B Dash Ventures
No summary available yet.
B Dash is one of Japan's established VC names but operates more like a traditional Japanese investment firm than a Silicon Valley-style VC. They're backed by corporate Japan's heavyweights (NTT Docomo, Mitsubishi UFJ) which gives them solid LP support but may limit their appetite for truly disruptive plays. The real fund results show that this VC is 5 percentage points more often commits exit compared to other companies - they've had decent exits with Liquid, Gumi, and Mynet going public. However, B Dash Ventures works on 15 percentage points less the average amount of lead investments compared to other organizations - they often follow rather than lead, which tells you about their conviction levels. The B Dash Camp conference is their real differentiator and gives them access to deal flow, but with only 2-6 deals per year, they're not exactly prolific. Ryuichi's media background helps with ecosystem connections, but this isn't a fund that's going to take big swings or push founders hard.
- —Best for: Japanese market entry, corporate partnerships through their blue-chip LP base
- —Watch out for: Conservative approach, prefer following other investors rather than leading
- —Known for: B Dash Camp conference, solid but unspectacular exits, traditional Japanese investment style
B Dash Ventures invests in seed, early, and later stage startup companies that will become the core of the next generation of tech. The funds comprise of capital from Japan's largest telecom carriers, internet companies, financial institutions, government agencies and institutional investors.
B Dash Ventures has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Consumer, Media & Entertainment, FinTech, High Tech and Blockchain Technology. Notably, it has invested in 32 Tech companies, 29 Consumer (B2C) companies, 15 Software companies and at least 14 companies focusing on Enterprise (B2B). Top sectors in B Dash Ventures' portfolio are Consumer (9 investments) and Enterprise Applications (6 investments) with investments typically ranging 1-5 millions dollars.
Hiroyuki Watanabe is the President, CEO and Representative Director at B Dash Ventures. He serves as Managing Director at Japanese Venture Capital Association. He's been instrumental in growing B Dash into Japan's venture ecosystem and actively speaks at conferences about IPO market reforms.
Ryuichi Nishida is a VC at B Dash Ventures, a Tokyo-based early to late stage venture capital fund. Prior to B Dash Ventures, Ryu was Editor-in-Chief at both TechCrunch Japan and CNET Japan. His media background gives him deep knowledge of the Japanese tech ecosystem and strong founder networks.
Have a specific question about B Dash Ventures?
Ask Bernie →