Femto Partners

What Femto Partners does

Femto Partners is a Japanese venture capital firm founded in 2013 and headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo (1-1-1 Minami-Aoyama, Shin-Aoyama Building East 19th Floor). The firm invests in early- to growth-stage Japanese internet-related startups with the explicit goal of helping them scale into 'mega-ventures' (巨大企業). Its investment approach combines large initial billion-yen level checks with hands-on strategic advisory on growth strategy, capital policy, and IPO preparation. The firm was founded by Tetsuya Isozaki, author of the 'Go-To Finance Guide' (起業のファイナンス) book series, which is widely regarded as the bible for Japanese entrepreneurs, and operates with a small elite team of 1–10 employees.

The firm operates three limited partnership funds — Femto Growth Fund 2.0 (40 billion JPY committed, 2017), Femto Growth III (111 billion JPY committed, 2020), and Femto Growth I (established 2022-10 via in-kind contribution) — with total committed capital exceeding 150 billion JPY. As a Japanese VC, Femto generates revenue through management fees on these funds plus carried interest from successful exits. Portfolio companies span CX platforms (PLAID/KARTE), media (note), restaurant DX (Toreta), voice AI SaaS (IVRy), drone surveying and smart agriculture (SkyMatics), fashion tech (DROBE), and BTL marketing (Gouriki). Notable exits include the 2020 PLAID IPO (largest on the former TSE Mothers market that year, ~240 billion JPY raised via global offering) and the 2022 note IPO (~40 million active users).

Femto's positioning is differentiated by its founder's brand as a leading finance author, a #1 ranking in Preqin's 2024 Japanese VC performance benchmark (powered by the first fund's 5.1x returns), and structural innovation including being the first Japanese VC to establish a continuation fund. The firm is an independent, privately held corporation with multiple fund vehicles, pursuing deal sourcing through network-based referrals, thought leadership via its Femto Magazine publication on note.com (898+ articles), and participation in industry events such as the Venture Debt Summit.

Name

Femto Partners

Legal name

フェムトパートナーズ株式会社

Website

https://femto.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Femto Partners is a Tokyo-based Japanese venture capital firm investing in growth-stage internet startups, with over 150 billion JPY committed across three funds. It pairs billion-yen initial checks with hands-on capital-policy advisory and is led by founder Tetsuya Isozaki, author of the 'Go-To Finance Guide' series.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Financial Services / Fintech Growth Equity (FSANACAE)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Growth equity funding
• Startup investment
• Portfolio company advisory
• Fund management services

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

Revenue model

1. Fund Management: VC firm generates returns through management fees on managed funds and carried interest (キャリー) from successful portfolio company exits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Femto Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in early-to-growth-stage Japanese startups with the potential to become mega-ventures, deploying billion-yen level investments from its managed funds (including Femto Growth Fund 2.0 at 40 billion JPY and Femto Growth III at 111 billion JPY). Beyond capital, the firm provides hands-on strategic advisory on growth strategy, capital policy, and IPO preparation, and supports management buyouts (MBOs) from larger corporations. It supplements these services with thought-leadership content through Femto Magazine, a paid subscription publication on note.com.

Product overview

Femto Partners is a venture capital firm that operates primarily as an investment company rather than a product-based technology company. Its main offerings include Femto Magazine (フェムトマガジン), a paid subscription publication on note.com providing analysis of startups and finance topics, and the published 'Go-To Finance Guide' book series authored by its founding partner. The company does not operate a unified software platform or product portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• フェムトマガジン (Femto Magazine): A subscription magazine on note.com covering Japanese and global startup finance topics. Published approximately weekly since 2020 (formerly called 週刊isologue until September 2020).
• 週刊isologue

Products and services

• Femto Growth Fund 2.0 LPS (フェムトグロースファンド2.0)
• Femto Growth III LPS (フェムトグロース・スリー)

Quantifiable outcome

• First fund achieved 5.1x returns
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 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

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, support and minor.

• 有限責任 あずさ監査法人 (Azusa Audit Corporation)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerConducted IPO preparation study session for portfolio companies on 2026/2/5. Partners provided training on domestic IPO overview, global offering procedures, and NASDAQ listing considerations.
• 弁護士法人三宅法律事務所 (Miyake Law Office)supportOthers
• PreqincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Preqin on domestic VC performance benchmark surveys. Femto Partners ranked #1 in the 2024 edition of the benchmark.
• 日本政策金融公庫 (Japan Finance Corporation)minorOthers

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• JAFCO Group: Japan's largest venture capital firm with growth-stage and internet/tech focus and significantly larger AUM. Directly comparable as a domestic generalist VC competing for similar Japanese growth-stage deals, with a public listing providing a benchmark for GP valuation.
• Global Brain: Major Japanese growth-stage VC with comparable AUM scale and a broad tech/internet portfolio. Closely comparable as a domestic generalist growth-stage investor with strong corporate LP relationships and similar exit pathways via Japanese IPOs.
• World Innovation Lab (WiL): Japan-based growth-stage VC investing in tech-enabled companies. Comparable to Femto as a growth-stage investor targeting high-quality Japanese startups with potential for outsized outcomes and supporting IPO preparation.
• Spiral Capital: Japan-focused growth-stage VC with a tech and internet portfolio. Comparable to Femto in fund size, growth-stage positioning, and emphasis on supporting later-stage rounds and IPO readiness for Japanese startups.
• Mitsubishi UFJ Capital: Bank-affiliated Japanese VC investing across growth-stage internet, SaaS, and tech startups. Comparable to Femto as a domestic growth-stage investor with similar exit orientation and access to large Japanese institutional LPs.
• SMBC Venture Capital: Bank-affiliated Japanese VC with growth-stage internet and tech investments. Comparable to Femto as a domestic competitor for Japanese growth-stage deals with similar sector coverage and IPO orientation.
• DNX Ventures: Japanese VC focused on B2B startups with cross-border US-Japan activity. Comparable to Femto as a growth-stage Japanese tech investor, with somewhat different sector emphasis but overlapping deal universe and LP base.

Broad incumbents

• Salesforce Ventures: Global corporate VC arm of Salesforce with active investments in Japanese SaaS startups. Comparable as a participant in Japanese growth-stage rounds, though broader in geographic scope and backed by a strategic corporate parent.
• SoftBank Vision Fund: Mega-fund with material Japanese tech exposure through later-stage rounds. Comparable as a Japanese growth-stage capital source, but operates at far larger check sizes and a more global mandate, creating competition rather than direct substitution.
• INCJ (Japan Investment Corporation): Japanese government-backed growth investor with large-scale commitments to domestic tech and innovation. Comparable as a Japanese growth-stage capital provider, though much larger in scale and with a broader mandate across strategic sectors.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments31 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Femto Partners