NordicNinja, the largest Japanese venture capital firm in Europe, has recently announced the establishment of its second fund, totaling €200 million. This fund aims to further their commitment to investing in climate and deep technologies that contribute to a more equitable and sustainable future. NordicNinja focuses on supporting companies operating at the intersection of climate tech, deeptech, and digital society to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
Founded in 2019, NordicNinja is composed of a team with a global perspective, consisting of former founders, operators, and engineers turned investors from Northern Europe and Japan. Their backgrounds include extensive experience in green energy, having co-founded climate tech startups such as Planet OS and H2GO Power, as well as executive roles within prominent tech companies like ABB and McKinsey.
The partners at NordicNinja have also been active angel investors and have managed a Japanese clean energy investment fund. Collectively, they have made more than 80 partner-level investments and over 20 angel investments worldwide.
One of NordicNinja’s distinctive features is its mission to unite European startups with Japanese capital, networks, and markets. They believe that Northern Europe, with its strong legacy of digital innovation and billion-dollar company creation, holds the potential to produce global leaders in the transition to a more sustainable world. By connecting these European innovators with Japan’s extensive investor and corporate networks, NordicNinja aims to accelerate their technology’s impact. This bridge between East and West, particularly at the Series A stage, fosters responsible innovation and global impact, shaping a new style of VC fund for Europe.
NordicNinja’s previous €101 million Fund I portfolio included transformative companies such as Bolt, Einride, Veriff, Voi, Starship, ClimateView, Kognic, Mavenoid, Pactum, Varjo, DappRadar, and Ready Player Me. Three of these investments have already achieved unicorn status, with several more showing significant potential. Notably, half of the first fund’s investments are in mobility and transportation, addressing the substantial carbon footprint, inefficiency, and user experience issues in this sector.
With Fund II, NordicNinja continues its commitment to early-stage founders driving impactful change in sustainability and the digital society. Their Fund I investments ranged from self-driving electric trucks to climate action toolkits for cities, AI-driven identity verification, AI alignment platforms, mixed reality headsets for astronaut training, and end-to-end transparency in sensitive supply chains.
The cornerstone investor in NordicNinja’s Fund II is the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), a prominent Japanese public financial institution with a presence in 18 countries worldwide, facilitating economic cooperation between Japan and overseas nations. European investors include BaltCap and Swedbank pension funds, while Japanese investors like Honda and Omron, who also participated in Fund I, are contributing to this fund. NordicNinja’s Fund II solidifies its role as a critical player in fostering responsible innovation and addressing global challenges through venture capital investments.
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