Empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs to never settle, to dare to pursue new blue ocean opportunities, and to build impactful ventures that solve global challenges.
Starting a company means facing one challenge after another — finding the first customer, building a sales pipeline, hiring, product development. Too often, founders have had to face them alone.
We have rolled up our sleeves alongside startups and solved these problems one by one. Today we bring a deep library of best practices for the zero-to-one phase, focused on helping your business take off faster and more reliably.
NEXTBLUE runs three funds backing startups across Japan, the US and Europe: Fund I, which connects Japan with the world; Fund II, dedicated to women’s wellbeing; and NEXTBLUE TOKYO, established with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Japan, the US and Europe. The starting point.
Our first fund backs seed- and early-stage startups in Japan, the US and Europe, and helps overseas founders enter the Japanese market.
Asia’s first fund for women’s wellbeing.
Invests in startups and female founders across health, education, financial stability and career — aiming for strong returns and social impact.
With the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s “Women’s Empowerment Startup Support Fund”: supporting female-led startups and companies that advance women’s empowerment with funding and hands-on support.
Kanako graduated from Keio University and worked in investment banking with GCA. After receiving her MBA from Kellogg School of Management in 2013, she joined BCG in Tokyo. At BCG she led projects related to new business development, M&A strategy, overseas expansion among others. In 2016, Kanako joined D4V (Design 4 Ventures), a venture capital in partnership with IDEO, as founding member and portfolio director.
Vincent graduated from Columbia Law School in New York in 2011. After passing the NY Bar, he moved to Tokyo and worked as a management consultant for BCG. He spent almost 5 years at BCG, working his way from Associate to Project Leader, and leading projects in the pharmaceutical and retail industries. In 2017 to 2019, Vincent worked as a co-Portfolio Director for Design 4 Ventures (D4V), a venture capital in partnership with IDEO. NY licensed attorney (currently inactive) CAIA
After graduating from Hitotsubashi University, Yuichi worked at companies such as RenRen and F-code, before then founding Otsumu in 2010. From 2015, he supported various accelerator programs (such as the program with Asahi Newspaper), and from 2017 started and began operating his own VC fund called Reality Accelerator.
After receiving her MBA from the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego in 2018, Saki joined Scrum Ventures in San Francisco, where she spearheaded investments in women’s health and facilitated collaborations with major Japanese corporations. Notably, she served as the only Japanese judge at significant industry pitch contests, establishing a community alongside several local VC firms to serve as a bridge between Japan and the US. Saki has also made substantial contributions to startup communities in the U.S. and Europe as a mentor. As a Japanese female investor residing in the U.S., she actively shares insights into the startup ecosystem by speaking at events and contributing to media outlets, leveraging her unique position to foster cross-cultural understanding and cooperation.
End-to-end support across marketing, sales, development, recruitment and finance.
Weekly mentoring available to help resolve key issues and determine critical next steps.
We invest from pre-seed to early stage with ticket sizes ranging up to a few million dollars.
We provide support and frameworks to improve tools that can meaningfully impact business development, such as sales materials and landing pages.
NEXTBLUE and its wider network of specialists are experienced in providing KPI improvement consulting, covering topics such as onboarding, UI improvement to CVR improvement.
We assist in lead generation and supporting startups, especially foreign startups, nurture client relationships in Japan. NEXTBLUE also organizes regular events with LPs and among the startup community to connect portfolio companies with relevant stakeholders.
We provide ticket privileges (up to 10 million yen) for AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform to supported and portfolio companies.
Support for fundraising includes potential additional follow-on investment from NEXTBLUE and active fundraising support (e.g. introductions and follow-up with other investors).
Please contact the NEXTBLUE team directly should you have additional questions. The team is happy to understand and address your specific needs.
From pre-seed to early stage, across Japan, the US and Europe — we would love to hear from founders solving global challenges.
Pitch submission