Scrum Ventures

Scrum Ventures is an early-stage venture firm that helps startups and corporations innovate together.

ActiveVenture Capital

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Updated: Feb 17, 2026 ·

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Investments Made

Date	Company	Round	Lead Investor(s)	Co-Investor(s)
Feb 11, 2026	Apptronik	$520.0M Series A	B Capital, Google, Mercedes-Benz Group AG	AT&T Ventures, John Deere, Peak 6, Qatar Investment Authority
Sep 1, 2025	RealRoots	$500K Seed	—	Beat Ventures, DeNA, Fellows Fund, Fin Capital, Soma Capital, Y Combinator
Apr 1, 2025	Aspora	$53.0M Series B	—	500 Global, Archetype, Basis Set Ventures, Beat Ventures, Citi Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, DeNA, DST Global, Fellows Fund, Fin Capital, Global Founders Capital, Hummingbird Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Soma Capital, Trajectory Ventures, Valar Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Work-Bench, Y Combinator, Arash Ferdowsi, Balaji Srinivasan, Didier Valet, Gokul Rajaram, Nitay Joffe, Roger Ehrenberg, Stefan Jeschonnek
Dec 1, 2024	Truewind	$13.0M Series A	—	Bain Capital Ventures, Beat Ventures, Day One Ventures, DeNA, Embedded Ventures, f7 Ventures, Fellows Fund, Fin Capital, Friends & Family Capital, Gaingels, Hambro Perks, Original Capital, Pareto Holdings, Polygon, Soma Capital, Unusual Ventures, UpHonest Capital, Vast Ventures, Y Combinator, Brad Garlinghouse, Gokul Rajaram, Jonathan Wasserstrum, Matt Mickiewicz, Nitay Joffe, Paul Holland, Scot Wingo, Takahiro Shoji, Yahya Mokhtarzada
Sep 1, 2024	Poka Labs	$3.0M Seed	—	Beat Ventures, DeNA, Fellows Fund, Fin Capital, Pioneer Fund, Soma Capital, Y Combinator, ZAKA Ventures
Nov 1, 2023	Bikky	$8.0M Series A	—	Amazon Alexa Fund, Dream Machine, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA), Equal Ventures, Fika Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Gutter Capital, Hoxton Ventures, Mayfield, Moderne Ventures, Montauk Ventures, NextView Ventures, Rainfall Ventures, Seven Seven Six, SOSV, Version One Ventures, Y Combinator, Charles Huang, Emmett Shear, Ilia Papas, Tikhon Bernstam, Wiley Cerilli
Mar 1, 2023	Concr	$2.0M Seed	—	Motus Ventures, R42 Group, Red Swan Ventures, TSVC Capital
Oct 1, 2022	Aspora	$6.0M Seed	—	AI Fund, AngelList, Battery Ventures, Beat Ventures, DeNA, Fellows Fund, Fin Capital, Global Founders Capital, Hummingbird Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Soma Capital, Square Peg Capital, Y Combinator, Balaji Srinivasan, Girish Mathrubootham, Gokul Rajaram
May 1, 2022	MyJam	$2.0M Seed	—	83North, Algebra Ventures, Metaplanet, SOSV, Julian Dames
Apr 1, 2022	Helios	$6.0M Seed	—	At One Ventures, Earth and beyond ventures, Metaplanet, Sinai Ventures, SOSV, Vine Ventures LP, Ben Holmes
Mar 1, 2022	runZero, Inc	$15.0M Series A	—	.406 Ventures, 8-Bit Capital, Advisors Fund LLC, AllegisCyber Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Asylum Ventures, Aviso Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Ballistic Ventures, Benchmark, Blu Venture Investors, Bungalow Capital, Cisco Investments, Coatue, Collaborative Seed & Growth Partners, Cultivation Capital, Cyberstarts VC, Decibel Partners, Digital Currency Group, Electric Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Felicis Ventures, Fenway Summer, Fontinalis Partners, Gaingels, General Catalyst, GreaterGoodSociety, Humba Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Gadi Porat, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, LocalGlobe, Locus Ventures, Lytical Ventures, Monarch Collective, North Island Ventures, Otherwise Fund, Pareto Holdings, Pelion Venture Partners, Pillar VC, Rabbit Ventures, Rain Capital, Sequoia Capital, Sierra Ventures, Softbank Group, Sweater Ventures, Upfront Ventures, Vertex Ventures, Vibe Capital, Work-Bench, Y Combinator, Apoorva Ruparel, Ashish Toshniwal, Douglas Merritt, Eric Ries, Esther Dyson, George Kurtz, Grant Miller, Harris Barton, Jay Jamison, Julia Kagan, Luca Ascani, Mathilde Collin, Sahil Lavingia, Sahin Boydas, Sam Kassoumeh, Sam Palmisano, Scott Belsky, Shane Neman, Zachary Sims
