Recently, Nikkei Sangyo Shinbun (The Nikkei Industrial Journal) published an article on the Venture Capital industry in Japan. Eight Roads Ventures Japan (‘ERVJ’) was recognized as the #1 VC in the country to have secured the most profit through initial public offerings (IPOs) of portfolio companies in 2020, followed by Femto Partners and SBI Investment.

60% of the overall profit made by ERVJ was driven by our portfolio company Plaid, a data analytics platform that uses its knowledge of consumer history and behavior to achieve a desired outcome. Alongside Plaid, three other portfolio companies also listed on Japan’s Mothers Market last year – Yappli (a retail tech platform that allows companies to build their own mobile apps with little or no technical expertise, Kaizen (provides testing to improve the performance of companies’ websites) and Retty (a restaurant review media company).

Over the years, the team has worked closely with each company to support them in their scaleup journey leading to the successful IPOs.

Yappli which went public in December 2020 appreciated the support they received from the investment team. Getting opportunities to learn about sales know-how and best practices from top overseas companies really helped the company grow over the years.

David Milstein, Managing Partner & Head of Japan spoke with Nikkei in an interview to share the team’s journey in Japan and how the market has evolved with time. He explained that since the number of serial entrepreneurs is still limited in Japan, it is important for us to be a good partner and advisor to first time entrepreneurs and support them on their journey.