"Animal spirits" is a term used by economist Keynes in The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. It is an irrational expectation and enthusiasm for what one wants to achieve, and can be translated as "bloodlust," "ambitious drive," or "animal urge.
We interpret "animal spirits" as the motivation that spurs us to take the initiative in realizing what we firmly believe must be accomplished, even though no one has asked us to do so.
While excessive animal spirits can sometimes cause bubbles, we believe that the urge to take on new ventures in an uncertain environment is an essential driving force to move society forward and is the most important element of a startup. As we expressed in the phrase "no one asked us to do it," a startup is not something that is dictated by someone else or undertaken as a commissioned task. The enthusiasm that comes from within the entrepreneur is the starting point of a startup.

Recently, startups have been attracting attention in Japan, and the need to revitalize startups through various support measures, such as infusion of funds, has been called for.
However, what is fundamentally needed to create more startups with impact is the will and impulse to create new value on one's own.
Through our activities, we aim to help foster an animal spirit in Japanese society.

We are engaged in venture investment and advisory businesses.

In the venture investment business, we manage the "Animal Spirits No. 1 Fund," which mainly invests in seed- and early-stage startups that are engaged in businesses that contribute to "social change for future generations.

In the advisory business, we provide advisory services to Mizuho Growth Partners, the successor fund to THE FUND, a growth capital fund operated by Signifiant Corporation. Through this business, we also indirectly support the growth of later-stage startups.

We provide an audio explanation of the Animal SpiritsⅠ Fund on our Voicy page at the link below. Please take a look.Please note that the audio is in Japanese only.

Animal Spirits FundⅠ has been established!

While in college in 2006, Founding Partner Asakura founded a startup called Naked Technology with a group of friends. The company raised funds from several VC firms and developed middleware and applications for mobile phones. In 2011, while serving as president and representative director, Asakura sold the company to Mixi, Inc.

After joining Mixi following the sale, Asakura served as the company's president and CEO, and executed the transformation of the company's business from a social networking service to a new business. In addition, he led the company's turnaround from a market capitalization of 18 billion yen at the time of his appointment as CEO to a market capitalization of 500 billion yen.

Regardless of industry, we invest in startups with high growth potential that will lead to "social change for future generations”. In addition, we focus on the following themes that are of particular importance to us.

"Protecting the nation": Startups that work to improve productivity and establish social systems to make Japan's inevitable super-aging society sustainable.
Digital Transformation, Artificial Intelligence, IoT, robotics, healthcare, etc.

"Preserve the Earth": Startups that work on building systems to realize a de-carbonized, recycling-oriented economy.
Climate Tech, natural energy, food tech, mobility, supply chain, etc.

"Pioneering the Frontier": Startups working to create new industries that will transform the way people live.
Space development, Generative AI, blockchain, wellbeing, etc.

We primarily invest in seed-stage and early-stage startups. We also invest in middle stage and beyond, mainly through follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies.
The terms "seed," "early," and "mid-stage" are not distinguishable based on external criteria such as valuation, business performance, or the name of the funding round. Therefore, when considering investment, we make decisions based on the specific circumstances of each individual company.

The degree of involvement will vary depending on the individual circumstances of the startup we invest in, and we will discuss with you on an individual basis how to get involved.
Animal Spirits does not use the term "hands-on.
In principle, we believe that entrepreneurs themselves are the most knowledgeable about the actual business situation and target market, and that the room for outsiders to contribute to the growth of the business is inevitably limited.
In the early stages of a startup, the source of growth is the entrepreneur's own time and depth of thought.
Based on the management experience of the founder of Animal Spirits, we understand that excessive intervention in the name of "hands-on" is no different from micromanagement, and can lead to a situation where the startup's growth is stunted.

When requested by our portfolio companies, we will spare no effort to assist them in discussing business strategies, fundraising, customer development, human resource recruitment, etc.

The amount of investment depends on the growth phase of the startup and the amount raised, but we have invested between 20 million yen and 250 million yen per round in the past. The maximum investment amount is 500 million yen.
The median investment amount is around 150 million yen.

Regardless of its role in the round - lead investment, co-lead investment, or follower investment - Animal Spirits will make the investment.

