Invention of Problem
GMO VENTUREPARTNERS

Concept

Proving an Impact through one investment

An investment that restructures the “value” and “quality".

Supplying big capital is not an essential value of our firm.

We have a strong attitude to input and drive “critical thinking” behind a new startup.

After the problem is clarified and solution become established in the world,

people could not imagine the society without that solution.

An investment that innovates this world.

We will become a real partner to execute the strategy together.

INVENTION OF THE ESSENCE ----we will keep on doing it.

Focus

  • Coda Payments
    CEO

    Neil Davidson

    The reason I chose GMO VenturePartners?

    Deep domain expertise in payments.

  • KAIZEN platform
    CEO / co-founder

    Kenji Sudo

    The reason I chose GMO VenturePartners?

    Each member of the firm has experience of managing their own businesses and knows a lot about the industry. I felt so comfortable talking with them, since we experience something in common.

  • FreakOut
    CEO / founder

    Honda Yuzuru

    The reason I chose GMO VenturePartners?

    I wanted to let someone who is strong in adtech, on board.

  • Sansan
    CEO / founder

    Chika Terada

    The reason I chose GMO VenturePartners?

    I qualitatively judged by two factors. If I would like to work with these guys and they will strongly influence in our growth.

  • Lancers
    CEO / founder

    Yosuke Akiyoshi

    The reason I chose GMO VenturePartners?

    We wanted a real partner that we can trust and maximize our business.

  • UZABASE
    CEO / founder

    Umeda Yusuke

    The reason I chose GMO VenturePartners?

    I focused at two points; sharing the same vision and have a strong experience at building a new business.

  • Chatwork
    CEO / founder

    Toshiyuki Yamamoto

    The reason I chose GMO VenturePartners?

    I had an intution that GMO will be a strong partner competing globally

  • Money Forward
    CEO / founder

    Yosuke Tsuji

    The reason I chose GMO VenturePartners?

    GMO has an entrepreneur's mindset and knows "the importance of innovation" and is the partner that we can share our vision as a long term partner.

  • Raskul
    CEO / founder

    Yasukane Matsumoto

    The reason I chose GMO VenturePartners?

    I have a strong respect and there is a lot to learn from the managment team. Also, GMO commits to support us for a long term to become an excellent company.

  • Aperza
    CEO / founder

    Makoto Uno

    The reason I chose GMO VenturePartners?

    “The manufacturing industry has a great potential to change Japan.” I said talking about future trends. They shared my excitement, so I am sure that it was a right choice to make them our partner.

