JIC makes LP investments in New Enterprise Associates 19, L.P. and NEA 19 Venture Growth Equity, L.P.

Tokyo, March11, 2026 – Japan Investment Corporation (“JIC”) has announced its decision to invest a total of USD100 million in LP investments in two funds managed by New Enterprise Associates (“NEA”): New Enterprise Associates 19, L.P. (“NEA 19VC,”USD60 million) and NEA 19 Venture Growth Equity, L.P. (“NEA 19VGE,” USD40million).

 Details are as follows.

(1) About NEA 19VC and NEA 19VGE

Established in 1977, NEA is a leading U.S. venture capital (VC) firm and one of the largest global VCs. NEA has created more than 100 unicorns to date and has a proven track record of investing in Japanese startups. Focusing on the technology and health care sectors, NEA 19VC primarily conducts seed and early-stage investments, while NEA 19VGE primarily targets later-stage and growth investments.

NEA 19VC
Name:                New Enterprise Associates 19, L.P.
Established:      2025
Duration:           12 years (with a maximum possible extension of 3 years)
GP:                     NEA Partners 19, L.P.

NEA 19VGE
Name:                 NEA 19 Venture Growth Equity, L.P.
Established:       2025
Duration:            12 years (with a maximum possible extension of 3 years)
GP:                      NEA Partners 19 VGE, L.P.

Overview of NEA
Name:                    New Enterprise Associates
Established:          1977
Locations:             US (Menlo Park, San Francisco, New York, Timonium), UK (London)
Representatives:  Executive Chairman & Chief Investment Officer Scott Sandell, Co-CEO Anthony A. Florence, Co-CEO Mohamad Makhzoumi

(2) Reason for Investment

Domestic market challenges:
・Supporting the creation of unicorns:
‍Consistent support from the seed/early through late stage focusing on global market expansion can help promising startups grow into global unicorns. However, the level of such support in Japan continues to be insufficient.

・Connecting domestic players to overseas networks:
‍Establishing appropriate capital strategies and organizational structures geared toward global market expansion is important steps in fostering global unicorns, and requires connecting overseas networks with Japanese VCs and domestic ecosystem.

・Attracting risk capital from overseas investors to Japan’s VC market:
‍Along-term and large-scale supply of risk capital is required to create unicornsthat can compete globally and sustainably grow their businesses.

Expected impacts ofthese investments:
・Collaboratingwith overseas VCs to create global unicorns:
With an eye onfostering global Japanese unicorns, JIC expects NEA to leverage themethodologies that have enabled it to create more than 100 unicorns to supportthe creation of globally significant Japanese unicorns.

・Enhancingthe expertise and support capabilities of domestic players through connectionswith overseas networks:
‍Dialogue andcollaboration between NEA and domestic VCs and startups is expected to lead tothe sharing of startup support best practices by overseas VCs and connectionswith international networks. This, in turn, will provide Japanese startupswith the knowledge they will need to expand globally while enhancing thesupport capabilities of Japanese VCs.

・Attractingrisk capital from overseas investors into Japan’s VC market:
‍Through thisinvestment, JIC will seek to expand the supply of risk capital byintroducing NEA to co-investment opportunities with Japanese VCs, encouragingthem to consider investing in Japanese startups and generating interestin Japan’s startup market among other overseas investors.

 

About Japan Investment Corporation (JIC)

Japan InvestmentCorporation (“JIC”) was established in September 2018 under the IndustrialCompetitiveness Enhancement Act. JIC’s investment focus areas are creating avirtuous cycle of domestic investment and innovation; creating and fosteringstartups; leveraging promising untapped management resources lying dormant inlocal areas, including startups from academia and medium-sized companies; andpromoting business restructuring in response to changes in market and businessenvironments. JIC provides risk capital to these areas through fundsindependently established by JIC and LP investment in private funds to promoteopen innovation in Japan, strengthen the competitiveness of Japanese industries,and contribute to expansion of Japan’s investment ecosystem.

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