NordicNinja – the largest Japanese VC in Europe – has announced that it is to establish a base in London as it launches its second VC fund.
The €200 million fund will be used to invest in technologies tackling the world’s biggest problems with a focus on ClimateTech, DeepTech and digital society.
Founded in 2019, NordicNinja is a team with a global mindset that unites world-class former founders, operators, and engineers turned investors from Northern Europe and Japan. With engineering backgrounds and long-standing experience in green energy, the partners have a wealth of experience that is rare amongst Series A investors in Europe.
They have co-founded ClimateTech startups such as Planet OS and H2GO Power and have leading tech executive experience through building new businesses within leading firms such as ABB and McKinsey.
The partners have also been significant angel investors, co-founding the Superangel fund, and managing a Japanese clean energy investment fund. Between them they have made more than 80 partner-level investments and over 20 angel investments globally.
From its €101m Fund I, NordicNinja invested in companies that transformed industries including Bolt, Einride, Veriff, Voi, Starship, ClimateView, Kognic, Mavenoid, Pactum, Varjo, DappRadar and Ready Player Me.
The cornerstone investor in this second fund is Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), a Japanese public financial institution represented in 18 countries around the world, which works to promote greater economic cooperation between Japan and overseas countries. European investors include BaltCap and Swedbank pension funds. Japanese investors include Honda and Omron, who also invested in Fund I.
Tomosaku Sohara, managing partner at NordicNinja, said: “Thousands of kilometres apart, Japan and Europe have much in common. Both have company-building legacies, an appetite for innovation and understanding of the need to take care of the planet.
“NordicNinja is a bridge that turns these shared interests into common goals, bringing two of the world’s biggest ecosystems together for the benefit of us all.”