D4V

What D4V does

D4V合同会社 (Design for Ventures), operating as D4V, is a Tokyo-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in October 2016 that invests in Japanese consumer and enterprise technology startups from seed to Series A. The firm's distinguishing structural feature is its strategic partnership with global design consultancy IDEO, which grants D4V and its portfolio companies access to a network of 100+ designers across IDEO's nine-country footprint. D4V's investment model bundles capital with hands-on design support — design sprints, user research, brand development, design-driven culture coaching, and first-designer hiring assistance — delivered via this IDEO partnership. The standard seed ticket is ¥30 million; later-stage participation has included rounds such as Free Standard's ¥1.37 billion Series A (March 2026) and Dioseve's Series A extension (June 2026).

The firm has raised two funds: Fund I at ¥5.3 billion (~$50M) closed in March 2018, and Fund II at ¥5.4 billion closed in November 2022, implying total committed AUM of approximately ¥10.7 billion. D4V monetizes through conventional VC fund economics — management fees on AUM plus carried interest on realized exits. Notable exits include three IPOs (airCloset in July 2022 on TSE Growth; ExaWizards and THECOO both in December 2021) and several M&A exits (nana to DMM in 2017; AlpacaTech to FOLIO in 2023; Street Academy and New World Company in December 2023; MTU and UNBEREAL in March 2025; AlpacaDB in April 2026). As of mid-2020, D4V had invested in over 40 companies spanning healthcare, fintech, fashion, gaming, deep tech, education, HRtech, and infrastructure.

D4V operates with a small team of 1–10 employees led by five founders — Tom Kelley (IDEO Partner, co-author of Creative Confidence), Makoto Takano (CEO; former PIMCO Japan President and Goldman Sachs Asset Management), Mamoru Taniya (former Salomon Brothers Managing Director), Kengo Ito (former founder/CEO of Genuine Startups), and Davide Agnelli (IDEO Executive Director) — plus partners Asumi Ota and Fumiaki Nagase, a principal, controller, and design specialist. The firm was ranked 7th in Nikkei Business Daily's 2021 IPO Profit Ranking of Japanese VCs, validating its design-led investment thesis.

Name

D4V

Legal name

D4V合同会社 (Design for Ventures)

Website

https://d4v.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

D4V (Design for Ventures) is a Tokyo-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2016 that invests in Japanese consumer and enterprise technology startups from seed to Series A, uniquely bundling capital with hands-on design support via its IDEO partnership.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Minato

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns (Carried Interest): D4V generates returns through successful exits of portfolio companies, including IPOs and acquisitions. Notable exits include airCloset (IPO July 2022), ExaWizards (IPO December 2021), THECOO (IPO December 2021), AlpacaDB (equity sale April 2026), Street Academy (equity sale December 2023), MTU (equity sale March 2025), nana (acquired by DMM January 2017), AlpacaTech (acquired by FOLIO July 2023), Famzon (acquired December 2023), UNBEREAL (acquired by jig.jp March 2025).
2. Management Fees: VC fund management fees from Fund I (JP¥5.3B closed March 2018) and Fund II (JP¥5.4B closed November 2022).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

D4V is a Tokyo-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests seed-to-Series A capital in Japanese consumer and enterprise technology startups. The firm pairs its financial investment with hands-on design support services, including design sprint facilitation, user research, brand development, and design-driven culture coaching, delivered through its exclusive partnership with global design consultancy IDEO. As of 2020, D4V had invested in over 40 companies across multiple industries.

Product overview

D4V (Design for Ventures) is a Tokyo-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests in disruptive consumer and enterprise technology startups from seed to Series A stages. Rather than offering a unified software product, D4V provides capital investment combined with hands-on design support and coaching through its partnership with IDEO. The firm helps startups create value via human-centered customer experiences and interactions, offering design sprints, user research support, hiring assistance for designers, and coaching on design-driven culture. D4V does not develop or sell its own software products or services—the offerings described in its portfolio are companies it has invested in, not D4V's own products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Seed Investment Program
• Fund I (Venture Capital Fund)
• Fund II (Venture Capital Fund)
• Design Support Services

Quantifiable outcome

• airCloset landing page redesign increased conversion rate by 30%
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• IDEOcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2016D4V's key strategic partner providing access to 100+ designers globally. IDEO is a world-renowned design consulting firm with offices in 9 countries. This partnership enables D4V to offer portfolio companies hands-on design support including design sprints, brand development, and user research.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Incubate Fund: Tokyo-headquartered seed VC investing in Japanese and cross-border startups at very early stages. Directly comparable in check size, stage, and seed-program orientation.
• Coral Capital: Tokyo-based seed-stage VC focused on Japanese startups with a Japan-US bridge thesis. Comparable in early-stage Japan mandate and similar fund size to D4V's vehicles.
• World Innovation Lab (WiL): Japan-US cross-border VC investing in enterprise and consumer tech. Comparable as a Japan-rooted, design/strategy-minded fund operating at the seed-to-growth stage.
• ANRI: Tokyo-based early-stage VC focused on Japanese seed/Series A startups across consumer and enterprise tech. Directly comparable check size, stage, and Japanese-only mandate.
• Globis Capital Partners: Tokyo-based VC investing from seed to growth in Japanese startups. Comparable in stage focus and Japan-centric mandate, though typically writing larger checks than D4V.
• Delight Ventures: Tokyo-based seed/early-stage VC investing in Japanese startups with a strong design and brand-building orientation. Most directly comparable peer to D4V's design-led thesis among Japan-focused seed funds.
• BEENEXT: Asia-focused early-stage VC with strong Japan and Southeast Asia presence. Comparable in stage and cross-border mandate, though typically larger check sizes than D4V.
• Spiral Ventures: Pan-Asia seed/early-stage VC with material Japan deployment. Comparable as a regional early-stage investor writing seed tickets into Japanese startups.

Broad incumbents

• JAFCO Group: Largest publicly listed Japanese VC with broad sector exposure across all stages. Comparable as a Japan-focused venture investor but operates at much larger AUM and later-stage check sizes than D4V.

Others

• IDEO: Global design consultancy that is D4V's core strategic partner and source of design talent. Included as an ecosystem participant rather than a competitor, since IDEO does not deploy venture capital itself.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/d4v_vc
• Facebookfacebook.com/d4v.designforventures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/d4v-design-for-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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

M&A

Investments77 records

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

Frequently asked questions about D4V