B Dash Ventures

What B Dash Ventures does

B Dash Ventures (B Dash Ventures株式会社) is a Tokyo-based venture capital firm founded in September 2011 that invests in domestic and global startups across seed, early, and later stages. Capital is deployed through four consecutive fund vintages — B Dash Fund 1号 (September 2011), Fund 2号 (July 2014), Fund 3号 (March 2017), and Fund 4号 (September 2020) — with limited partner capital sourced from Japan's largest telecom carriers, internet companies, financial institutions, government agencies, and institutional investors. The firm also operates B Dash Lab, an incubation office space provided to portfolio companies during their early growth stages.

Beyond fund management, B Dash Ventures runs B Dash Camp, a semi-annual, invitation-only tech conference that the firm describes as Japan's largest such event, with reported attendance of 700-1,000+ executives from startups, public companies, VCs, and ecosystem supporters. The conference includes panel sessions, networking, "Top Spot" speeches, and Pitch Arena, a startup pitch competition that has historically converted participation into follow-on funding, partnerships, IPOs, and M&A exits.

The firm is led by President and CEO Hiroyuki Watanabe (渡辺洋行) and operates from Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza B in Minato-ku, Tokyo. In December 2025 B Dash Ventures announced a partnership with Nomura to prepare Japan's first tokenized venture capital fund, a digital-securities product designed to extend VC access to retail investors. Recent portfolio activity includes participation in Interstellar Technologies' ¥20.1 billion Series F (January 2026), Future Space Transport System's ¥3.2 billion raise (March 2026), and Yosemite's ¥1.5 billion raise (May 2026).

Name

B Dash Ventures

Legal name

B Dash Ventures株式会社

Website

https://bdashventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

B Dash Ventures is a Tokyo-based venture capital firm founded in 2011 that invests in domestic and global startups from seed to later stage across four fund vintages, while operating Japan's largest invitation-only tech conference (B Dash Camp) and a portfolio incubation program (B Dash Lab).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Private Equity

NAICS

All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)

Keywords

• Venture capital funding
• Seed stage investment
• Technology startup investment
• Startup incubation services
• Tech conference events

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

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

B Dash Ventures is a Tokyo-based venture capital firm managing four successive investment funds (B Dash Fund 1 through 4) that deploy capital into seed, early, and later-stage technology startups in Japan and globally. The firm complements its investment activity with B Dash Lab incubation office space for portfolio companies and B Dash Camp, Japan's largest invitation-only tech conference. Most recently, it partnered with Nomura on Japan's first tokenized venture capital fund.

Product overview

B Dash Ventures is a venture capital firm operating multiple investment funds (B Dash Fund 1 through 4) that invest across seed, early, and later stages in domestic and global startups. The firm provides portfolio companies access to B Dash Lab, an incubation office space. The firm also organizes B Dash Camp, Japan's largest invite-only tech conference featuring sessions, networking, and the Pitch Arena startup competition. Additionally, B Dash Ventures partnered with Nomura to develop Japan's first tokenized venture capital fund for retail investors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• B Dash Fund: Venture capital fund family (Fund 1-4) investing in seed through later stage startups in domestic and global markets.
• B Dash Lab
• B Dash Camp
• Pitch Arena

Products and services

• B Dash Fund 1号投資事業有限責任組合 (B Dash Fund 1) Venture capital fund established in September 2011, focusing on seed and early stage investments in domestic and global startups. Capital sourced from Japanese telecom carriers, internet companies, financial institutions, government agencies, and institutional investors.
• B Dash Fund 2号投資事業有限責任組合 (B Dash Fund 2) Venture capital fund raised in July 2014 investing across seed, early, and later stages in domestic and global startups.
• B Dash Fund 3号投資事業有限責任組合 (B Dash Fund 3) Venture capital fund raised in March 2017 investing across seed, early, and later stages in domestic and global startups.
• B Dash Fund 4号投資事業有限責任組合 (B Dash Fund 4) Venture capital fund raised in September 2020 investing across seed, early, and later stages in domestic and global startups.
• B Dash Lab Incubation office space provided to portfolio companies for use as their office during a defined period after founding. Multiple portfolio companies have graduated from B Dash Lab to own offices or M&A exits.
• B Dash Camp Japan's largest invite-only tech conference organized semi-annually since 2011, featuring panel discussions, networking, Top Spot speeches, and Pitch Arena. Attendance of 1,000+ (Japanese site) or 700+ (English site). Hosts both Spring (2026 in Sapporo) and Fall (2026 in Fukuoka) editions.
• Pitch Arena Startup pitch contest held within B Dash Camp, described as a gateway for startups. Past participants have achieved fundraising, business partnerships, IPOs, and M&A exits. Applicants must be startups aiming for 1 trillion yen market cap within 5 years.
• Tokenized Venture Capital Fund Japan's first tokenized venture capital fund developed in partnership with Nomura, designed to enable retail investors to participate in venture capital investing through digital securities infrastructure.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• NomuranotableStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 December 2025Nomura and B Dash Ventures are partnering to prepare Japan's first tokenized venture capital fund. The initiative aims to link retail investors with startups through digital security tokens, enabling individual investors to participate more directly in venture capital investing using digital securities infrastructure. This signals a potential shift in accessibility to alternative investments in Japan.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Coral Capital: Japan-focused seed-stage VC operated by former employees of multiple Japanese tech companies. Comparable to B Dash's seed-stage Japan focus and founder-support orientation.
• Incubate Fund: Tokyo-based seed-stage VC active across Japan and emerging Asia. Directly comparable to B Dash's early-stage activity and recently co-invested in Future Space Transport System alongside B Dash Ventures.
• World Innovation Lab (WiL): Japan- and US-focused VC backing early-to-growth-stage startups with strong corporate LP backing. Comparable to B Dash in cross-border Japan-centric investing and corporate-strategic capital base.
• Global Brain: Tokyo-headquartered VC investing from seed to growth across Japan, US, and Asia. Closest direct peer to B Dash Ventures in stage coverage, geographic focus on Japan, and multi-fund model serving institutional and corporate LPs.
• DNX Ventures: Japan-focused B2B SaaS and enterprise tech seed/early-stage VC. Comparable to B Dash on early-stage Japan focus and corporate LP relationships, though narrower in sector specialisation.

Broad incumbents

• JAFCO Group: Japan's largest and longest-established venture capital and buyout firm, with multi-stage and multi-strategy funds across domestic startups. Highly comparable to B Dash Ventures as a multi-stage Japanese VC, but significantly larger in AUM and team.
• SBI Investment: One of Japan's largest VC arms under SBI Group, investing from seed to later stage domestically and across Asia. Comparable multi-stage Japan-centric platform, but substantially larger AUM and broader international footprint than B Dash.
• SoftBank Vision Fund: Multi-hundred-billion-dollar global tech investment vehicle with significant Japan activity. Tangential overlap with B Dash on Japanese tech investing, but at a vastly larger scale and later-stage orientation.
• Mitsubishi UFJ Capital: VC arm of MUFG, Japan's largest banking group, investing across stages with deep corporate LPs. Comparable to B Dash on institutional Japanese LP backing and multi-stage Japan focus, with significantly larger balance-sheet support.

Others

• Nomura Real Estate Holdings: Strategic partner / co-investor of B Dash (including in the tokenized VC fund initiative and in Yosemite's round). Adjacent rather than competing, but a directly relevant ecosystem counterparty for evaluating B Dash's LP and corporate network reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bdashventures
• Facebookfacebook.com/bdashventures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/b-dash-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments89 records

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

Frequently asked questions about B Dash Ventures