Global Brain

Founded in Tokyo in 1998, Global Brain is a venture capital firm focusing on seed to late-stage investments across various sectors globally. They have invested in over 300 startups, facilitating 25 IPOs and 61 M&As through hands-on support services.

Kaori Akiba

Director

Hidetaka Aoki

Investment Group Partner and Fellow Chief of Space Lab

Tatsunori Arai

Director

Megumi Asatsuma

Director

Anjani Bansal

Partner / India Office Representative

Past deals in Peer to Peer

Funds

Series D in 2023
Funds is a loan investment firm that operates an online peer-to-peer lending marketplace, facilitating connections between individual investors and businesses seeking operating capital. Through its platform, Funds allows companies to secure financing by investing in funds via silent partnership agreements, starting from increments as low as 1 yen. This approach enables individual investors to manage their assets online while providing businesses access to necessary funds. By focusing on middle-risk, middle-return financial instruments, Funds aims to create a streamlined investment experience that benefits both lenders and borrowers.

Validus

Series C in 2022
Validus is a Southeast Asian fintech company that leverages data and artificial intelligence to provide growth financing to underserved small and medium enterprises. Headquartered in Singapore, it operates in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, partnering with corporations to deliver supply‑chain financing solutions that support local SME ecosystems. The firm holds a Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and its Indonesian subsidiary is registered with the OJK. Backed by prominent venture capital investors, Validus offers a comprehensive suite of financial services—including SME lending, crowd‑lending, business accounts, corporate cards, expense management, money transfers, and foreign remittance—positioning it as a leading all‑in‑one SME financing platform in the region.

Funds

Series C in 2021
Funds is a loan investment firm that operates an online peer-to-peer lending marketplace, facilitating connections between individual investors and businesses seeking operating capital. Through its platform, Funds allows companies to secure financing by investing in funds via silent partnership agreements, starting from increments as low as 1 yen. This approach enables individual investors to manage their assets online while providing businesses access to necessary funds. By focusing on middle-risk, middle-return financial instruments, Funds aims to create a streamlined investment experience that benefits both lenders and borrowers.

Funds

Series B in 2019
Funds is a loan investment firm that operates an online peer-to-peer lending marketplace, facilitating connections between individual investors and businesses seeking operating capital. Through its platform, Funds allows companies to secure financing by investing in funds via silent partnership agreements, starting from increments as low as 1 yen. This approach enables individual investors to manage their assets online while providing businesses access to necessary funds. By focusing on middle-risk, middle-return financial instruments, Funds aims to create a streamlined investment experience that benefits both lenders and borrowers.

Crowdport

Venture Round in 2019
Crowdport operates “Funds,” a P2P platform, connecting individual investors who wish to manage their assets with companies that wish to borrow operating funds.

Mercari

Series D in 2016
Mercari operates a mobile marketplace app that enables individuals to buy and sell secondhand items, including fashion, electronics, jewelry, books, and more, across Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The platform functions as a consumer-to-consumer marketplace with a large user base and emphasizes simple listings, safe selling and shipping, and straightforward payments. It is the leading C2C marketplace in Japan, with over 23 million monthly active users and more than 1.1 trillion yen in gross merchandise value in fiscal 2022, and domestic activity accounting for the majority of GMV. The company also operates a domestic fintech business and runs a C2C marketplace in the United States, reflecting expansion beyond Japan while maintaining its core peer-to-peer commerce model.

Mist Technologies

Venture Round in 2015
Mist Technologies, Inc. is a technology company based in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 2013. It specializes in developing content delivery platforms that utilize peer-to-peer data delivery technology. This innovative approach allows browsers in close geographical proximity to share content with one another, enhancing the speed and efficiency of content streaming. The company's product offerings include the Mist Inline Player for video playback on mobile devices, the 360° Sphere Video Player for immersive video experiences, Video Thumbnailer for creating lightweight video thumbnails, MistCDN for browser-based content distribution, and Webdrop for file exchanges between browsers on the same local area network. Mist Technologies operates as a subsidiary of Adways Inc.

Mist Technologies

Venture Round in 2014
Mist Technologies, Inc. is a technology company based in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 2013. It specializes in developing content delivery platforms that utilize peer-to-peer data delivery technology. This innovative approach allows browsers in close geographical proximity to share content with one another, enhancing the speed and efficiency of content streaming. The company's product offerings include the Mist Inline Player for video playback on mobile devices, the 360° Sphere Video Player for immersive video experiences, Video Thumbnailer for creating lightweight video thumbnails, MistCDN for browser-based content distribution, and Webdrop for file exchanges between browsers on the same local area network. Mist Technologies operates as a subsidiary of Adways Inc.

Mercari

Series C in 2014
Mercari operates a mobile marketplace app that enables individuals to buy and sell secondhand items, including fashion, electronics, jewelry, books, and more, across Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The platform functions as a consumer-to-consumer marketplace with a large user base and emphasizes simple listings, safe selling and shipping, and straightforward payments. It is the leading C2C marketplace in Japan, with over 23 million monthly active users and more than 1.1 trillion yen in gross merchandise value in fiscal 2022, and domestic activity accounting for the majority of GMV. The company also operates a domestic fintech business and runs a C2C marketplace in the United States, reflecting expansion beyond Japan while maintaining its core peer-to-peer commerce model.

Mercari

Series B in 2014
Mercari operates a mobile marketplace app that enables individuals to buy and sell secondhand items, including fashion, electronics, jewelry, books, and more, across Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The platform functions as a consumer-to-consumer marketplace with a large user base and emphasizes simple listings, safe selling and shipping, and straightforward payments. It is the leading C2C marketplace in Japan, with over 23 million monthly active users and more than 1.1 trillion yen in gross merchandise value in fiscal 2022, and domestic activity accounting for the majority of GMV. The company also operates a domestic fintech business and runs a C2C marketplace in the United States, reflecting expansion beyond Japan while maintaining its core peer-to-peer commerce model.
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