Monex Ventures

Monex Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Japan's Monex Group, the publicly listed online brokerage and financial-services holding company. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Tokyo, the firm invests in seed and early-stage startups delivering innovative internet-enabled services across business products, consumer products, and technology. The portfolio is concentrated in SaaS, consumer goods and electronics, fintech, e-commerce, transportation, and ag-tech. Across its history Monex Ventures has made approximately 122 disclosed investments and has produced six portfolio IPOs and five acquisitions. Notable portfolio names include Money Forward and Secai Marche, with notable recent realizations including Mortgage Financial Services (Tokyo Stock Exchange IPO, June 2024) and Mental Health Technologies (TSE IPO, $48.7 million market cap), as well as the acquisition of Strainer in February 2025. The firm typically invests with initial checks of $100,000 to $500,000, with follow-on capacity up to $2 million per company. In August 2025 Monex Ventures co-launched with Tokyo-based Uncovered Fund the Uncovered Monex Africa Investment Partnership, a approximately USD 20 million vehicle dedicated to early-stage startups across Africa and the MENA region in mobile payments, microlending, digital retail, logistics, and agri-tech. The vehicle marks a deliberate geographic expansion beyond Japan and Asia. Recent 2025 investments include follow-ons in AirX in March and Carefor in May. Monex Ventures operates with a lean dedicated team, leveraging the broader Monex Group's staff for deal sourcing and execution. The firm's long-term corporate backing and public-market parentage give portfolio companies access to Monex's distribution networks and financial-services expertise.