Our Story
About
New Tech
and Top Teams
Faster Than Ever.
At ON&BOARD, our team brings together a diverse wealth of experience that spans beyond venture capital. Our expertise includes strategic planning at top tier consulting firms, building and investing in global businesses at major platform IT companies and Japanese trading & investment conglomerates, developing products, forming organizations, and coding. Additionally, our team features active executives with experience in scaling startups to multi-billion dollar exits, as well as legal professionals, and experts engaged in cutting-edge research in neuroscience, machine learning, data science, and natural language processing. Leveraging this rich tapestry of teamwork and experience, we are dedicated to providing entrepreneurial support from the very inception of a business.
Why is “＆” necessary for ON&BOARD?
ON & BOARD is pronounced simply as "onboard." Then why include the "&"? For us, the "&" is more than a symbol; it represents our most cherished value. The journey of launching our own venture capital business has taught us that creating a company from scratch is fundamentally an act of deep personal expression and a commitment to societal betterment. As our venture progresses, our admiration only grows for fellow entrepreneurs who take such risks to innovate and challenge the status quo. The "&" stands foremost for our respect for all entrepreneurs who face challenges daily, embodying our commitment to support them during their most trying times. Additionally, the "&" signifies our pledge that ON & BOARD will always operate as a cohesive team, where the synergy of collaboration amplifies outcomes—turning 1 + 1 into 100. It underscores our daily commitment to enhancing this dynamic and continuously improving our collective approach to achieve these ambitious goals.
Investment philosophy
Market Impact
We are a venture capital firm that invests the majority of our entire fund in pre-seed / seed stage companies. The sole criterion for investment is whether or not the business can create an innovative impact on the world over the mid-to-long term. Even before a company is launched, if we can confirm this point as part of the business plan, we will actively commit to investing in the company. In particular, we prefer to invest in companies that aim to expand globally from the startup stage, and in businesses and teams that have unique technologies and are backed by a deep understanding of the industry.
SAFE or J-KISS＆High ValuationCap
For seed investments before and after the founding of a company, in principle, we use the SAFE or J-KISS model, which defers valuation. Our investment criteria are based on the creation of global impact. From the perspective of creating such startups, we believe that it is inappropriate to set a low valuation cap from the initial stage, and we will offer a fair valuation cap that takes into account the capital policy for the next round and beyond.
Global Standard
We do not include clauses such as buyback requests for entrepreneurs, which are not considered a global standard. The time-limited obligation to make efforts toward going public, often imposed in Japanese investment contracts, cannot be denied its role in unnecessarily pressuring premature and immature exits. Therefore, as a firm committed to creating global impact, we generally do not impose an obligation to pursue an IPO. Designing an appropriate incentive plan is essential for building a global team. Accordingly, our company allows for up to 20% of the equity to be allocated to a stock option pool, depending on the stage of business development.
Fast Decision
In the initial stages, it is often the case that the success depends on day-to-day financial management. Therefore, after an in-person meeting with the general partner, we will inform you of the availability of capital as early as possible in the start-up round.
Hands-on Support
Our members and supporters come from diverse backgrounds, including strategy consulting, hands-on VC, business development at major IT companies, billion dollar scale exit experience, global business investment, overseas organization management, AI research and engineering, and product development. We will provide careful management support (strategy formulation, marketing and sales support, HR and organization building support, PR and fundraising support, etc.) from the start-up phase to IPO.
Global Community ＆ Go Global Support
We have begun collaborating and partnering with various overseas startup accelerators and local VCs. We also provide support for overseas expansion and global fundraising in the upcoming round.
Startup Program - Out of Bounds
Beyond the Norm: Ignite Your Innovation with Our Startup Studio “Out of Bounds”.
In life, the regrets of not pursuing opportunities often outweigh the regrets of action. Perhaps you're contemplating a new venture or a fresh challenge but find yourself hesitating due to perceived risks.
Don't worry!
ON&BOARD offers the "Out of Bounds" business startup program several times each year. This program provides an ideal setting to discuss your ideas, receive initial feedback on your business concept, and assess its suitability for market introduction.
The program is also open to entrepreneurs who are already operating their businesses; some serial entrepreneurs has joined us to further evaluate their next ventures. For more information, please click here.
Outline
- Mission
- ONBOARD New tech & Top teams faster than ever
- Company Name
- ON＆BOARD Co., Ltd.
- Date Established
- 10th October 2023
- Address
- CIC Tokyo, Toranomon Hills Business Tower 15F, 1-17-1
Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-6415, Japan
- Board members
- Masato Shimodaira, Kousuke Nakayama
- Advisor
- Riku Sugie, Hitosh Matsubara