Japan Cloud Capital

About Japan Cloud Capital

Japan Cloud operates as a specialized partner for global SaaS companies aiming to penetrate and scale within the Japanese market. The firm’s business model centers on a joint-venture approach, where it invests directly into the Japanese entity of its portfolio companies, creating a partnership where success is mutually aligned. This strategy was developed in collaboration with Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce.

The company was co-founded by Aruna Basnayake, who serves as CEO, and Allen Miner, who is the Chairman. Their team consists of SaaS industry veterans who provide end-to-end support for entering the Japanese market. This support encompasses go-to-market strategy, customer and talent acquisition, and tailored development programs for sales, marketing, public relations, customer success, and operations departments. A significant aspect of their service is a shared office space in central Tokyo, which fosters a collaborative ecosystem among the portfolio companies. This co-located environment allows for the sharing of leads, customer information, and best practices.

Japan Cloud serves growth-stage SaaS companies from around the world. Since the year 2000, the team has been involved in launching and expanding 18 enterprise software companies in Japan, including well-known names like Salesforce, Concur, Marketo, Coupa, Braze, New Relic, and PagerDuty. The firm builds and maintains a network of senior decision-makers (CIOs, CFOs) in major Japanese corporations, providing its portfolio companies with direct access to key stakeholders. It also runs the Japan Cloud Academy and a High Potential Leadership Program to develop local talent within the partner companies, focusing on retention and capability enhancement.