Nippon Technology Venture Partners

Nippon Technology Venture Partners (NTVP) is Japan's first independent, non-bank-affiliated, hands-on venture capital firm, founded in July 1998 by Kazutaka Muraguchi and headquartered in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo. Muraguchi previously spent 14 years at JAFCO, Japan's largest VC firm, and holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Keio University. NTVP has raised 9 venture funds and manages more than 14 billion yen (approximately $160 million) in capital, with most limited partners being successful entrepreneurs and angel investors — a LP base that reinforces the firm's founder-first culture. Two-thirds of the portfolio consists of startup or seed stage companies. The firm leads rounds across early-stage technology investing, concentrating on information technology, life sciences, clean technology, and media and entertainment. NTVP has invested in 44 companies over 25 years, with seven portfolio companies having gone public: DeNA, the Japanese mobile SNS and gaming giant listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange; Infoteria, listed on Mothers; Ishin Group, listed on TSE in March 2024; and Dentas. Three portfolio companies have been acquired. Notable current portfolio companies include JPYC, a Japanese yen-pegged stablecoin platform; Trinity Security Systems; Mathematec; Akib Networks; and Japan CableCast. The most recent recorded investment was in Ishin Group in June 2023. NTVP's hands-on philosophy sets it apart from Japan's bank-affiliated VC community: the firm takes operational roles, contributes strategic guidance, and works directly with management teams at critical inflection points rather than managing relationships from a distance. This approach has produced a track record of exits across two and a half decades of Japanese technology investing.