Jan 1, 2022	Spectrum Labs	$32.0M Series B	—	Fontinalis Partners, Footprint Coalition, Geodesic Capital, Intel Capital, Presight Capital, Rain Capital, Sound Ventures, Apoorva Ruparel, Ashish Toshniwal, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hadi Partovi, Jeffrey Wilke, Marc Benioff, Mark Cuban
Nov 1, 2021	Podium	$200.0M Series D	—	Accel, Album VC, Amasia, Dunce Capital, Emergence Capital, FirstMark Capital, GreenPoint Partners, Locus Ventures, Mango Capital, Picus Capital, Polaris Partners, Quona Capital, Saga, Sapphire Ventures, Seven Seven Six, Summit Partners, Y Combinator, Joshua Schachter, Rohit Jain, Ryan Duranso, Sam Altman, Stefan Jeschonnek
Oct 1, 2021	SEQUENTIAL	$2.0M Seed	—	Adjacent, Betaworks Ventures, Contrary Capital, Factorial, FirstMark Capital, Fontinalis Partners, Gaingels, Hustle Fund, Leadout Capital, Mayfield, Metaplanet, Outsized Ventures, Rain Capital, Round One Capital, Shrug Capital, SOSV, Splash Capital, Techstart Ventures, Ulu Ventures, Apoorva Ruparel, Ashish Toshniwal, Calum Forsyth, Derrick Li, Eric Ries, Gustavo Pessoa, Harris Barton, Jaan Tallinn, Joe Greenstein, John Makinson, Karen King, Marc Benioff, Mark Cuban, Mark Pincus, Matthew Dellavedova, Ron Pragides, Sheila Vashee, Tim Kendall
Sep 1, 2021	Abra	$55.0M Series C	—	305 Ventures, Accelerator Ventures, American Express Ventures, Arbor Ventures, Arrive, B Capital Group, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Blockchain Capital, Canaan Partners, Catapult Capital, Citi Ventures, Company Capital, CP Ventures, Digital Currency Group, Endeavor Catalyst, Fifth Wall, F-Prime Capital Partners, Future Perfect Ventures, GFT Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, IGNIA Partners, INVX, Javelin Venture Partners, Jungle Ventures, Kain Capital, LAUNCH, MassMutual Ventures, Menlo Ventures, NKM Capital, Outlander Labs, Parallax Ventures, Partech Ventures, Proeza Ventures, Propeller VC, Quona Capital, Recursive Ventures, RRE Ventures, Serena Ventures, Skyriver Ventures, Howard Lindzon, Sommet AB, ThirdLove, TQ Ventures, Unpopular Ventures, Clark Landry, Ding Zhou, Erik Moore, George Burke, John Kobs, Michael Abramson, Ron Suber, Saad AlSogair, Sravish Sridhar, Tony Xu, Varsha Rao, Vitalik Buterin
Aug 1, 2021	Codingal	$1.0M Seed	—	Fontinalis Partners, GSF Accelerator, Java Capital, Quona Capital, Rain Capital, Apoorva Ruparel, Ashish Toshniwal, Harris Barton, Pras Hanuma, Viral Bajaria
Jul 1, 2021	Fabric	$100.0M Series B	—	Accenture, B Capital Group, Boldstart Ventures, Canaan Partners, Founders Co-op, Graph Ventures, LAUNCH, LAUNCHub Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, Lumia Capital, Mayfield, Norwest Venture Partners, OMERS Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Seven Seven Six, Shasta Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Y Combinator, Aaron Harris, Ajay Ramachandran, Curtis MacDonald, Gokul Rajaram, Russell Fradin, Russ Fradin, Sam Altman, Scott Banister, Taher Haveliwala
