With first close of over $67.17 M, Beyond Next Ventures completes its deeptech fund
The venture capital firm Beyond Next Ventures, Inc. with headquarters in Japan announced on Wednesday that the first close of its deeptech fund reached over $67.17 million.
The company announced in a statement that it has created the Beyond Next Ventures 3 Investment Limited Partnership, or BNV Fund 3.
The Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, Japan, MUFG Bank, Ltd., Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc., and Tokyo Century (USA) Inc., all of whom had previously invested in the fund’s first and second funds, contributed to it.
SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, FFG Venture Business Partners Co. Ltd., and YAGAMI Co. LTD. are a few of the new investors who supported it as well.
About 80% of its Limited Partnerships are renewed investments by previous investors in the previous funds, which is recognition of its past deep tech investment performance from the seed stage.
In order to reach its final target size of JPY 20-25 billion ($134.34 million to $167.93 million), the company said it will continue its fund-raising efforts.
“With this, we will continue working on our aspiration to create deep tech unicorns from Japan solving significant challenges at a global scale,” Beyond Next Ventures said.
According to the company, a lack of funding severely restricts businesses’ ability to expand internationally and reduces the likelihood that Japan will produce more unicorns.
Although venture capital investment in Japan is still rising, it was noted that when compared to other nations, the volume of later stage investments is far behind.
It claimed that as a result, there have been numerous instances of deserving startups having trouble obtaining funding in their middle to late stages.
The maximum investment per company in the Fund – 3 has been increased by the company to JPY 2 billion ($13.43 million), or roughly three times the maximum limit in the prior funds.
The company also increased the maximum operating term of the fund by one year to 11 years (plus an additional extension of up to three years with the consent of the limited partners).
These attributes, according to the statement, enable the company to provide ongoing financial support to investee companies as they grow from seed to scale.
It was stated that the BNV Fund – 3 hopes to improve “Company Creation” activities by concentrating their support resources on developing unicorn companies on a global scale with the increased maximum investment amount.
Additionally, it was pointed out that deep tech startups, which frequently come from universities and research facilities, still lack the personnel necessary to advance the commercialization of excellent scientific discoveries.