Interview

Portfolio

PrivatePublicAcquired/Merged
  • Japan
  • AXELENTERMEDIA,INC. AXELENTERMEDIA,INC.
  • AXEL MARK, INC.【3624】
    (went public in 2006)
    AXEL MARK, INC.
  • aratana inc.
    (acquired by START TODAY)
    aratana inc.
  • Weblio, Inc. Weblio, Inc.
  • VASILY, Inc.
    (acquired by START TODAY)
    VASILY, Inc.
  • Kauli, Inc.
    (acquired by VOYAGE GROUP)
    Kauli, Inc.
  • Sansan, Inc.【4449】
    (went public in 2019)
    Sansan, Inc.
  • C Channel【7691】
    (went public in 2020)
    C Channel
  • SORABITO SORABITO
  • Chatwork【4448】
    (went public in 2019)
    Chatwork
  • Nangoku Software Co.,Ltd. Nangok Software Co.,Ltd.
  • LIFULL Co., Ltd.【2120】
    (went public in 2006)
    LIFULL Co., Ltd.
  • bitFlyer Inc.  bitFlyer Inc.
  • FreakOut Holdings, inc.【6094】
    (went public in 2014)
    FreakOut
  • Full Speed Inc.【2159】
    (went public in 2007)
    Full Speed Inc.
  • VECTOR INC.【6058】
    (went public in 2012)
    VECTOR INC.
  • popIn Inc.
    (acquired by Baidu)
    popIn Inc.
  • Money Forward, Inc.【3994】
    (went public in 2017)
    Money Forward, Inc.
  • Mercari, Inc.【4385】
    (went public in 2018)
    Mercari, Inc.
  • UZABASE, Inc.【3966】
    (went public in 2016)
    UZABASE, Inc.
  • REALWORLD,inc.【3691】
    (went public in 2014)
    REALWORLD,inc.
  • LOCKON CO.,LTD.【3690】
    (went public in 2014)
    LOCKON CO.,LTD.
  • raksul, Inc.【4384】
    (went public in 2018)
    raksul, Inc.
  • LANCERS,INC. LANCERS,INC.
  • renoveru,Inc. renoveru,Inc.
  • MONEY DESIGN Co., Ltd. MONEY DESIGN Co., Ltd.
  • Aperza Inc. Aperza Inc.
  • Kaizen Platform, Inc. Kaizen Platform, Inc.
  • LeapMind, Inc. LeapMind, Inc.
  • every, Inc. every, Inc.
  • HataLuck and Person Inc. HataLuck and Person Inc.
  • MOLCURE Inc. MOLCURE Inc.
  • Balus CO., LTD. Balus CO., LTD.
  • Agatha Inc. Agatha Inc.
  • Chikaku Inc. Chikaku Inc.
  • SmartNews, Inc. SmartNews, Inc.
  • TradFit Inc. TradFit Inc.
  • NOT A HOTEL inc. NOT A HOTEL inc.
  • Gojo & Company,Inc. Gojo & Company,Inc.
  • CROWD CREDIT, Inc. CROWD CREDIT, Inc.
  • TENET, Inc. TENET, Inc.
  • Moneytree KK. Moneytree KK.
  • SmartBank, Inc. SmartBank, Inc.
  • Photoruction Inc. Photoruction Inc.
  • SOELU Inc. SOELU Inc.
  • RICHKA Inc. RICHKA Inc.
  • trinitytechnology Inc. trinitytechnology Inc.
  • HOKUTO HOKUTO
  • Alp, Inc. Alp, Inc.
  • Asuene Inc. Asuene Inc.
  • Incubation
  • Truss Inc. Truss Inc.
  • SenSprout Inc. SenSprout Inc.
  • Spready Inc. Spready Inc.
  • CO-NECT Inc. 株式会社ハイドアウトクラブ
  • Global
  • Coda Payments Coda Payments
  • Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd.
    (went public in 2011)
    Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd.
  • 2C2P Pte. Ltd. 2C2P Pte. Ltd.
  • Red Dot Payment Pte. Ltd.
    (acquired by PayU)
    Red Dot Payment Pte. Ltd.
  • Dragonpay Corporation. Dragonpay Corporation.
  • Razorpay, Inc. Razorpay
  • FinAccel Pte Ltd. Finaccel
  • Carro Carro
  • Pathmind Pathmind
  • One Mobikwik Systems Pvt. Ltd. Mobikwik
  • Boku, Inc.
    (went public in 2017)
    Boku
  • LetsTransport LetsTransport
  • Appota Corporation Appota
  • Modal Modal
  • Rad AI Rad AI
  • Ride Report Ride Report
  • seamlessGOV
    (acquired by Kofile)
    seamlessGOV
  • Funding U Funding U
  • FazzFinancial FazzFinancial
  • earnin earnin
  • Side Side
  • Fundbox Fundbox
  • Stocktwits Stocktwits
  • Drip Capital Drip Capital
  • Accel Robotics Accel Robotics
  • Rentomojo Rentomojo
  • Xendit Xendit
  • BukuWarung BukuWarung
  • Flex Flex
  • PeerStreet PeerStreet
  • TreasuryPrime TreasuryPrime
  • Instamojo Instamojo

Facts

Total Capital$170Mas of December 2021

Target AreaASIA & USA

No. of Portfolio181as of December 2021

No. of IPO18as of December 2021

Target StageMulti Stage

Group Facts

GMO INTERNET GROUP

107 Group Companies (in 2022)

7,042 Group partners (in 2022)

Net sales(Consolidated)
$2,414 million (in 2021)

Operating income(Consolidated)
$410 million (in 2021)

  • 〔Mobile / Gaming Segment〕Smartphone/ Gaming 1,090K MAU

    [Smartphone / Gaming]

    230K MAU

    as of Dec 2016

  • 〔Internet Infrastructure Segment〕Online Securities FX Trading No.1 in Transaction Fees in the world.

    [Internet Securities Business]

    No.1 Transaction Volume
    of FX Trading in the world

    as of Feb 2021

  • 〔Internet Infrastructure Segment〕Website Hosting Service Market Share 56.8% 710K Websites

    [Website Hosting Service]

    57.0% Market Share in Japan
    107.0K Active Subscribers

    as of July 2021

  • 〔Internet Infrastructure Segment〕Online Payment 47K websites that make $13 billion Transactions Volume / year.

    [Online Payment]

    129K Merchants

    $8.7 billion Transaction Volume

    as of Feb 2021

  • 〔Internet Infrastructure Segment〕Domain Registration Market Share 82.5% 4,250K Websites

    [Domain Registration]

    82.5% Market Share in Japan

    as of Feb 2021

  • 〔Internet Infrastructure Segment〕e-commerce consulting service Japan No.1

    [eCommerce Cart]

    No.1 Share in Japan

    as of Feb 2021

  • 〔Internet Infrastructure Segment〕Security Technology SSL Japan Market Share No.1

    [SSL Certificates]

    No.1 in Japan

    as of Feb 2021

  • 〔Online Advertising/ Media Segment〕Online Advertising 17,820K PC Users 4,270 MAU

    [Ad / Media]

