Global Brain

Global Brain Corporation, founded in 1998 and based in Tokyo, Japan, is a venture capital firm that focuses on investing in seed, early, and later-stage startups. The firm has a diverse portfolio, having invested in over 300 companies across various sectors, including e-commerce, software, gaming, media, IoT, disruptive technology, education, entertainment, and fintech. Global Brain is recognized for its hands-on support approach, which has contributed to 25 initial public offerings and 61 mergers and acquisitions among its portfolio companies. In addition to managing traditional investment funds, Global Brain also provides Venture Capital as a Service (VCaaS) solutions and collaborates with leading public companies in sectors such as telecommunications, real estate, financial services, beverages, agriculture, logistics, and electronic devices.

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

Brooke Beers

Partner

Takuji Chida

Director

Hogil Doh

General Partner

Thomas Duong

Principal

Brian Flucht

Partner / US Division Head

Hajime Furuya

Venture Partner

Kenji Hayashi

Principal

Shohei Hayashi

Partner

Harue Hayashi

Partner / Vice Chief Fund Management Officer

Jie He

Director China office Representative

Yosuke Hirai

Director

Joopyo Hong

Partner Investment Group

Naoki Horie

Principal

Jang Hyeokjin

Principal

Shohei Ichimiya

Partner / US Office

Nozomu Ikuta

Principal

Kotona Inaida

Director

Tomoaki Ishikure

Partner

Yoshinari Ito

Venture Partner

Yuki Ito

Director

Hiroyuki Izumi

Partner

Ken Kajii

General Partner

Naoki Kamimaeda

Partner and Europe Division Head

Daisuke Kashiro

General Partner

Kirin Kato

Principal

Takashi Kato

Partner, San Francisco Office Representative

Masaya Kawakami

Principal, Investment Group

Hiroyuki Kawamoto

Principal

Ko Kawaragi

Director

Maiko Kayata

Principal

ByeongJin Kim

Principal

Riichiro Kimura

Director / US NY Office

Kenta Kitsuka

General Partner

Issei Kokubu

Director

Yoshiomi Kubota

Principal

Jiro Kumakura

General Partner and Board Member

Jinya Kurita

Director

KyungHun Lee

Partner

YingQi Liang(Joy)

Principal

Chukaku Lin

Director

Atsushi Matsuda

Venture Partner

Tatsuya Matsumoto

Partner / Singapore Office Representative

Akira Matsumoto

Principal

Yuki Matsuo

Director

Natsumi Matsuoka

Principal

Tomoko Minagawa

Director

Ai Minamizaki

Principal

Shigeru Mitarai

Director

Kazuhiko Miyama

General Partner

Shuhei Mori

Principal

Seiichiro Mukai

Director

Satoko Murata

Principal, Investment Group

Kohtaro Nagawa

Director

Mitsutaka Nakao

Principal, Investment Group

Shien Nakayama

Director

Yuya Namiki

Director

Ying Jian Ng

Director

Daisuke Nishida

General Partner

Yukari Nishiyama

Director, Investment Group

Akiko Noguchi

Director

Rina Obi

Investment Group Director, Berlin Office

Sho Ohtani

Principal

Tetsui Okada

Director

Mayu Okamoto

Director

Akane Okuyama

Director

Shingo Otaki

Partner

Rampalli Karthik

Principal

Naoki Sadakuni

Venture Partner

Enen Sai

Principal

Youichi Sakagawa

Director, Investment Group

Kazuki Sakuragawa

Partner / Editor in Chief

Masumi Sato

Principal

Naoki Sato

Principal, Investment Group

Tomoki Sekiguchi

Principal

Rie Shibata

Director

Takeru Shigemura

Director

Miku Shimamura

Principal

Masamune Shin

General Partner

Ayu Shinoyama

CFO and Board Member

Chisa Shinsakaue

Director

Divyansh Singh

Principal

Hiroto Sorita

Director

Sachiko Sugiura

Director

Yusuke Suzuki

Partner

Kazumo Tachibana

Director

Mana Takabayashi

Director

Hiroki Takai

Director

Toko Takao

Principal

Hideyuki Tanaka

Director

Marika Tazaki

Partner

Hirotaka Togashi

Director

Haruka Tsujii

Director

Atsushi Ueda Ph.D

Principal, Investment Group

Takuya Ukai

Principal, Investment Group

Tetsuya Urimoto

Director

Noriko Usui

Partner / Chief Fund Management Officer

Keita Washizu

Principal

Masao Yamada

Senior Partner

Kazunori Yamaguchi

Partner, Investment Group

Kazunor Yamaguchi

Partner

Ryozo Yamamoto

Partner

Michiko Yamazaki

Principal, Investment Group

Takuro Yoda

Principal, Investment Group

Sayaka Yoshino

Director

Miku Yoshio

Partner

Miyazawa Yusuke

Venture Partner

Lusheng Zou

Director

Takuya Hosomura

Partner

Sho Ikeda

Partner / Indonesia Office Representative

Past deals in Speech Recognition

Poetics

Seed Round in 2024
Poetics is an AI startup that develops communication related products concerning language and voice to provide business solutions.

