What Coral Capital does

Coral Capital is a Tokyo-headquartered venture capital firm founded in 2019 that operates as 'The Ecosystem VC,' packaging capital deployment with talent-matching and founder-community services for startups across the seed-to-Series D lifecycle. The firm manages ¥60B+ (approximately $400M+) in assets under management across four fund vehicles — Coral Capital II, L.P., Coral Growth, L.P., Coral Capital III, L.P., and the legacy 500 STARTUPS JP, L.P. — and writes checks ranging from ¥50M to ¥3B. Its portfolio spans a deliberately generalist set of verticals including SaaS, fintech, semiconductors, fusion energy, marine infrastructure, robotics, defense, AI, and biomedical devices, with named investments such as Anduril, Ramp, MarqVision, SmartHR, IVRy, Kyoto Fusioneering, TeraWatt Technology, hacomono, Dinii, and Pie Systems.

Beyond capital, Coral's core differentiation is an operational ecosystem built around three pillars. The Capital pillar adds an online investor portal, follow-on fundraising support, and workshops; the Talent pillar runs an 18,000+ candidate proprietary talent database and Japan's largest startup career fair (Startup Aquarium), supporting 100–200+ hires per year for portfolio companies free of charge; the Insights pillar maintains the 2,800+ member 'Coral Family' community, co-working space (Coral Beach), and The Coral Capital Podcast. Distribution runs through direct founder outreach, an LP login on efrontcloud, annual events (Coral Demo Day, Startup Aquarium), and a dedicated US-Japan cross-border deal-sourcing function anchored by Venture Partner Rie Yano.

The revenue model is venture-capital-fund management: management fees and carried interest on deployed capital, with additional transaction-related fees from structured secondary deals (exemplified by the November 2025 SmartHR secondary co-executed with General Atlantic). Customer concentration is naturally diversified across a portfolio of 2,800+ companies and an undisclosed LP base, with strategic client-segment focus on Japanese seed-stage startups, growth-stage Japanese companies, and US/global startups entering Japan. The firm is privately held, with no parent company, and operates as a Japanese kabushiki kaisha (株式会社Coral Capital) headquartered in Toranomon, Tokyo.

Name

Coral Capital

Legal name

Coral Capital, Inc. (株式会社Coral Capital)

Website

https://coralcap.co/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Coral Capital is a Tokyo-based venture capital firm (founded 2019) managing ¥60B+ AUM across seed-to-Series D stages. It packages capital with an 18,000-candidate talent database and a 2,800-member founder community, serving Japanese startups and US companies entering Japan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Other Financial Vehicles (525990), Other Financial Investment Activities (5239)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Investors, Nec (6799)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Venture Capital Fundraising Placement (FSAEALAC)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Seed-stage investing
• Startup talent platform
• Fund management services
• Portfolio support

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Fund Management: Coral Capital earns revenue primarily through management fees and carried interest on venture capital funds, including Coral Capital II, L.P., Coral Growth, L.P., Coral Capital III, L.P., and the historic 500 STARTUPS JP, L.P. — with the firm actively managing deployment across seed through Series D stages and check sizes from ¥50 million to ¥3 billion.
2. Secondary Transactions: Coral earns fees/carry on structured secondary transactions, exemplified by the partnership with General Atlantic on Japan's largest startup secondary involving SmartHR.

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Coral Capital is a Tokyo-headquartered venture capital firm that deploys capital from seed through Series D (check sizes ¥50M–¥3B) out of ¥60B+ AUM, and packages that capital with two additional services: a proprietary 18,000+ candidate talent database plus the Coral Careers/Coral Executive Careers matching services and Startup Aquarium career fair, and the 2,800+-member "Coral Family" founder community supported by content, podcast, study sessions, and Coral Beach co-working space. The firm sells this integrated Capital + Talent + Insights bundle to Japanese and US startups entering Japan via direct founder relationships and a private investor portal.

Product overview

Coral Capital (株式会社Coral Capital) is a Tokyo-based venture capital firm that describes itself as "The Ecosystem VC." Rather than a single software product, its offering is an integrated venture capital platform comprising three pillars — Capital, Talent, and Insights — supported by named sub-products: (1) Coral Capital Investment, the core capital-deployment service investing ¥50M–¥3B from seed to Series D out of ¥600B+ AUM; (2) the Coral Talent Database and Coral Careers / Coral Executive Careers platforms, which together form the talent-matching suite used by portfolio companies for hiring; (3) Coral Insights and The Coral Capital Podcast, which deliver research, articles, videos, and events to the 2,800+ company Coral Family community; and (4) supporting member-facing tools including the Coral Family Login members-only area, Coral Beach co-working facility, J-KISS standardized term-sheet templates, and the LP Login for fund investors. The Coral Careers product handles general talent matching (profiles shared broadly with portfolio companies), while Coral Executive Careers handles executive-tier roles (opt-in introduction), and the talent database underpins both. Together these modules comprise the operational ecosystem Coral Capital offers in addition to its primary capital investment service.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Coral Careers: Talent recruitment platform offering portfolio companies access to a database of 18,000+ registered candidates and annual career fair support.
• Coral Executive Careers
• The Coral Capital Podcast

