New Year Message and Strategy for 2024
Our entire team will work together focusing on the new strategies announced at the annual GBAF event to make 2024 another year of remarkable growth.
Written by Yasuhiko Yurimoto
Happy New Year. This is Yasuhiko Yurimoto, President & CEO of Global Brain (GB).
Although GB’s deal counts and capital invested slightly declined in 2023 compared with 2022, we were able to exceed our performance back in 2021 when the global investment environment saw its peak. We added four new funds to operate, with the AUM totaling JPY 260.4 billion (USD 1.8 billion). On top of this, we achieved six IPOs in Japan and overseas, which made 2023 a milestone year for GB to have achieved 100 exits in total.
We will strive to make a further leap forward in 2024, focusing on the following strategies I explained at the annual GBAF event.
- Stepping up our support structure
- Expansion into a new region
- Acceleration of Climate Tech investment
- Enhancement of organizational strength
1. Stepping up our support structure
GB had 126 employees as of December 2023, ranking among the top 3 VCs globally. We have been building a structure where our in-house venture capitalists and professional teams can thoroughly provide hands-on support for our portfolio startups.
Our data indicates that having a structure which provides more extensive hands-on support results in higher fund performance. In fact, the growth of business value of portfolio startups receiving hands-on support is higher than that of overall portfolio startups.
Knowledge acquired by the Value Up Team (VUT), which plays a central role in driving this hands-on support, is standardized and shared with venture capitalists as needed. We have established a cycle to raise the entire staff’s support capability levels to contribute to the maximization of portfolio companies’ business value.
In the future, VUT aims to further increase the number of companies it supports, drive the portfolio startups’ collaboration with CVCs and large corporations, strengthen support for overseas expansion, and increase the number of team members to 30 by 2025.
2. Expansion into a new region
GB has 11 offices in nine countries, investing globally. In 2022, we invested in an African startup for the first time. Africa is where the working-age population will peak last in the world, and expectations are high for future growth.
On the other hand, local VC trends indicate a lack of early-stage investors connecting emerging VCs with established PEs and development financial institutions, and this is where GB may well be able to build its advantage.
GB began considering investment in Africa in 2021 and has strengthened relations with each stakeholder, including their neighboring countries, with a focus on the big four economies. Going forward, we will consider establishing a fund specializing in Africa, including recruiting local talent.
3. Acceleration of Climate Tech investment
We have been building an investment structure for the Climate Tech sector which is our focus. Climate Tech venture capitalists and venture capitalists specializing in “transportation,” “food & land use,” and other sub-sectors have been working hand in hand to ensure comprehensive coverage of the sector.
Looking at the Climate Tech investment environment, over 80% of capital is invested into “transportation”, “energy,” and “food & land use” that have been attracting attention for some time. However, targets are diversifying, and GB expects to cover the sector extensively.
In terms of region, the largest Climate Tech market is Europe, with the UK, Sweden, Germany, France, and Portugal having large deal values. Furthermore, Sweden had the largest investment in total during the three-year period up to August 2023, followed by the UK, France, and Germany.
As one of the top global startup hubs, Stockholm in Sweden is where we are planning to assign a dedicated venture capitalist this year. Through building a local network, we will further increase our Climate Tech deal coverage.
4. Enhancement of organizational strength
Talented members are crucial to achieve higher performance. Since 2018, we have been recruiting many new venture capitalists including Deep Tech talent and building a structure that can cover diverse sectors. Our team members including back-office and middle-office members come from various backgrounds.
To further strengthen our organizational structure, we will pursue new initiatives such as decentralizing Investment Committee voting rights and nurturing the next generation of leaders.
In 2024, GB will continue to vigorously pursue investment activities as the industry leader, and our entire team will work together to become a global top tier VC firm both in name and reality. We look forward to working with you in the year ahead.