UntroD Capital Japan Completes First Close of Deep Tech-Focused Venture Debt Fund

UntroD Capital Japan Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Akihiko Nagata, hereinafter "the Company") announces the establishment and first close of UntroD Real Tech Debt Fund (hereinafter "the Fund"), a venture debt fund dedicated to deep tech startups, aimed at supporting capital raising for deep tech startups through lending.

Since 2015, the Company has operated the venture capital fund "Real Tech Fund," specialized in the deep tech sector, providing lead investments and hands-on support from seed and early stages to research-driven innovative technology startups contributing to solving global and societal challenges, thereby advancing the social implementation of such technologies. In April 2025, "Real Tech Fund No. 4 Investment Limited Partnership" (hereinafter "RTF4") completed its final close with total commitments of approximately 12.5 billion yen, continuing to support seed and early-stage startups.

Additionally, the Cross-Impact Fund (hereinafter "XIF"), established to support high-potential late-stage startups aiming for IPOs with strong impact-driven missions, completed its final close in August 2025 at 5.155 billion yen, focusing on providing long-term capital and supporting sustained growth and enterprise value enhancement post-IPO.

Despite this, research-driven startups often face challenges in securing funding due to reliance on equity financing, driven by pre-profit structures at early stages, low revenue predictability during growth phases, and weak governance frameworks. Addressing this issue requires diversifying funding methods, including providing debt financing based on thorough analysis of management risks and appropriate risk-return management for research-driven startups. However, the availability of debt financing for such startups remains limited relative to demand, potentially hindering Japan's overall research and development capabilities.

In particular, while Japan's regional universities and national research and development institutions hold numerous globally impactful research outcomes and technological seeds, structural challenges prevent regional financial institutions from easily investing or lending to local startups due to difficulties in assessing management risks. To address this, the Fund aims to collaborate with government-affiliated funds and regional financial institutions committed to regional economic revitalization, fostering a circular ecosystem where regional capital flows back into locally developed technological innovations—ensuring local funding supports local technological advancement.

To achieve this, the Company will leverage its extensive experience in supporting deep tech startups to provide debt financing specifically within this sector through the Fund. This enables the creation of a seamless support framework—complementing the seed and early-stage equity support provided by the Real Tech Fund and the late-stage long-term capital provision by XIF—with dedicated debt financing primarily targeting early to mid-stage startups. (See Figure 1)

Figure 1: Support Phases Across Domestic Funds Managed by the Company

Partner Organizations

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)

Regional Economic Revitalization Support Organization Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)

Nagano Prefectural Credit Union (Headquarters: Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture)

Nishi-Nippon City Bank, Ltd. (Headquarters: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture)

Hanno Shinkin Bank (Headquarters: Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture)

Overview of UntroD Real Tech Debt Fund

Fund Name: UntroD Real Tech Debt Fund Investment Limited Partnership

General Partner: UntroD Real Tech Debt Fund Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

Investment Target: Lending to Japanese deep tech startups where venture capital equity investment remains challenging

Fund Term: 5 years starting June 2026 (with potential extension up to 2 additional years)

About UntroD Capital Japan Co., Ltd.

UntroD Capital Japan Co., Ltd. established the "Real Tech Fund" in 2015 to support the social implementation of deep tech startups with research-driven, innovative technologies addressing global and societal challenges, providing lead investments and hands-on support at seed and early stages. To date, the Company has managed Real Tech Fund No.1 to No.4 (domestic funds), Real Tech Global Fund No.1 and No.2 (global funds), and Real Tech Growth Fund No.1 (domestic fund), with total assets under management exceeding 40 billion yen. To further embody its mission of pioneering uncharted territories that are socially needed yet underserved by capital—and proving their economic viability to create sustainable systems attracting continuous capital and talent—the Company rebranded under the name "UntroD," meaning "uncharted," and relaunched in June 2024.

Website: https://untrod.inc

Contact

UntroD Capital Japan Co., Ltd.

Public Relations: Narita

https://untrod.inc/contact

Disclaimer Regarding This Press Release

Unless otherwise specified, the information contained in this press release is accurate as of the date of its issuance. The Company does not guarantee the continued accuracy of the information after that date.

This press release is issued to publicly announce the commencement of operations of UntroD Real Tech Debt Fund by the Company.