Products and services

• Coral Capital Investment (Capital) Primary venture capital investment service of Coral Capital: deploys capital into startups from seed through Series D with check sizes of ¥50M–¥3B, supports portfolio companies with additional fundraising, an online investor portal, workshops, networking, and introductions to global capital. For Japanese founders and US startups entering Japan.
• Coral Careers Job-matching platform operated by Coral Capital that publishes job-seeker profiles (name, current role, education, interests) to portfolio companies for recruiting purposes. Seeker profiles are shared with all investing portfolio companies by default, with applications managed through registration and online profile forms. For job-seekers and Coral Capital portfolio companies.
• Coral Executive Careers Executive-tier recruiting service for Coral Capital portfolio companies. Unlike Coral Careers, the job-seeker proactively designates which specific portfolio companies may receive their profile, enabling opt-in introduction to executive-level roles. For senior executives and Coral Capital portfolio companies.
• Coral Insights (Community & Content) Community and knowledge platform serving 2,800+ Coral Family portfolio companies, comprising podcasts, articles, videos, study sessions with domain experts, and co-working-space access. Provides curated perspectives on Japan-US startup and policy topics. For Coral Family portfolio companies, founders, and employees.

Quantifiable outcome

• ¥60B+ in assets under management
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered cross-vc collaboration / platform partner, flagship portfolio company, historical ecosystem reference (not current coral partner), strategic hire to anchor us deal sourcing, operational vendor (data processor) and operational / co-working platform partner.

• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)cross-vc collaboration / platform partnerGTM or Marketing Partner · 4 March 2026Coral Capital partner Rie Yano presented a guest post at Andreessen Horowitz's American Dynamism Summit, positioning Coral and a16z as aligned cross-border partners around the thesis that Japan will be America's primary defense-manufacturing partner.
• SmartHRflagship portfolio companyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 November 2025SmartHR is one of Coral Capital's flagship portfolio companies and was the subject of Japan's largest startup secondary transaction, executed jointly with General Atlantic in November 2025.
• Digital Garagehistorical ecosystem reference (not current coral partner)GTM or Marketing Partner · 3 October 2025Digital Garage is featured as a historical Japanese ecosystem partner in Coral Capital's case study on Twitter's Japan entry — referenced as the bridge that helped Twitter localize and launch in 2008.
• Rie Yanostrategic hire to anchor us deal sourcingGTM or Marketing Partner · 3 April 2025Serial entrepreneur Rie Yano (co-founder of Material World, acquired by Mixi) joined Coral Capital as Venture Partner in April 2025 to source US investment opportunities, particularly startups aiming to enter Japan, and to help Japanese portfolio companies expand to the US.
• HubSpotoperational vendor (data processor)Technology or IntegrationCoral outsources parts of its user-data handling (email/newsletter and CRM infrastructure) to HubSpot under a Data Processing Agreement that meets OECD Privacy Guideline-equivalent standards, enabling lawful cross-border personal-data transfers from Japan to the US.
• hacomonooperational / co-working platform partnerTechnology or IntegrationCoral Beach — Coral Capital's co-working and event space — is operated on the hacomono booking platform (a Coral portfolio company), creating an integrated operational partnership between the VC and the operating business.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Globis Capital Partners: Tokyo-based venture capital firm investing across seed-to-growth in Japan. Co-led the Oceanic Constellations ¥2B Series B alongside Coral, making it the most direct comparable in stage and mandate.
• JAFCO Group: One of Japan's largest venture and growth capital firms, also co-leading the Oceanic Constellations Series B. Comparable in stage breadth, fund scale, and Japanese market focus.
• World Innovation Lab (WiL): US-Japan cross-border venture firm investing in enterprise, fintech, and health. Directly comparable to Coral's US-Japan bridge thesis and global-founder orientation.
• Sozo Ventures: US-Japan cross-border VC founded by ex-SoftBank operators. Closely comparable to Coral on the cross-border thesis and Japan-market entry support for foreign founders.
• 500 Global (formerly 500 Startups): Global seed-stage accelerator/VC and Coral's historical lineage through the 500 STARTUPS JP, L.P. fund vehicle. Comparable on stage and ecosystem-driven operating model.
• ANRI: Leading Tokyo seed-stage VC with strong founder community and post-investment support. Directly comparable to Coral's seed-stage mandate and community-led approach.
• East Ventures: Japan- and Southeast Asia-focused early-stage VC with broad sector coverage. Comparable on stage, geographic mix, and high-volume seed-to-Series-A deployment.

Broad incumbents

• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): US-based mega-VC; hosted Coral's Rie Yano at the American Dynamism Summit and is a cross-VC partner on the US-Japan defense thesis. Comparable on ecosystem-services model but at much larger AUM.
• General Atlantic: Global growth equity firm that co-executed Japan's largest startup secondary with Coral on SmartHR (Nov 2025). Comparable on cross-border Japan deal-making, though operating at growth-stage scale.
• Peak XV Partners: Global VC (formerly Sequoia India/SEA) that led MarqVision's $48M Series B in which Coral participated. Comparable as a co-investor on cross-border enterprise deals, though with broader regional mandate.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/coral_capital
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCN2lnl8IRDekbnp0GddmlvQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/coralcapital

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments98 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Coral Capital