World Innovation Lab (WiL), a venture capital firm based out of Palo Alto and Tokyo has raised more than $1 billion dollars. The latest funding will be deployed across multiple funds including WiL strategic partners funds, WiL Ventures III and its corporate VC funds which brings the total committed capital to more than 1.9 billion.
WiL’s mission is to strengthen the global venture ecosystem by bridging startups and corporates in the United States and Asia, with a particular focus on Japan — Asia’s leader in SaaS adoption, as well as the world’s second-largest enterprise software market and third-largest consumer market.
“We thank our LPs for fueling WiL’s ongoing growth and empowering us to invest in the next generation of disruptive companies.
Right from the start, our mission has been to create a mutually beneficial relationship for our LPs and founders. So far, we have predominantly invested in the B2B SaaS space. Those solutions can be used by our entire LP base. This enables our founders to easily attract their lighthouse customers in the Japan market, while at the same time helping our LPs with their digital transformation efforts. We aim to strengthen this partnership between our LPs and founders.”
Gen Isayama, WiL co-founder and CEO.
Bridging Startups & Corporates — a Cross-Cultural Approach to Venture Investment
WiL’s investment thesis has evolved across its funds. But the one constant is addressing LPs’ pain points. The first two funds were focused on investing in digital transformation, with an emphasis on later-stage rounds such as Series B and beyond in the B2B SaaS space in the US. WiL also deploys capital to early-stage companies in the same sectors in Japan.
Target sectors:
- FinTech
- InsurTech
- Automation
- Productivity
- Cybersecurity
- Cloud infrastructure
- Developer tools
WiL’s commitment to helping its LPs achieve innovation and growth objectives is clear through the development of creative investment structures, such as creation of spinout companies and joint ventures.
WiL Ventures III will be a new and exciting way for the firm to continue its mission of identifying solutions that are most relevant in today’s world. The company plans on investing into sustainability, climate tech, health tech Web3 and other emerging technologies.
To maximize synergies between startups and corporates and to support entrepreneurs and LPs in various locations across different cultures, WiL has developed a unique organizational structure.
With Empowerment & Corporate Innovation and Platform teams, WiL provides its LPs with a wide menu of services aimed at empowering innovation and growth within their enterprises to accelerate their digital transformation. This becomes mutually beneficial to WiL’s portfolio companies pursuing expansion into Japan and Asian markets and partnerships with enterprises.
This cross-cultural approach and a strong set of company values enable World Innovation Lab to continue delivering on its promises to founders and LPs.