Antler Japan, the local entity of global early-stage venture capital firm Antler, invested 240 million yen ($1.6 million) across 10 Japanese startups in 2025, reaffirming its focus on backing early-stage founders building globally oriented companies from the archipelago.
“We are deliberately doubling down on Japan as a source of globally competitive companies,” said Jussi Salovaara, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Antler in a statement on Tuesday (Jan. 27). “The local talent pool is highly skilled, technically rigorous, and already comfortable building at the frontier of modern technology. When this is paired with strong founder expertise from both local and international teams building out of Japan, the bar naturally becomes higher and our conviction stronger in the teams that meet it.”
The investments were made through Antler’s Inception Residency programme, with each startup receiving 24 million yen ($150,000) in pre-seed funding. Antler said it received more than 2,100 applications for its Japan programmes last year and ultimately backed about 0.5% of the applicants, reflecting a highly selective approach focused on teams targeting international markets from day one.
The portfolio spans sectors including deep tech, enterprise software, AI, robotics, logistics, compliance, and applied science.
Antler also announced changes to its Japan strategy for 2026, including a streamlined six-week Inception Residency and a higher initial investment of $150,000 per company, net of fees.
The firm also committed follow-on funding of up to $250,000 within six to nine months, subject to matching capital raised from other professional investors, bringing total potential funding at inception to about 63 million yen ($400,000) per startup.
Antler said the updated structure is intended to provide founders with greater clarity and capital earlier in their journey, enabling faster product development, customer validation, and regional expansion. The firm noted growing interest among Japan-based startups in expanding into Southeast Asia at an earlier stage, while regional startups are increasingly engaging Japan as both a market and strategic partner.
“[..] The Japan market offers access to world-leading customers across multiple verticals, strong and resilient supply chains, a highly skilled and affordable talent pool, and increasingly positive signals around startup support and capital availability. These fundamentals make Japan a compelling place to build companies with global relevance,” said Florian Geier, senior director at Antler Japan.
Antler Japan said it will host its next investor demo day in February to connect inception-stage founders with downstream investors, as it continues to position Japan as a base for globally competitive startups. The next cohort will launch on May 11, 2026.
