Japan's BUILD adds policy lenders as LPs, targets US$76.9M deep-tech fund
What's the deal? Tokyo-based venture firm BUILDDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has secured the Development Bank of JapanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and the Shoko Chukin BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → as limited partners in its debut fund, BUILD 1 Investment Limited Partnership. The fund, backed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, is targeting a final size of US$61.5M to US$76.9M and continues to raise toward a final close.
What's the endgame? BUILD invests in advanced deep-tech startups across green transformation, semiconductors, quantum, and aerospace. It uses a "company creation" approach, building ventures from scratch around research from universities and institutes — matching founders, forming teams, negotiating patent licenses, and providing initial capital.
Why now? The firm argues Japan holds strong research and technology but trails the US and Europe in startup numbers and funding, with limited routes from labs to commercialisation. BUILD is positioning to close that gap.
What could go wrong? Deep tech needs long runways for research, development, and commercialisation. To match that, the fund runs a 15-year term — with a possible three-year extension — far longer than a typical VC fund, delaying returns for its backers.
The fund was established in March 2026, with Masahiro Sameshima and Hironari Kubo as general partners alongside the firm.
The signal: The arrival of two government-affiliated lenders alongside the Tokyo government signals public-sector conviction that Japan can turn academic research into globally scalable companies — and that patient, long-horizon capital is the vehicle to do it.
Read more: PR TIMES
Image credit: BUILD