Jul 1, 2021	Meati	$50.0M Series B	—	8VC, Kevin Hartz, Acre Venture Partners, Across Capital Partners, Alt Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Astanor Ventures, Citi Ventures, Coatue, Congruent Ventures, Footwork, Forerunner Ventures, Gradient Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Maveron, Rainfall Ventures, SciFi VC, Twelve Below, Brandon Leonardo, Carlos Julio Garcia, David Vélez, Eric Wu, Ken Keller, Loreanne Garcia, Mark Solon, Mato Peric, Max Mullen, Mike Krieger, Nick Green, Roger Laughlin Carvallo, Scott Belsky, Sri Batchu, Tom Williams, Wayne Chang
Apr 1, 2021	Unstruk Data	$4.0M Seed	—	8VC, American Family Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Catapult Capital, Citi Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Creandum, Equal Ventures, Flex Capital, foobar.vc, Footwork, Foundation Capital, Geek Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Harrison Metal, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Innospark Ventures, Jungle Ventures, Lightbank, Lowercarbon Capital, Motivate Ventures, Moving Capital, NextView Ventures, Owl Ventures, Powerhouse Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Preface Ventures, Rackhouse Venture Capital, Social Capital, Stage Venture Partners, StartHer, Teamworthy Ventures, Tribe Capital, Union Square Ventures, Wedbush Ventures, XYZ Venture Capital, Y Combinator, Adrian Aoun, Anthony Pompliano, Ashish Agrawal, Charlie Songhurst, Curtis Chambers, Ellen Pao, Jett McCandless, Joe Greenstein, Joshua Schachter, Kunal Shah, Sahil Lavingia
Feb 1, 2021	Fabric	$43.0M Series A	—	Boldstart Ventures, Canaan Partners, Founders Co-op, Graph Ventures, LAUNCH, LAUNCHub Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, Lumia Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, OMERS Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Seven Seven Six, Shasta Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Y Combinator, Aaron Harris, Russell Fradin, Russ Fradin, Sam Altman, Scott Banister
Feb 1, 2021	The Landing	$3.0M Seed	—	Alkeon Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, Atlassian Ventures, Bond, Brighter Capital, Bull City Venture Partners, Cowboy Ventures, Decibel Partners, Electric Capital, Essence VC, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Hanabi Capital, Hardware Club, Heretic Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, InterWest, Operator Collective, Rally Ventures, Sarona Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Sherpalo Ventures, TSVC Capital, Ulu Ventures, Underscore VC, Y Combinator, Akash Garg, Arash Ferdowsi, Clark Landry, Justin Kitch, Manish Chandra, Mathilde Collin, Scot Wingo, Sean Regan, Shishir Mehrotra, Viral Bajaria, Yan-David Erlich
Oct 1, 2020	Fabric	$11.0M Seed	—	Andreessen Horowitz, Angelic Ventures, Axiom Partners, Boldstart Ventures, Ali Tamaseb, G2VP, Golden Ventures, Graph Ventures, LAUNCH, Long Journey Ventures, Lumia Capital, Oak HC/FT, OMERS Ventures, Project A, Redpoint Ventures, Seven Seven Six, Sierra Ventures, Sweet Capital, Tribe Capital, Valar Ventures, Y Combinator, Aaron Harris, Keri Gohman, Larry Braitman, Lawrence Braitman, Sam Altman, Scott Banister, Tom Williams, Trevor Wright
Aug 1, 2020	Meati	$28.0M Series A	—	8VC, Kevin Hartz, Acre Venture Partners, Across Capital Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Astanor Ventures, Citi Ventures, Coatue, Congruent Ventures, Gradient Ventures, Maveron, SciFi VC, Brandon Leonardo, Carlos Julio Garcia, David Vélez, Eric Wu, Ken Keller, Loreanne Garcia, Mark Solon, Mato Peric, Max Mullen, Mike Krieger, Nick Green, Roger Laughlin Carvallo, Scott Belsky, Sri Batchu, Tom Williams, Wayne Chang
Aug 1, 2020	Codi	$5.0M Seed	—	Arrive, GFT Ventures, Left Lane Capital, Menlo Ventures, NFX, RRE Ventures, Serena Ventures, Skyriver Ventures, TQ Ventures, Y Combinator, Michael Abramson, Tony Xu
May 1, 2020	Bobobox Indonesia	$12.0M Series A	—	Alpha JWC Ventures, BoxGroup

