Fast Track Initiative
Venture capitalTokyo · Pre-Seed–Growth · 2 people tracked
Also known as 株式会社ファストトラックイニシアティブ
Investment thesis
Fast Track Initiative positions itself at the intersection of science and life, seeking to bridge scientific advances with human wellbeing. The firm emphasizes long-term partnership with ventures, growing alongside them rather than pursuing short-term outcomes, and aims to help realize a richer quality of life. Its messaging centers on science-driven innovation and enduring support for portfolio companies.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
Team · 2 people
from the firm's website & public directories
What they invest in
from 23 of 60 portfolio companiesHealthtech ×13Biotech ×10Medical Devices ×10Digital Health ×8Deep Tech ×5AI & Machine Learning ×3Consumer ×2Hardware ×2
HQs:Japan×13United States×2
Investments · 60 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathGlobal Vascular develops medical devices based on its BioDiamond Technology, including antithrombotic diamond (F-DLC) coatings, drug-eluting stents, and catheters for vascular and interventional treatments.
Deep TechHealthtechMedical DevicesNew MaterialsTokyo, JP
Kenta Bito(Founder & CEO)Hayato MaekawaShunto Maegawa(Founder & CTO)Emi Matsuoka(COO)Terumitsu Hasebe(Director)
PENTAS is a Japanese medical device company holding first-class medical device manufacturing and sales licenses as well as licenses to sell highly controlled medical devices.
HardwareHealthtechMedical DevicesKawasaki, JP
Tomohiko Kanai(代表取締役 (Representative Director))Teppei Banno(取締役 (Director))Taro Sato(取締役 (Director))Masaaki Sato(取締役 (Director))
Qoly Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells microsurgery-assist robots and related products, using robotics to help surgeons perform precise and safe microsurgery for functional disorders.
HealthtechMedical DevicesRoboticsTokyo, JP
Yohei Kuroda(Representative Director & President (Co-founder))Kazuhito Wakana(Director & CTO (Co-founder))Atsushi Miyamoto(Chief People Officer (Co-founder))Naoki Kobayashi(CFO)
Virtual pharma using advanced computational technology to rapidly discover small-molecule drugs against proprietary targets.
Innovative technology for efficient drug delivery to the brain, applicable to nucleic acids and other drug candidates.
CellFiber develops cell mass-production technology for cell and gene therapy, including ZeitoTM Plus, a GMP/GCTP-compliant cell fiber manufacturing device designed for fiber culture that enables aseptic, closed seeding of fiber-encapsulated cells directly into culture bags.
BiotechHardwareMedical Devices
Combines single-cell RNA analysis technology from the Broad Institute with AI/ML models and large-scale clinical sample collection for novel drug discovery and precision medicine.
HealthtechCambridge, US
Michael Boretti(Executive Officer)Tariq Kassum(Executive Officer, Director)Christoph Lengauer(Executive Officer, Director)
Provides the 'FastDoctor' after-hours emergency care platform offering emergency consultation, online diagnosis, house calls and follow-up.
Hatena is a Japanese social bookmarking and blogging platform that aggregates user-curated content and discussions.
Media & EntertainmentSocialTokyo, JP
Care × technology platform matching 24/7 home-care helpers with users outside nursing insurance; B Corp certified.
Platform biopharma developing mitochondria-based drug therapies using proprietary mitochondria isolation and formulation technology.
Runs 'E-consult', an online specialist consultation service connecting primary physicians with expert specialists to help find undiagnosed rare-disease patients.
mediPhone (メディフォン) is a medical interpretation and translation service for healthcare providers in Japan, combining AI machine translation (up to 107 languages) with remote phone/video interpretation by specialized medical interpreters (32 languages) and document translation.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthHealthtech
Healthtech building medical infrastructure with 'mediPhone' interpretation solution and 'mediment' corporate health management solution.
Spun off from microbiome startup Metagen; develops fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) formulations and microbiome-based drug discovery.
Develops drugs against previously undruggable targets using its proprietary CRISPR-GNDM (Guide Nucleotide Directed Modulation) platform based on modified CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing.
Neusignal Therapeutics develops novel drugs for central nervous system disorders, including dementia and psychiatric conditions, with research focused on calcium signaling in neurons and target discovery for brain diseases.
BiotechDeep TechDigital HealthMedical DevicesTokyo, JP
有本 達(代表取締役 (Representative Director/CEO))
Nil Co. develops and sells the SUNA line of hair care products, including bubble-type gray hair color shampoos, scalp essences, repair shampoos, treatments, and color mascaras that use plant-derived pigments and diamine-free formulas.
