Venture capital firms in China, Japan and Korea for founders raising in 2026

What is listed here and how should you use this directory?

This category lists venture capital firms headquartered in mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea that invest equity in private technology companies. The three markets are listed together because founders raising in one often consider the others, but they operate under different rules, currencies and investor cultures, and a firm in one rarely leads a round in another. The list includes independent firms, corporate venture arms attached to large technology and industrial groups, university-linked and deep-technology funds, and crypto-native investors in Korea. Each entry carries the same fields: city, investor type, stage, sector focus, open-application status and official website.

Use the country and type fields together. In Japan and Korea a large share of venture capital comes from corporate venture arms and from funds attached to financial groups, and these investors weigh strategic fit alongside financial return. In China the landscape has shifted toward renminbi-denominated funds with domestic limited partners and state-linked capital, and a foreign founder's options are narrower than they were. The open-application flag tells you whether a firm runs a public inbound process; in these markets it is less common than in India or Europe, and introductions carry more weight.

For the mechanics behind the names, the Kurums Venture Capital hub collects the Kurums explainers on term sheets, valuation and fund structures, and the guide to VC firms accepting open applications in 2026 identifies the East Asian firms that publish an application form.

How do venture investors in China, Japan and Korea differ by type?

Each of the three markets has a distinctive mix of investor types. China's independent firms grew up alongside the country's large consumer-internet companies and now span US-dollar and renminbi vehicles with different limited-partner bases and different restrictions. Japan's venture market is shaped by corporate venture capital, by funds attached to brokerages and banks, and by a growing set of independent seed firms, some founded by foreign partners. Korea combines government-matched funds, financial-group venture arms, corporate arms attached to large platforms, and specialist investors in gaming and blockchain.

The table sets out the main types with examples from each market and the feature that most affects a founder's approach.

How do you approach a venture firm in East Asia?

Introductions matter more in these markets than anywhere else covered by this directory. Partners at Chinese, Japanese and Korean firms work through networks of portfolio founders, corporate partners, university laboratories and government programmes, and a cold email in English from an unknown founder rarely reaches a decision-maker. Where a firm publishes a form or an English-language contact route, use it, but assume that your first substantive conversation will come through someone the firm already knows. Local accelerators, government programmes and corporate open-innovation units are the usual starting points for a founder without an existing network.

Language and location shape the process. Japanese firms increasingly run bilingual processes, particularly the independent seed firms, but most diligence and legal work happens in Japanese and investors expect a founder or senior team member who can operate in the language. Korean firms behave similarly. In China, a foreign founder faces structural questions about which entity can receive investment and from which currency, and these questions determine which firms can invest before any discussion of the business begins.

Prepare materials that respect local expectations. Investors in all three markets read detailed financial plans and milestone schedules more closely than many Western investors and expect them in the local language as well as in English. Corporate venture arms will also want to see how your product fits the parent group's business, and a founder who has thought about that before the meeting saves several rounds of correspondence.

What do these firms ask for and what terms do they typically offer?

Diligence in East Asia is thorough on the financial plan, the corporate structure and, for corporate investors, strategic fit. Instruments vary by market. Japanese seed rounds often use a local convertible instrument modelled on the SAFE, while priced rounds issue preferred shares under Japanese company law. Korean rounds commonly use convertible notes or redeemable convertible preferred shares, and government-matched funds attach their own conditions. Chinese rounds depend on whether the vehicle is US-dollar or renminbi, with offshore holding structures for the former and domestic entities for the latter.

The table summarises what each type asks for and the shape of the terms. Where a corporate venture arm invests, expect commercial agreements, such as distribution or licensing arrangements, to be negotiated alongside the investment and read them with the same care.

What mistakes should you avoid, and what does the sponsored block mean?

The common errors are treating the three markets as one, sending English-only materials without a local-language version, and arriving without an introduction and expecting the inbound form to carry the process. Founders also underestimate the weight corporate investors place on strategic fit and the length of time government-linked funds need to complete their own approvals. A more subtle mistake is to accept commercial side agreements from a corporate investor without checking how they constrain later rounds or an eventual sale.

On the directory itself: a fund, accelerator or agency can claim a sponsored position at the top of this page for a daily bid. Sponsored listings are advertising, are disclosed as such and are ordered purely by bid. They have no influence on which organisations the editors include in the free list, on how any entry is described or on any guidance published elsewhere on kurums.com. Every non-sponsored entry is listed free because the editors judged it relevant to founders raising in China, Japan or Korea.

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