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Scrum Ventures.

Ray Lian

Principal

Austin Arensberg

Head of US Investments

Leadership Team

Key people at Scrum Ventures.

Ray Lian

Principal

Austin Arensberg

Head of US Investments

Deep Dive

High-Level Overview

Scrum Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on fostering innovation by bridging startups and corporations primarily in the U.S. and Japan. Its mission centers on helping startups grow by connecting them with leading Japanese corporates such as Panasonic, Fujitsu, and DeNA, facilitating market expansion and collaboration. The firm invests across diverse sectors but has recently emphasized technology companies in sports and entertainment through a dedicated $68 million fund. Scrum Ventures supports startups not only with capital but also with strategic partnerships and operational guidance, significantly impacting the startup ecosystem by accelerating cross-border innovation and market access[1][3][4].

Origin Story

Founded in 2013 by Tak Miyata, a seasoned entrepreneur with Silicon Valley and Japanese startup experience, Scrum Ventures was created to serve as an innovation gateway between the U.S. and Japan. The firm has evolved from a generalist early-stage investor to launching vertical-focused funds, such as the Scrum Sports & Entertainment Fund I in 2025, reflecting its adaptive strategy to capitalize on emerging market trends. Key partners include industry veterans like Kazuhiro Kiyoshige and Michael Proman, who bring deep expertise in sports, entertainment, and global marketing, further shaping the firm’s focus and growth[1][3][6].

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Scrum Ventures acts as a bridge between U.S. startups and Japanese corporates, leveraging strategic partnerships to provide startups with unique market entry and scaling opportunities.
Network Strength: The firm’s strong ties with major Japanese corporations and global industry leaders enable portfolio companies to access resources, mentorship, and business development channels.
Track Record: With over 120 investments across various industries, Scrum Ventures demonstrates a proven ability to identify and nurture promising startups.
Operating Support: Beyond funding, Scrum Ventures offers hands-on support, including mentorship, problem-solving, and facilitating critical meetings, which accelerates startup growth and operational success[1][4][5].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Scrum Ventures rides the trend of globalization in venture capital, particularly the increasing importance of cross-border collaboration between the U.S. and Asia. The timing aligns with the rapid growth of sectors like sports tech and entertainment, where technology is transforming consumer engagement and market dynamics. By focusing on these verticals, Scrum Ventures leverages market forces such as digital transformation and globalization, influencing the broader ecosystem by enabling startups to scale internationally and innovate through corporate partnerships[3][5].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Scrum Ventures is poised to deepen its impact by continuing to launch sector-specific funds and expanding its global network. Trends such as the digitization of sports and entertainment, increased corporate-startup collaboration, and Asia-U.S. innovation flows will shape its journey. The firm’s evolving influence will likely enhance its role as a critical connector and enabler of innovation across continents, reinforcing its mission to accelerate startup growth and corporate innovation in tandem[3][6]. This trajectory ties back to its founding vision of bridging markets and fostering innovation through strategic partnerships.

Sources

High-Level Overview

Origin Story

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Scrum Ventures acts as a bridge between U.S. startups and Japanese corporates, leveraging strategic partnerships to provide startups with unique market entry and scaling opportunities.
Network Strength: The firm’s strong ties with major Japanese corporations and global industry leaders enable portfolio companies to access resources, mentorship, and business development channels.
Track Record: With over 120 investments across various industries, Scrum Ventures demonstrates a proven ability to identify and nurture promising startups.
Operating Support: Beyond funding, Scrum Ventures offers hands-on support, including mentorship, problem-solving, and facilitating critical meetings, which accelerates startup growth and operational success[1][4][5].