NTT DOCOMO Ventures logo

NTT DOCOMO Ventures

Asia, Chiba, Japan, Minato

Description

NTT DOCOMO Ventures serves as the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of NTT DOCOMO, a prominent Japanese telecommunications company. Established with the strategic objective of fostering innovation and identifying synergistic partnerships, the firm primarily invests in cutting-edge technologies that align with its parent company's future business directions. Its core investment areas encompass information technology, telecommunications, content platforms, and emerging fields such as AI, IoT, 5G, XR, FinTech, and healthcare. With a global investment mandate, NTT DOCOMO Ventures maintains a presence in key innovation hubs, including offices in Tokyo, Palo Alto, and Tel Aviv, reflecting its commitment to sourcing groundbreaking technologies worldwide.

The firm's investment strategy typically targets early to growth-stage companies, participating in rounds ranging from seed to Series B and C. Beyond providing capital, NTT DOCOMO Ventures offers its portfolio companies invaluable access to the extensive resources, vast market reach, and profound technological expertise of the broader NTT DOCOMO group. This strategic value-add is designed to help startups accelerate their development, scale their operations, and explore potential collaborations with a global telecommunications leader. Their investment thesis is deeply rooted in identifying technologies and business models that can enhance NTT DOCOMO's services, expand its ecosystem, or drive disruptive innovation within its core markets.

NTT DOCOMO Ventures has cultivated a diverse and extensive portfolio, having made over 150 investments in companies across various sectors and geographies since its inception. Their typical initial check size for a first investment generally ranges from $500,000 to $5,000,000, though this can be adjusted based on the specific stage of the company and the strategic importance of the opportunity. The firm's consistent activity and strategic focus underscore its role as a proactive and influential investor in the global technology landscape, continuously seeking to drive innovation both internally within NTT DOCOMO and externally through its dynamic portfolio of emerging companies.

Investor Profile

NTT DOCOMO Ventures has backed more than 73 startups, with 5 new investments in the last 12 months alone. The firm has led 12 rounds, about 16% of its total and boasts 35 exits across its portfolio.

Investment Focus Highlights

  • Concentrates on Series B, Series A, Series Unknown rounds (top funding stages).
  • Majority of deals are located in United States, Japan, Israel.
  • Strong thematic focus on Software, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI).
  • Led 2 rounds in the past year.
  • Typical check size: $500K – $5M.

Stage Focus

  • Series B (34%)
  • Series A (23%)
  • Series Unknown (16%)
  • Series C (12%)
  • Series D (4%)
  • Seed (4%)
  • Series E (3%)
  • Private Equity (1%)
  • Series F (1%)

Country Focus

  • United States (48%)
  • Japan (32%)
  • Israel (5%)
  • France (5%)
  • United Kingdom (4%)
  • Singapore (3%)
  • Ireland (1%)
  • Sweden (1%)

Industry Focus

  • Software
  • Information Technology
  • Artificial Intelligence (Ai)
  • Analytics
  • Machine Learning
  • Big Data
  • Saas
  • Advertising
  • Cloud Computing
  • Internet Of Things
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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Learn who this investor regularly partners with—both firms and angels—and explore their latest activity.

Who does NTT DOCOMO Ventures frequently co-invest with?

Global Brain Corporation
Asia, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo
Co-Investments: 4
Mizuho Capital
Asia, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo
Co-Investments: 4
Salesforce Ventures
North America, California, United States, San Francisco
Co-Investments: 7
WiL (World Innovation Lab)
North America, California, United States, Palo Alto
Co-Investments: 5
Verizon Ventures
North America, New Jersey, United States, Basking Ridge
Co-Investments: 8
Samsung Ventures
Asia, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, South Korea, Seoul
Co-Investments: 5
Mitsubishi UFJ Capital
Asia, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo
Co-Investments: 6
Eight Roads Ventures
Europe, England, United Kingdom, London
Co-Investments: 4
DNX Ventures
North America, California, United States, San Mateo
Co-Investments: 8
Intel Capital
North America, California, United States, Santa Clara
Co-Investments: 4

Which angels does NTT DOCOMO Ventures often collaborate with?

WG
North America, California, United States, San Francisco
Shared Deals: 1
TC
North America, California, United States, San Francisco
Shared Deals: 1
SB
North America, California, United States, Los Angeles
Shared Deals: 1
KL
North America, California, United States, San Francisco
Shared Deals: 1
BF
North America, California, United States, Redwood City
Shared Deals: 1
RF
North America, California, United States, San Francisco
Shared Deals: 1
AR
North America, Florida, United States, Miami
Shared Deals: 1
GM
North America, New York, United States, New York
Shared Deals: 1
EC
North America, California, United States, Burlingame
Shared Deals: 1
CK
North America, New York, United States, New York
Shared Deals: 1

What are some of recent deals done by NTT DOCOMO Ventures?

Personal Health Tech

Osaka, Osaka, Japan

Personal Health Tech is a business development firm that offers online platforms and AI-based healthcare management services.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Health CareInformation Technology
SeedJul 10, 2025
Anaguma

Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Anaguma is a software management company that develops and handles social networking app.

AdvertisingBusiness DevelopmentMarketingSustainability
Series AJul 8, 2025
MeetsMore

Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

MeetsMore is a technology company that provides an automation platform for customer acquisition and quotation processing services.

CrowdfundingSaaSSNSTask Management
Series BMar 4, 2025
Tacoms

Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Tacoms is a developer of restaurant management software that is designed to manage orders from multiple ordering platforms.

Food and BeverageRestaurantsSoftware
Series BNov 13, 2024
Amount Raised: $6,112,155
AI model

Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

AI model specializes in developing and transforming real-like virtual models for modelling on E-commerce platforms.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Digital MediaFashion
Series AOct 30, 2024
Fogg Japan

Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Fogg is a platform that makes life styles more convenient without being affected by trends and deprecation like media and content

AdvertisingContentLifestyleMedia and EntertainmentWeb Design
Series ASep 24, 2024
Amount Raised: $2,098,636
dhost

Singapore, Central Region, Singapore

dhost is a neutral hosting company that builds connectivity infrastructure systems for cities and buildings.

Cloud ComputingInformation TechnologyInfrastructure
Series UnknownAug 29, 2024
Turing

Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan

Turing develops and manufactures fully autonomous vehicles.

Electric VehicleManufacturing
SeedJul 1, 2024
Amount Raised: $9,315,368
FastLabel

Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

FastLabel is a platform designed to offer annotation services indispensable for the practical application of AI.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Information Technology
Series BNov 29, 2023
Amount Raised: $7,820,044
TileDB

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Modern data stack in a box. All data, code and compute in a single database

AnalyticsBig DataComputerData StorageSoftware
Series BSep 20, 2023
Amount Raised: $34,000,000