Voicy

Venture Round in 2022
Voicy, Inc. is a Tokyo-based company that develops a voice news application for mobile platforms, established in 2016. The application recruits media personalities and news organizations, allowing entertainers to read the news and deliver the latest information in an engaging manner. As technology evolves, Voicy focuses on audio as a medium, leveraging voice distribution networks to provide innovative content. The company aims to enhance user experiences by integrating voice technology into daily life, enabling seamless access to information without interrupting routine activities. Through its unique approach to audio broadcasting, Voicy seeks to create value in society by transforming how news and entertainment are consumed.

Cognigy

Series B in 2021
Cognigy GmbH is an enterprise software provider specializing in conversational AI automation. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, with additional offices in San Francisco, Sydney, Seoul, and Tokyo, the company offers Cognigy.AI, a low-code platform designed to automate customer and employee communications through intelligent voice and chatbots. This platform features advanced intent recognition and flexible dialog capabilities, allowing for seamless integration with backend systems. Cognigy.AI aims to enhance user experiences while helping organizations reduce support costs and improve scalability. It supports multilingual conversations across various channels, including web, phone, SMS, and mobile applications, making it a versatile solution for large enterprises seeking to facilitate natural interactions between humans and machines. Additionally, Cognigy provides Cognigy.VG, an AI-based voice gateway solution for deploying virtual voice agents to automate phone conversations.

Cognigy

Venture Round in 2021
Cognigy GmbH is an enterprise software provider specializing in conversational AI automation. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, with additional offices in San Francisco, Sydney, Seoul, and Tokyo, the company offers Cognigy.AI, a low-code platform designed to automate customer and employee communications through intelligent voice and chatbots. This platform features advanced intent recognition and flexible dialog capabilities, allowing for seamless integration with backend systems. Cognigy.AI aims to enhance user experiences while helping organizations reduce support costs and improve scalability. It supports multilingual conversations across various channels, including web, phone, SMS, and mobile applications, making it a versatile solution for large enterprises seeking to facilitate natural interactions between humans and machines. Additionally, Cognigy provides Cognigy.VG, an AI-based voice gateway solution for deploying virtual voice agents to automate phone conversations.

Cognigy

Series A in 2020
Cognigy GmbH is an enterprise software provider specializing in conversational AI automation. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, with additional offices in San Francisco, Sydney, Seoul, and Tokyo, the company offers Cognigy.AI, a low-code platform designed to automate customer and employee communications through intelligent voice and chatbots. This platform features advanced intent recognition and flexible dialog capabilities, allowing for seamless integration with backend systems. Cognigy.AI aims to enhance user experiences while helping organizations reduce support costs and improve scalability. It supports multilingual conversations across various channels, including web, phone, SMS, and mobile applications, making it a versatile solution for large enterprises seeking to facilitate natural interactions between humans and machines. Additionally, Cognigy provides Cognigy.VG, an AI-based voice gateway solution for deploying virtual voice agents to automate phone conversations.

RevComm

Series A in 2020
RevComm is the startup company developing Voice x AI-enabled cloud services .

SpeakBUDDY

Series B in 2020
SpeakBUDDY Ltd. is a Tokyo-based company that specializes in the design and development of mobile applications focused on English language learning. Established in May 2013, it operates the “SpeakBUDDY” app, which incorporates an AI voice recognition system, along with an online English coaching service known as “SpartaBUDDDY.” The platform offers a comprehensive curriculum that includes features such as pronunciation checking and scenario-based learning, available through a monthly subscription model. This approach aims to assist individuals, businesses, and educational institutions in enhancing their English communication skills and achieving fluency in a convenient manner. SpeakBUDDY has garnered recognition in the app market, with several of its language learning products achieving top rankings on the App Store.

Voicy

Series A in 2019
Voicy, Inc. is a Tokyo-based company that develops a voice news application for mobile platforms, established in 2016. The application recruits media personalities and news organizations, allowing entertainers to read the news and deliver the latest information in an engaging manner. As technology evolves, Voicy focuses on audio as a medium, leveraging voice distribution networks to provide innovative content. The company aims to enhance user experiences by integrating voice technology into daily life, enabling seamless access to information without interrupting routine activities. Through its unique approach to audio broadcasting, Voicy seeks to create value in society by transforming how news and entertainment are consumed.

Jibo

Series A in 2015
Jibo, Inc. is a Boston-based company that specializes in the development and sale of social robots designed to enhance human-robot interaction. The flagship product, Jibo, is the first social robot intended for home use, equipped with advanced Natural Language Understanding, speech, and facial recognition capabilities. Jibo interacts with users by learning their preferences, assisting with everyday tasks, and providing reminders for important events. It aims to foster relationships with users, including adults, seniors, children, and teens. Since its public launch in 2017, Jibo has been marketed across various regions, including North America, Europe, and parts of Asia and Latin America. The company, incorporated in 2010, focuses on creating electronic companions that simplify daily life and provide emotional engagement.
Spot something off? Help us improve by flagging any incorrect or outdated information. Just email us at support@teaserclub.com. Your feedback is most welcome.