Cross Capital Commits to Two Top-Tier US and European VC Funds (S2G and Earlybird), Builds Strategic Partnerships

Cross Capital (Representatives: Takaki Nakamura, Fumi Takashima) announces that it has completed investment commitments to two top-tier funds: S2G Investments, headquartered in Chicago, USA, and Earlybird Venture Capital, headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and has agreed to build strategic partnerships.

■ Background and Strategic Significance of the Investment

Cross Capital's mission is to be an 'open innovation partner' that connects Japanese companies with innovative startups worldwide and commits to implementing innovation. This investment embodies the investment strategy set at its founding: 'to cover the world's major startup ecosystems and key sectors.' With this investment, Cross Capital's total investments in VC funds amount to six, with cumulative portfolio companies reaching approximately 1,200 and the total assets under management (AUM) of all VCs reaching approximately 8.7 trillion yen.

*Exchange rates as of May 2026 apply.

The fund managers of the two partner companies are leading players with high expertise and investment track records in their respective regions and fields.

■ Overview of Investee Funds

1. S2G Investments (Main Office: Chicago)

Features/Strengths: Boasts unparalleled expertise in the agri-food, energy, and ocean sectors, with over 120 investments since its founding. The firm is a rare global entity capable of precisely providing growth capital to scale businesses in the growth/expansion stage (the 'missing middle'), which often faces funding shortages in these sectors.

Notable Topic: The firm has recently held the final close of a large USD 1 Billion (approx. 150 billion yen) fund, 'Solutions Fund I,' expanding its total AUM to approximately USD 2.8 Billion (Cross Capital has committed to this fund). The fund has secured commitments from a wide range of institutional investors, including pension funds, funds of funds, and family offices across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Approximately USD 300 Million has already been deployed across 10 investments. The fund targets growth-stage companies in North America and Europe that improve the efficiency of major economic systems, from energy infrastructure and maritime transport to agricultural materials and industrial electrification.

2. Earlybird Venture Capital (Main Offices: Berlin, Munich, London)

Features/Strengths: Founded in 1997. One of the largest and most historic VCs in Europe, with total AUM of approximately EUR 2.5 Billion. It has offices in four locations across three countries (Germany, UK, Italy) and actively invests across Europe. It utilizes generative AI for sourcing and is an investor specializing in early-stage investments, accompanying entrepreneurs from the very beginning.

Notable Topic: The firm has recently held the final close of its largest-ever fund, 'Earlybird Fund VIII,' at EUR 360 Million (Cross Capital has committed to this fund). This fund focuses on investments in European AI applications, advanced hardware, and software infrastructure. Notably, Aleph Alpha, a leading European sovereign AI company in which Earlybird led the Series A, recently announced a strategic merger plan with Canadian AI pioneer Cohere, attracting significant attention. This merger aims to form a world-class 'independent AI coalition,' creating a global common infrastructure that supports autonomous AI utilization for enterprises while protecting European and national data sovereignty (security and regulatory compliance). This highlights Earlybird's role as an early architect of this massive market transformation.

■ Comment from Takaki Nakamura, Co-Founder & CEO of Cross Capital

'I am proud to have completed investment commitments to top-tier US and European VCs, S2G Investments and Earlybird. These are VCs that would typically turn away even small investment requests. However, through years of direct dialogue with founders and managing partners, we have diligently built trust, allowing us to secure special allocation as a strategic partner.

The reason they chose us as a partner is undoubtedly their strong expectation for a 'serious bridge' to Japanese companies. In fact, the 'Quarterly Cross Sharing' we initiated, where all our portfolio VCs gather, has seen active participation from each VC. The fact that this system—sharing the exploration needs of major Japanese companies on a dialogue basis once a quarter and having them recommend the best startups from their portfolios and pipelines—is functioning is proof of their high interest in the Japanese market.

With this commitment, we have built an outstanding network covering the most critical sectors of modern industrial transformation: AI, deep tech, and agri-food. Cross Capital will leverage this trusted network and its unique business development mechanisms to further accelerate its challenge of contributing to the growth of Japanese companies.'

■ Overview of Cross Capital's Initiatives

Cross Capital was established to support the implementation of innovation in Japanese companies and announced the start of its operations in December 2023. Leveraging the extensive network unique to a Fund of Funds (FoF) and its unique hands-on support system, it provides support from articulating collaboration themes to finding partners, executing PoCs, and launching new businesses.

Regarding support for LP companies, going beyond one-off matching, projects directly linked to strategic returns are already underway, including:

- Concluding commercial contracts with unicorn companies
- Conducting due diligence for capital and business alliances
- Executing multiple PoCs for business collaboration

The mechanism for creating cross-VC opportunities and providing mid-to-long-term hands-on support, made possible by its FoF position, is beginning to function.

■ Company Overview

Company Name: Cross Capital Pte. Ltd.

Address: 20 Anson Road, #11-01 Twenty Anson One&Co

URL: https://crosscapital.ltd/

Contact: takaki.nakamura@crosscapital.ltd

■ Fund Overview

Fund Name: Cross Capital I Limited Partnership

Term: 10 years

General Partner: Cross Capital Holdings I Limited

(Representatives: Takaki Nakamura, Fumi Takashima)