After 3 years running the 500 Startups Japan fund, we’re proud to announce that we have formed our next fund under our own brand: Coral Capital.
Our new JPY 5 billion (~$45 million) fund will involve the same strategy and people. We will focus on seed stage startups in Japan, and everyone from the 500 Startups Japan team will become a part of Coral Capital. We’ll continue to work with 500 on our existing funds and collaborate on initiatives for the Japan ecosystem.
We would like to thank existing investors Mizuho Bank, Mitsubishi Estate, Taizo Son, Paul Kuo, and Kotaro Chiba for continuing to invest with our team. Our new partners include Shinsei Bank, J-POWER, and influential names in both Japan and Silicon Valley. We’ve also added a few top-tier institutional investors, which account for almost half of our fund.
We would not be here without our friends at 500 Startups. They gave us the rare opportunity to learn the ins-and-outs of running a fund within the comfort of one of the most well-known names in venture. We would like to especially thank Christine and the 500 management team for taking a chance on us when we were just at the starting line of our VC careers.
500 has been an amazing place to develop our craft. When we launched our first fund in Japan, there were surprisingly few Silicon Valley-style venture capital firms. All the cliché phrases like “founder first,” or “platform,” or “community,” that you’d hear a typical Valley firm spout were not cliché at all. They were novel.
We pioneered these concepts with the launch of our first fund with 500 Startups. From day one, we’ve focused on providing far more than just the capital we invest. We provide fundraising support, in-house recruiting, public relations, and one of the most engaged founder communities in Japan. We provide the capital start, and the resources to get ahead.
Coral plays a foundational role within the marine ecosystem, and we hope to do the same within the entrepreneurial one.
Hence, Coral Capital.
After taking many bets on founders as a part of 500, it is now time to take a bet on ourselves. Coral Capital is our vehicle to help founders bring about positive change on a grand scale. As we embark on this endeavor, this manifesto will be our North Star. It’s a long read, but if you’d like to learn about who we are and what we stand for, please take a look.
P.S. We’d like to give a special thanks to our founders. Their success and endorsement helped us raise this fund in just 2.5 months. We couldn’t have done this without them.
Founding Partner & CEO @ Coral Capital
