Obunsha Ventures forms ¥1 billion second fund for edtech startups

Obunsha Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Japanese educational publisher Obunsha, formed a second fund of ¥1 billion, or about $6.4 million, in May 2024 to invest in education technology startups, according to a June 6, 2024 report by Nihon M&A Center. The vehicle is called Obunsha Innovation Fund No. 2 Investment Limited Partnership.

The fund will concentrate on three areas: digital transformation of school and teacher operations, learning data analytics, and technologies that develop non-cognitive skills. Its targets include startups with promising edtech services or technology and companies likely to have business synergies with Obunsha or its partners. It has a five-year investment period and a 10-year operating term. Beyond capital, Obunsha said it would provide management support, joint product development and sales collaboration, help with building business models, and access to its learning content production and networks in education.

The new fund follows a first fund of the same size formed in 2018. As of the end of March 2024, Obunsha's venture funds had invested in 17 companies, made up of 16 startups and one fund, mainly in edtech. Global Corporate Venturing reported that the first fund's portfolio included online children's book platform Yondemy, cashless payment service Enpay and educational materials provider WonderLab. It also recorded two exits: school management software producer EduLab listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in late 2018, and outsourcing service Stadium was acquired by AI developer ExaWizards in July 2023.

Obunsha is a general publisher focused on education and information. When Obunsha Ventures began full operations in June 2018, it said it would mainly back early- and mid-stage edtech companies, typically investing tens of millions of yen up to ¥50 million per company, and would work with EduLab on the Japanese round of the Global EdTech Startup Awards. Hideki Kumekawa, a partner and director at Obunsha Ventures, told Global Corporate Venturing that the firm gained considerable experience from its first fund and would keep supporting startups working on new possibilities in education.