Animal Spirits hits $35.4M in second close for its disciplined mid-size VC fund
What's the deal? Japanese venture firm Animal SpiritsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → said it closed a second round of commitments for its second fund on September 29, 2026, lifting total committed capital to about US$43.1M (≈$35.4 million). The fund, the Animal Spirits 26 Investment Limited Partnership, has a target size of US$46.2M–US$61.5M.
Who's backing it? The second close brought in new institutional investors, led by a commitment from the Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation (SME Support Japan) through its startup-support fund programme. Other limited partners include Sumitomo Mitsui Trust BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Seibu Shinkin BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Yamanashi Chuo Bank, and Yamaguchi BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
Why now? Animal Spirits is raising and deploying capital in parallel. In five months since launching on April 30, 2026, the fund has already invested about US$5.38M across four companies, spanning seed to Series B stages.
What's the endgame? The firm runs what it calls a "disciplined mid-size fund," capping investment at 15% of the fund per company and prioritising support quality over scale. Its two themes — "protecting the nation" and "opening frontiers" — target social challenges and the industrialisation of Japanese technology.
Its portfolio reflects those bets. Holdings include Cross Sector, NikonDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s first spinoff, which applies precision-measurement tech to construction sites; ElevationSpace, developing space-to-Earth transport via atmospheric re-entry capsules; cosmobloomDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, building large space structures; and KikuviDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an AI agent that surfaces tacit organisational knowledge. Animal Spirits led Cross Sector's Series A.
Context. "We feel very encouraged to have earned the trust of financial institutions and public bodies after they watched our activity," said representative partner Yusuke Asakura (translated from Japanese). He added that many Japanese founders with strong technology "still have not met sufficient risk money at the right timing."
The firm's first fund, launched in 2023, raised about US$48.5M, backed 27 startups, and recorded three exits — one IPO and two acquisitions.
The signal: At roughly US$43.1M, this is not a market-moving raise but a vote of institutional confidence in a focused manager. With public startup-support money anchoring the fund alongside trust banks and regional lenders, it fits a broader pattern of policy-driven capital pulling private money into Japanese venture — even as the country's 2025 startup funding, around US$5.86B, stayed roughly flat year on year.
Read more: prtimes.jp
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