Regardless of its role in the round - lead investment, co-lead investment, or follower investment - Animal Spirits will make the investment.

The growth of the startups in which we invest and their success in raising the necessary capital are very important to us at Animal Spirits.
We will make follow-on investments in rounds after the initial investment, if additional investment from Animal Spirits could contribute to the growth of the startup in light of its business situation after the investment.

Animal Spirits is based in Tokyo, but will invest in startups outside of Tokyo.
The first fund's first investment, Crassone, is a startup based in Nagoya.

Animal Spirits also invests in startups that are registered or based outside of Japan.
However, Animal Spirits does not actively seek investment opportunities in startups outside of Japan.
The main type of startup investments we expect to make in overseas regions are businesses by entrepreneurs with ties to Japan, or businesses that are closely related to Japan.

The fund size of the Animal Spirits No. 1 Fund is approximately 6 billion yen.

The investment consideration period in Animal Spirits varies depending on the phase, sector, etc. of the target startup. Usually, investment decisions and deposits are made within a few weeks to three months after the initial meeting.
Basically, the investment consideration period is shorter for seed-stage startups, while it tends to be longer for established startups, as there are more items to consider. In addition, as a rule, we do not make investment decisions on the day of the initial meeting.
We understand that it is easier for a startup manager to make an investment decision immediately from the VC's point of view. However, as a VC, once we make a venture investment, we maintain a relationship with the investee for less than 10 years. We believe that it is our responsibility as venture capitalists to carefully consider whether we can contribute to the growth of the startup through our investment.
We also believe that it is an important process for the startup's management to take the time to determine whether or not the VC is a partner with whom they can have a trusting relationship.
In order to ensure that there is a mutual consideration period, we would appreciate it if managers considering funding from Animal Spirits would contact us at the earliest possible time. It is never too early to contact us, even if it is before the start of the full funding process.
If we decide that we are not able to invest in your company, we will try to inform you of our decision as soon as possible so as not to interfere with your startup's fundraising process.

The Animal Spirits FundⅠ was established on January 17, 2023.

Animal Spirits is a VC firm founded in 2023, so past investments are limited. Please see the link below for a list of our current investments. Please note that some of the investees include startups that have not announced their fundraising in their press releases.

List of Animal Spirits investment press releases

■Past Investments from Other Organizations
GP, which manages the Animal Spirits FundⅠ, has been involved in investment decision-making, advisory, etc. for the following companies through past companies and angel investments, etc.

Raksul (TSE Mothers listing, 2018)

Neural Pocket (TSE Mothers listing, 2020)

Loco Partners (acquired by KDDI, 2020)

Original Stitch (acquired by World, 2019)

Socket (acquired by KDDI, 2015)

Paystack (acquired by Stripe, 2020, Nigeria)

Andpad

Asobica

Reiwa Travel

overflow

Siiibo

WAmazing

FiNC Technologies

Money Design

smartround

Bodygram

Bespo

TeraWatt Technology (US)

TVision Insights (US)

Chaldal (Pakistan)

Anyplace (US)

Paperspace (US)

■Past investments from THE FUND

THE FUND, a growth capital fund managed by Signifiant Corporation, founded by GP Asakura, has invested in the following startups. Araki, a GP, is in charge of the investment review and other operations of "THE FUND".

SmartHR

Base Food (TSE Growth Listing, 2018)

Astroscale Holdings

Timee

bellFace

XICA

i grid solutions

hacomono

On the other hand, although not categorized as "investment performance," the most significant success stories in terms of investment returns are Naked Technology and Mixi, which GP represented and directly managed.

We are looking for a few Capitalist candidates.
If you are interested, please contact us via CONTACT with a link to your Linkedin or resume.
Please note that we are unable to respond to all inquiries.

If you know someone in common with us, we can respond more quickly if you contact us via a referral.

If you do not have a mutual acquaintance, please contact us via CONTACT on our website.

If you are inquiring about fundraising, please include a link to your pitch materials or other reference materials in the contact form.

Please note that due to the extremely limited number of people working at Animal Spirits, we are unable to reply to everyone who contacts us.