    3,750K MAU

    as of Dec 2017

Team

Ryu Muramatsu

Ryu Muramatsu | Director / Founding Partner

Ryu Muramatsu is a co-founder and Executive Vice President of GMO Payment Gateway Inc and a Founding Partner and Director of GMO VenturePartners. GMO Payment Gateway is the largest online payment service provider in Japan, public since 2005. Currently, he resides in Singapore to focus on Asian market. Prior to founding his first payment startup, Ryu worked for JAFCO, the largest VC in Japan and JAFCO Ventures in Silicon Valley. He was in charge of Business Development and Japanese connection of its US based portfolio companies. As an investor and entrepreneur, it's 100 portfolio companies include 22 IPOs and 12 billion dollar companies at maximum. (GMO Internet Group, Inc., GMO Payment Gateway Inc., Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd.,LIFULL Co., Ltd.,Mercari,Inc.,VECTOR INC.,MoneyForward,Inc.,Uzabase, Inc., RAKSUL INC.,Sansan,Inc., GMO Financial Holdings, Inc.,Razorpay,Inc.) Ryu earned his B.A. degree from Waseda University.

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Kazuyasu Sugiyama

Kazuyasu Sugiyama | Rep. Director

Kazu was in charge of fund raising, management and legal at Softbank Investment(Currently SBI Investment) and Nippon Venture Capital. Also at Nippon Venture Capital he was a head of venture capital fund raising and managment business. Through, the business he was involved in various numbers of fund raising and management including GMO VenturePartneres. Kazu became representive director of GMO VenturePartners at October of 2016. He earned his B.A from Hitotsubashi University.

Kota Uno

Kota Uno |Senior Associate

In 2009, Kota joined ABeam M&A Consulting and engaged in business due diligence and value-up plan construction after investment. After that, I have charge of a marketing project of a pharmaceutical company at M3, Inc which operates a portal site for medical staff. I work for this fund from 2017. Master of Engineering, Hokkaido University.

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Shintaro kawano

Shintaro Kawano | Value-Up Specialist

Shintaro joined Slogan, Inc. at its early stage in 2009 and engaged venture company and startups hiring support. He served as the Head of Sales, Head Office Executive Officer and Group Company Director. In 2017, he went on loan to REAPRA Ventures, a Singapore-related VC, and participated in the launch of Tokyo office as HR Manager. He returned to Slogan, Inc. in 2018. Since 2020, he works in domestic investment execution / support at GMO VenturePartners. Graduated the faculty of Law of Meiji University.

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Hiroyuki Tsuda

Hiroyuki Tsuda |Business Development/Principal

Hiroyuki joined GMO VenturePartners in 2021 with a focus on business development as a Principal. He provides hands-on business supports to portfolio companies. In 2022, he led the fundraising for the latest fund, “GMO Fintech Fund 7 LP”, and is responsible for coordinating business collaboration among start-ups and the fund investors. Prior to his current position, he worked for Sumitomo Corporation, a global trading and investment company. He was in charge of mergers and acquisitions, business restructuring, and business development in the leasing, aviation, and social infrastructure sectors. He was stationed in London and New York. In New York, he was responsible for planning and executing corporate strategies throughout the Americas, including Canada, US, Mexico, and South American countries. He holds BA from Hitotsubashi University.

Yuta Yamamoto

Yuta Yamamoto | Senior Associate / Global investment

Yuta joined GMO VenturePartners in 2018 with a focus on global investments in the US, Europe, SEA, and India, where he helps support current and future portfolio companies. Prior to the current position, he worked at Hardware Club, a French venture capital where he handled its Japan operation, participated in its first fundraising and evaluated international investment opportunities. He started his career in the Real Estate and Hotel Management department at Japan Post Holdings. Yuta holds MBA from HEC Paris and BA from The University of Tokyo.

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Satoru Ogawa

Satoru Ogawa | Senior Analyst

Satoru joined GMO VenturePartners in 2022 and has been investing in startups in India, Southeast Asia, and the US. Prior to GMO VenturePartners, he worked at Goldman Sachs as a lead analyst in the precision technology and semiconductor production equipment sectors of Japanese equities, where he was involved in research on listed companies and marketing to global institutional investors. He holds BA from Keio University.

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Location

GMO VenturePartners

GMO GROUP

Job

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About us

Corporate Profile

Name
GMO VenturePartners, Inc.
Established
September 2005
Address
Cerulean Tower, 26-1 Sakuragaokacho, Shibuya ku, Tokyo, JAPAN

Management

Chairman
Masatoshi Kumagai Founder, Chairman and Group CEO of GMO Internet Group, Inc.
President & Rep. Director
Kazuyasu Sugiyama

Director
Founding Partner Ryu Muramatsu (Director of GMO Payment Gateway Inc.)
Director
Hiroyuki Nishiyama (Director Executive Vice President and Group COO Deputy to Group CEO of GMO Internet Group, Inc.)
Auditor
Masashi Yasuda (Director Executive Vice President and Group CFO Deputy to Group CEO of GMO Internet Group, Inc.)

Adviser

Tomohiro Miyasaka

Business summary

Venture capital investment and startup incubation services

Tokyo

Cerulean Tower, 26-1 Sakuragaokacho, Shibuya ku, Tokyo

03-5458-8663

Singapore

1 Wallich Street, Guoco Tower, #25-01A, Singapore 078881

Contact Us