ConsumerDirect to Consumer
Shimane University biotech using high-purity mesenchymal stem cells (REC) for safe, effective stem cell therapy, with AI-based cell quality management.
Developing and commercializing microsurgery support robots, building on Sony Group's medical robotics research.
RegCell Biosciences is a biotechnology company developing regenerative cell therapies, leveraging expertise in cell and gene therapy, manufacturing, and immunology to advance therapeutic treatments.
BiotechDeep TechMedical Devices
Michael McCullar, PhD(Chief Executive Officer)James Ahlers(Chief Financial Officer)Marty Giedlin, PhD(Chief Technology Officer)Tony Hurley(Chief Technical Operations Officer)Steve Kanner, PhD(Chief Scientific Officer)
Developing innovative drugs for aging-related diseases by targeting inflammatory senescent cells.
Shinobi develops next-generation cell therapies using iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cell) research, genetic engineering, and clinical infrastructure.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechHealthtechMedical Devices
HealthtechPalo Alto, US
Tohru Satoh(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)
BoardDennis McWilliams(Director)Koji Yasuda(Director)Jun Okamoto(Director)Auriel August(Director)
STORM Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing small molecule drugs that target RNA modifying enzymes to reprogram cells through RNA biology.
BiotechHealthtechMedical Devices
Varinos develops and provides genetic testing services applying genome technology, including a uterine microbiome (endometrial flora) test used in fertility and reproductive medicine.
BiotechDigital HealthFemTechMedical DevicesTokyo, JP
桜庭 喜行(Founder & Chairman (former CEO))長井 陽子(Co-founder)齊藤 洋一(代表取締役CEO)平川 秀年(代表取締役社長)Sakuraba(CEO)
Offers clinical testing services such as uterine flora testing and preimplantation diagnosis using next-generation sequencing genome analysis.
Develops IoT/wearable products and services such as smartwatches under a 'Life:Tech Rebalance' concept.
Acquired by NanoCarrier Co., Ltd. in September 2020.
Ichirou operates a caregiving workforce sharing platform and provides home care support and facility referral services for the elderly care market in Japan.
B2B MarketplacesDigital HealthHealthtechHR TechTokyo, JP
Provides a medical IT database business for medical institutions and related businesses, plus matching services connecting doctors with doctors and patients with doctors.
Allm develops medical ICT products and digital solutions that connect patients, healthcare providers, and nursing care services.
Digital HealthHealthtechMedical Devices
EditGene is an educational platform that explains gene and genome editing technologies such as CRISPR, base editing, and prime editing.
BiotechEdTech
Transferred to Carna Biosciences, Inc. in October 2013.
Chiome is a Japanese biotech venture that discovers and develops antibody drugs targeting unmet medical needs.
BiotechHealthtech
Spun out of RIKEN research; develops innovative technology to rapidly generate monoclonal antibodies against difficult antigens.
Spun out of Kurume University School of Medicine to develop tailor-made peptide vaccines for various cancers and hepatitis C.
Spun out of Tokyo Women's Medical University to develop regenerative medicine products via cell sheet engineering.
Mental Health Technologies is a Japanese group holding company providing well-being services, including its cloud-based mental health platform "ELPIS" and, through subsidiaries, occupational physician cloud services, healthcare institution management support, and workplace health services.
Digital HealthMental HealthSaaS
Listed on TSE Mothers (9218) in March 2022.
Comprehensive nutrition service company offering VitaNote, a mail-in urine-based nutrition testing service, and TYPEFOOD, a smartphone-based simple urine test paired with type-specific nutrition foods.
Provides patient-focused medical information services supporting pharmaceutical companies' marketing and product strategy.
Exits · 2
IPOs and acquisitions across the tracked portfolioCelsius Therapeuticsacq. by AbbVieアキュルナ株式会社 (Accurna)acq. by NanoCarrier
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesRegCell · us.fasttrackinitiative.com · Mar 22, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does Fast Track Initiative invest at?
- Fast Track Initiative invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth stages.
- What is Fast Track Initiative's typical check size?
- Fast Track Initiative typically writes checks of $1.2M – $184M.
- What sectors does Fast Track Initiative focus on?
- Fast Track Initiative focuses on Biotech, Deep Tech, Digital Health, Healthtech, Medical Devices, Sector Agnostic.
- Where is Fast Track Initiative located?
- Fast Track Initiative is headquartered in Tokyo, JP.
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