What ONE Innovators does

ONE Innovators Kabushiki Kaisha (ONE Innovators株式会社) is an independent venture capital firm founded in August 2023 and headquartered in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, that focuses exclusively on carbon-neutrality investments in Japan and international startups collaborating with Japanese companies. The firm was established by four General Partners with backgrounds spanning MITI/METI policy, the University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC), corporate venture capital at JX Metals, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Accenture Strategy, and operational leadership at deep-tech startups in fuel cells, photovoltaics, and hydrogen/LNG.

The firm's core offering is the ONE Carbon Neutral Fund 1 (ONEカーボンニュートラル1号投資事業有限責任組合), a 12-year limited partnership that reached final close in March 2025 at approximately 100 billion JPY (roughly USD 660M). The fund deploys seed and early-stage capital with mid-to-long-term hands-on support across seven thematic areas: power network decarbonization, mobility decarbonization, thermal utilization decarbonization, negative emissions, region-led decarbonization, AI/DX-driven industrial decarbonization, and industry-specific decarbonization. Its portfolio of investments reached 4 companies by the fund's first anniversary and its first publicly disclosed deal was a co-investment in Sydney-based agtech Number 8 Bio's A$11 million Series A in November 2025.

Revenue is generated through fund management fees on the ~100 billion JPY of committed capital and potential carried interest from future portfolio exits. Limited partners are predominantly Japanese and include Tokyo Metropolitan Government (60 billion JPY through a fund-of-funds), the national Decarbonization Support Organization, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank, Yucho Bank, Mitsui Fudosan, Fuyo General Lease, Toho Gas, Japan Petroleum Exploration, and the University of Tokyo IPC, alongside SMEs support organization investment. The firm has no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no app or API product surface.

Name

ONE Innovators

Legal name

ONE Innovators株式会社

Website

https://oneinnovators.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Short description

ONE Innovators is a Tokyo-based independent venture capital firm managing the ~100 billion JPY ONE Carbon Neutral Fund 1, which invests seed and early-stage capital in Japanese startups and international partners developing technologies for Japan's 2050 carbon-neutrality goal across seven decarbonization verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Climate-focused Investment Management

NAICS

Open-End Investment Funds (525910)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Climate / Clean Tech & Decarbonization Funds (FSANAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Renewable Energy & Energy Transition Funds (FSANAJAB), Climate Finance Strategy (CapEx planning, green finance, incentives & grants) (EUABAKAG), Renewables & Energy Transition Funds (Solar, Wind, Hydrogen, CCUS) (FSANAEAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital fund
• Carbon neutrality investing
• Deep tech startups
• Seed stage funding
• Climate tech investment

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, Others

Revenue model

1. ONE 1号ファンド運用収益: ONE Innovators operates the ONE Carbon Neutral Fund 1 (ONE１号ファンド), a ~100 billion JPY venture capital fund investing in seed and early-stage Japanese startups and international startups collaborating with Japanese companies in the carbon neutrality space. Revenue is generated through fund management fees and carried interest from portfolio company exits.

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ONE Innovators is an independent venture capital firm that manages the ONE Carbon Neutral Fund 1 (ONE１号ファンド), a ~100 billion JPY fund investing in seed and early-stage Japanese startups and international startups collaborating with Japanese companies that are developing carbon neutrality technologies. The firm provides mid-to-long-term hands-on investment support across seven decarbonization areas (power networks, mobility, heat utilization, negative emissions, regional, AI/DX industrial, and industry-specific), targeting technologies expected to reach social implementation by 2030–2040 to support Japan's 2050 carbon neutrality goal.

Product overview

ONE Innovators is an independent venture capital firm specializing in carbon neutrality. The company operates the ONE Carbon Neutral Fund #1 (ONE１号ファンド), a 100 billion yen-scale VC fund targeting 2050 carbon neutrality goals. The fund focuses on 7 investment areas: (1) power network decarbonization, (2) mobility decarbonization, (3) heat utilization decarbonization, (4) negative emissions, (5) regional-led decarbonization, (6) AI/DX-driven industrial decarbonization, and (7) industry-specific decarbonization. The firm provides investment and value-add support to seed and early-stage Japanese startups and international startups partnering with Japanese companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ONE Carbon Neutral Fund 1 (ONE１号ファンド / ONEカーボンニュートラル１号投資事業有限責任組合) A ~100 billion JPY venture capital fund investing in seed and early-stage Japanese startups and international startups collaborating with Japanese companies across seven carbon neutrality investment areas (power network decarbonization, mobility decarbonization, thermal/heat utilization decarbonization, negative emissions, region-led decarbonization, AI/DX industrial decarbonization, and industry-specific decarbonization). For institutional LPs as capital providers and for startups as portfolio companies receiving mid-to-long-term hands-on equity investment.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• JAFCO Group: One of Japan's largest and oldest venture capital firms with broad sector coverage including some climate/energy exposure. Comparable as a Japanese institutional VC competing for the same startup pool, but operating at much larger AUM scale and without ONE's narrow carbon-neutrality focus.
• Mitsubishi UFJ Capital: Japanese venture capital arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group with broad investment coverage including deep tech. Comparable as a Japanese institutional VC pursuing similar deep tech themes, and notable as a related party: ONE GP Shimizu spent 28 years there and the parent MUFG Bank is a core LP of ONE's fund.

Direct peers

• Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Bill Gates-backed global climate technology venture fund investing across the full decarbonization stack (power, mobility, agriculture, carbon removal). Directly comparable as a dedicated climate VC with patient capital structure and science-driven thesis, but operating globally and at much larger scale than ONE.
• Real Tech Holdings: Japanese deep tech venture capital firm and CVC consortium focused on sustainability and real tech startups. Directly comparable in mission (funding Japanese deep tech for societal implementation), stage focus (seed/early), and LP ecosystem (corporates, government-affiliated entities).
• Lowercarbon Capital: US-based venture capital firm investing across climate tech (energy, carbon removal, industrial decarbonization). Directly comparable as a thesis-driven climate fund backing deep tech founders; ONE's Number 8 Bio investment suggests it competes in similar international deal flow.
• UTEC (University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners): Japan's leading deep tech venture capital firm affiliated with the University of Tokyo. Highly comparable as a deep-tech focused VC investing in university-originated startups; two of ONE Innovators' GPs (Tsuji, Murakami) are UTEC alumni, and UTEC is also an LP-adjacent partner via its University Startup Ecosystem Development Fund.
• Congruent Ventures: US-based early-stage venture capital firm investing in climate tech, sustainable infrastructure, and food/agriculture. Comparable as an early-stage climate specialist focused on decarbonization categories overlapping with ONE's mobility, thermal, and negative emissions sectors.
• Energy & Environment Investment Inc. Japanese venture capital firm specializing in energy, environment, and sustainability startups. Directly comparable as a Japan-based climate-focused VC serving similar mission-driven founders, though historically more concentrated on later-stage growth than ONE's seed focus.

Regional players

• SMBC Venture Capital: Japanese venture capital firm affiliated with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation with broad tech and energy investments. Comparable as a Japan-based institutional VC with some decarbonization/clean tech exposure, serving similar Japanese corporate LPs and competing for similar founders.
• DBJ Capital Co., Ltd. Japanese venture capital firm affiliated with the Development Bank of Japan, investing in growth-stage startups including cleantech. Comparable as a Japan-domiciled institutional VC with some climate/energy exposure, though generally at later stages than ONE's seed focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments4 records

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

Frequently asked questions about ONE Innovators