Venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson has added a new fund, DFJ JAIC, to its network of partner funds, the firm announced. DFJ JAIC is an early stage US-Japan cross border investment fund with teams in Tokyo and Silicon Valley. The fund will focus on investments in the consumer, enterprise, mobile and advanced materials sectors in both the US and Japan. The fund was formed by Japan Asia Investment Co., JAIC America and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
PRESS RELEASE:
Leading global venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) announced today that DFJ JAIC has joined its Global Network of Partner Funds (“DFJ Global Network”). DFJ JAIC is an early stage US-Japan cross border investment fund with teams in Tokyo and Silicon Valley. The fund will focus on investments in the consumer, enterprise, mobile and advanced materials sectors in both the US and Japan. DFJ JAIC is the newest addition to the DFJ Global Network.
DFJ JAIC was formed by three entities: Japan Asia Investment Co., Ltd. (JAIC), JAIC America and DFJ. JAIC is a publicly listed private equity firm on the Tokyo Stock Exchange that manages multiple private equity funds throughout Asia. JAIC America is an independent, cross-border US and Japan venture capital firm co-founded with JAIC in 1999. DFJ’s Global Network is a broad, collaborative network of venture capital partnerships which includes more than 150 venture capital investing professionals, covering four continents, with over 400 active portfolio companies and over $7 billion of capital under management. Recent DFJ and DFJ Global Network successes include LoveFilm, AdMob, Tesla, Neophotonics, Epocrates and Apatech.
“JAIC is excited to embark on this new partnership with DFJ. DFJ and JAIC share a similar philosophy about global entrepreneurship. As Japan rebuilds, entrepreneurs will be instrumental in the country’s growth. DFJ JAIC will be able to leverage insights gained from both DFJ’s Global Network and JAIC’s Japan and Asia-based funds to give it a unique edge,” said Moriyoshi Matsumoto, president and chief executive officer of JAIC and member of DFJ JAIC’s Investment Committee.
DFJ Director Elizabeth “Beezer” Clarkson, who will join DFJ JAIC’s Investment Committee, said, “We believe that DFJ JAIC adds a critical piece to the DFJ Global Network by linking it with Japan, one of the world’s largest economies. Historically there has not been much US venture fund activity in Japan. We are thrilled, therefore, to have this opportunity to find the next generation of leading companies and support the entrepreneurial rebuilding of Japan. Japanese heroic entrepreneurs are poised for greatness.”
“I started JAIC America in conjunction with JAIC over a decade ago with a vision to bridge innovations between the US and Japan,” said JAIC America and DFJ JAIC managing director Mitch Kitamura. “By working with DFJ and its Global Network we believe we can develop strong synergies and extend our insights and connections globally.”
About Draper Fisher Jurvetson
DFJ backs extraordinary entrepreneurs everywhere who set out to change the world. DFJ achieves its mission through its DFJ Global Network of Partner Funds with operations in the US, China, India, Korea, Vietnam, Russia, Europe, Israel, Brazil, and Japan. Over the past 25 years, DFJ and its partners have backed over 600 companies, and have pioneered the way in emerging technology markets including the Internet, mobile communications, clean energy and health care. DFJ has been proud to back industry changing successes including Baidu, Skype, Overture, Hotmail, Parametric Technologies, Focus Media, AdMob, Mobile365, EnerNOC, Tesla, SolarCity, Brightsource Energy, Athenahealth, Epocrates, SpaceX and Synthetic Genomics.
About DFJ JAIC
DFJ JAIC is an early stage US-Japan cross border investment fund with teams in Tokyo and Silicon Valley. The fund will focus primarily on mobile Internet services and advanced materials, which are well developed industries in Japan. The DFJ JAIC team members have invested in more than 100 companies over the last decade, resulting in 20 IPOs and 10 M&A exits in Japan.
About JAIC
Japan Asia Investment CO., Ltd. (JAIC), a publicly listed private equity firm on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, has a thirty plus year history of backing entrepreneurs in Japan and overseas. To date, 254 of its portfolio companies have been listed publicly. It was established in 1981 by the Japan Association of Corporate Executives and later became one of the few independent venture capital firms in the late 1980’s with its initial geographic focus expanding from ASEAN to all of Asia. In addition to investing in promising startups, JAIC helps its portfolio companies grow by offering a full range of financial and management support, such as specialized advice in areas such as initial public offering (IPOs), strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions (M&As), management buyouts (MBOs) and restructuring. For more information, see www.jaic-vc.co.jp/eng/index.html
About JAIC America
JAIC America was launched in Silicon Valley in 1999 to support cross-border investments and expansion between Japan and Silicon Valley. Since then, JAIC America has invested in over 50 startups across IT, life science and cleantech sectors and has had 7 IPO/M&A exits.
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