(continue from Vol.2)
(2) The scale of Japanese VC funds is overwhelmingly smaller than that of the United States. It is true that start-up companies in Japan cannot easily cross the “death-valley”. From January to June last year, I also tried to raise funds for a venture company from Mie University where its technology (a new type of viral vector) has much higher uncertainty than small molecule and found that the VCs generally speaking prefer the technology with well-established evidence. They tend to request the evidence data to verify the technology such as preclinical safety or human data. It’s difficult to move forward because you need the money to create those data, but you’re asked for it first. I don’t think there is reliable lead VCs in Japan that will take care of venture companies from start-up phase until late stage.
(3) The lack of overall strategy is also a problem with Japanese VCs. They cannot draw a big strategy and do not have the ability to support the growth of bio-ventures as a Lead Investor. It is unavoidable given smaller size of their funds, but at the same time, experienced talents as an investor are also lacking in Japan. There is a famous anecdote in regenerative medicine space. ARCH Venture Partners discovered Juno Therapeutics, which was developing CAR-T in an early stage. ARCH formulated a strategy from the beginning to sell it off to a Big Pharma. And they succeeded to sell it to Celgene for $ 700 MM in 2018. They directed the whole show, providing Juno with sufficient funds to develop the technology. Of course, it has been a strategic move from the beginning.
②VCの資金規模が米国に比べて圧倒的に小さく、なかなかStart Up企業が死の谷を越える事が出来ないのはその通りだと思います。私も昨年から今年前半にかけて三重大発ベンチャー企業（新規ウイルスベクターなのでSmall Moleculeよりは遥かに製剤の不確実性が高い技術）の資金調達を試みましたが、エビデンスが整った技術をVCサイドがより好む傾向が強く、勿論当たり前の事ですが、データの提示を求められます。データを作る為の資金が必要なのにまずデータを求められるのですから、前に進む事が難しくなります。最後まで面倒みてくれる頼りになるリードVCが存在していないと思います。ここの認識は同じです。
③VCの戦略性が足りない事も日本のVCの問題点だと思います。大きな戦略を描けない、Lead Investorとして企業の成長戦略を支える能力が無い事が課題と思います。資金が少ないので仕方ないとも言えますが、投資家としての経験値を持った人材が日本には育っていません。有名なARCH Venture Partnersは、CAR-Tを開発していたJuno Therapeuticsを早い段階から見出し、最終的にBig Pharmaに売却する戦略を立てて、2018年にCelgene社への＄700 MMでの売却まで演出しました。その間の資金需要は勿論ARCHが面倒をみた上での戦略的動きです。
