DG Daiwa Ventures: Tokyo's Deep-Tech Bridge to the World

DG Daiwa Ventures is a Tokyo-based venture capital firm jointly established by Digital Garage, Inc. and the Daiwa Securities Group, bringing together a storied internet incubator and one of Japan's largest securities houses. Established on 1 July 2016 and headquartered in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, the firm exists to back startups with next-generation technologies and to support their business development from seed through scale.

The firm manages two flagship vehicles: DG Lab Fund I and DG Lab Fund II. The second fund closed in November 2020 with approximately 12.5 billion yen raised from 11 institutional investors and operating companies, including Eisai, Kakaku.com, KDDI Corporation, Sompo Japan Insurance, Taisho Pharmaceutical, Takenaka Corporation, TSI Holdings, Hanwha Asset Management and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. Together the two funds operate approximately 20 billion yen and have invested in more than 40 companies to date.

DG Daiwa Ventures works hand-in-hand with DG Lab, the open innovation R&D organisation jointly operated by Digital Garage, Kakaku.com and KDDI, to invest across five deep-tech fields: Blockchain, AI, xR, Security and BioHealth. This structure gives portfolio companies something unusual for a financial VC: direct access to the technical bench and deal flow of a working R&D lab, plus Daiwa's capital-markets expertise for later-stage financing and IPO preparation.

The portfolio illustrates that combination. It includes Goodpatch, which listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Mothers section in June 2020; Akili Interactive Labs, the developer of the world's first game-based digital therapeutic cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration; Idein, known globally for edge computing; Zehitomo, the local-services hiring platform; and Crypto Garage, the blockchain financial services joint venture that received the first official authorisation in finance under Japan's Cabinet Office Regulatory Sandbox. The firm's Indian footprint includes Airmeet, the event-led customer engagement platform, backed alongside Sequoia Capital India, and fintech lender Jai Kisan.

The investment team is led by Representative Director Junichi Nakajima, alongside Head of Investment Yamato Watanabe, Head of Japan Investment Yuta Sanada and Head of Global Investment Makoto Ibi, with venture partners covering blockchain and other specialist domains. The firm also warns founders publicly about fake websites imitating its name — its only official site is dg-daiwa-v.com.