepL Translator, a neural network-based translation service, and the Linguee app, a bilingual dictionary and contextual search. The platform supports multiple languages, offers integration with third-party applications, adaptive writing suggestions, and secure data processing to protect privacy. DeepL aims to deliver accurate, context-aware translations for individuals and businesses, enabling efficient, natural language communication.

LegalForce

Series D in 2022
LegalForce, Inc. is a Tokyo-based company founded in 2017 that specializes in developing software for legal services. It operates an AI-powered contract management platform designed to assist legal professionals in contract review. By utilizing natural language processing and other advanced technologies, LegalForce's platform helps users analyze contracts based on their specific types, while identifying potentially omitted or risky clauses. This functionality aids legal professionals in preventing oversights and enhancing the quality and efficiency of their operations, ultimately strengthening their legal systems.

LegalForce

Series C in 2021
LegalForce, Inc. is a Tokyo-based company founded in 2017 that specializes in developing software for legal services. It operates an AI-powered contract management platform designed to assist legal professionals in contract review. By utilizing natural language processing and other advanced technologies, LegalForce's platform helps users analyze contracts based on their specific types, while identifying potentially omitted or risky clauses. This functionality aids legal professionals in preventing oversights and enhancing the quality and efficiency of their operations, ultimately strengthening their legal systems.

LegalForce

Series B in 2020
LegalForce, Inc. is a Tokyo-based company founded in 2017 that specializes in developing software for legal services. It operates an AI-powered contract management platform designed to assist legal professionals in contract review. By utilizing natural language processing and other advanced technologies, LegalForce's platform helps users analyze contracts based on their specific types, while identifying potentially omitted or risky clauses. This functionality aids legal professionals in preventing oversights and enhancing the quality and efficiency of their operations, ultimately strengthening their legal systems.
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