Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is pleased to announce that “Geodesic Capital Fund I” has concluded the final closing with the aggregate investment amount of $335 million. The fund is aimed at providing investment capital for innovative technology startups in Silicon Valley, USA. Geodesic Capital was founded by John V. Roos, a former US Ambassador to Japan and former CEO of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, the leading law firm in the US in the representation of technology, life sciences, and emerging growth companies, Ashvin Bachireddy, former partner of Andreessen Horowitz, a major US venture capital firm, and Mitsubishi Corporation.
Leveraging Ambassador Roos’ network in US and Japan business circles and Mr. Bachireddy’s investing experience in Silicon Valley, Geodesic Capital provides growth capital to startup ventures with software technologies and business models that drive innovation. In addition to providing capital, Geodesic Capital also has an in-house team dedicated to supporting entry into the Japanese market. Geodesic capital aims to enhance growth and raise corporate value at these enterprises.
In addition to being a lead investor, MC intends to collaborate with Geodesic Capital in its efforts to support entry into the Japanese market by U.S. startup companies and to forge ties between the prominent Japanese corporations who invested in the fund and the Silicon Valley.
The fund has invested in a number of ventures since it began raising capital in May 2015, including Snapchat, a mobile application that is the fastest way to share a moment with friends, bitcoin hardware developer 21.Inc, Tanium, a software product that gives the world’s largest enterprises and government organizations the unique power to secure, control and manage millions of endpoints in seconds, and Instart Logic, a content delivery network platform which makes application delivery (i.e. websites) fast, secure, and easy. Geodesic Capital will continue to seek out innovative software firms and supporting their growth through investment. In October 2015 and February 2016, the fund began offering a range of business partnership and enterprise services initiatives for Geodesic Capital investees and other leading software companies from the U.S. aimed at the strategic investors in Japan.
“Geodesic” means a measure of the shortest possible distance between two points on a sphere or curved surface, and is representative of the effective ties created between Silicon Valley and Japan through this investment platform. MC will continue to seek inroads into new growth sectors by providing support to enterprises that help transform industry and society through innovation.
