Mitsubishi UFJ Capital

Profile

Mitsubishi UFJ Capital (“MUCAP”) was founded in 1974 as one of the first venture capital firms in Japan. Backed by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the leading financing group headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, MUCAP have been helping entrepreneurs in Japan, and around the world. More than 870 companies we worked together with have gone public.

Mitsubishi UFJ Capital (MUCAP) backs start-ups throughout their stages of development, from the seed / early stage, through the middle stage, to the later stage where an initial public offering (IPO) or a M&A comes into view.

We have been investing in innovative business ideas that anticipate societal needs, and engaged in commercializing the research results of universities and other academia, to name just a few. Through these endeavors, we have been working hand in hand with our start-up investees from an early stage in their business development.

Our role goes beyond just investment. Once our start-up investees are on track, we help take their business to the next level, by facilitating business partnerships with large companies to expand sales channels, providing advice on organizational enhancements with an eye to an IPO, and offering assistance in various other ways. We tailor our support to the needs of start-ups in varying stages of development.

Our investees span many spheres, from manufacturing and consumer goods to cutting-edge domains including artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), financial technology (Fintech) and other technologies, software as a service (SaaS), and life sciences. We have proactively been investing in supporting emerging industries without bias toward particular sectors.

What is essential to these activities is our team-based approach as one team. For each investee, a team is formed consisting of: an investment professional, or “capitalist,” who works shoulder to shoulder with the start-up; a business strategy partner who has extensive expertise; and personnel helping forge business partnerships with large companies. The team makes a concerted effort to increase the value of the start-up.

We have capitalists stationed in Osaka and Nagoya, as well as in our head office in Tokyo. Leveraging these resources, we strive to work even more closely with start-ups located not only in Tokyo but throughout the country.

History and track record
MUCAP is a venture capital firm founded in 1974. Our approach to start-ups remains unchanged since the founding: we first share their aspirations of entrepreneurs, establish trust as a capital partner, and then assist throughout their growth stages. This is what we were founded for, and we continue committed to our mission.

Looking back at our business over the decades, while Japan’s venture capital market has experienced some significant ups and downs, MUCAP has consistently supplied growth capital as part of MUFG .
This has resulted in our strong track record. Just for the period since 2005, the year in which the current MUCAP was created, we have made a cumulative total of more than 1,000 investments, aggregating in excess of \50 billion.

Collaboration with MUFG companies
Our support is not limited to helping start-ups reach an IPO. To make MUFG’s comprehensive financial capabilities available to start-ups, we work closely with MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, and other Group companies. Even after start-ups are listed on stock exchange, our clients continue to be provided with broad financial services that they deserve as the Group’s valued customers. Specifically, our professionals offer optimal financial services from those offered by MUFG companies, in an effort to contribute to their sustained growth.