VC Founded by Former US Ambassador to Japan to Raise $400 Million for Japan-US Security Fund

This article originally appeared in Japanese on Bloomberg

(Bloomberg): Geodesic Capital, a U.S. venture capital firm founded by former U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos, has announced plans to raise up to $400 million (approximately 60.2 billion yen) for a new fund launched in June. The firm will seek investments from Japanese investors and invest in U.S. startups in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) that contribute to U.S.-Japan security.

Roos urged domestic investors to participate in the fund at a press conference on August 1. Seven companies, including the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and NEC, have already committed to the fund. The fund announced that it had raised $250 million in June and plans to complete the final round of fundraising by April 2026. The investment period will be five years.

Roos served as U.S. ambassador to Japan for four years from August 2009 under the Obama administration. He founded Geodesic in 2015 and has been investing in U.S. startups and supporting their expansion into Japan. Earlier this year, he launched a new fund called the Geodesic Alliance Fund to promote cooperation between Japan and the U.S. in security. According to Roos, this is the first fund established to pursue the mutual interests of Japan and the U.S.

The new fund will primarily invest in U.S. companies in the early stages of development in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), space, and cybersecurity. Tom Gillespie, who previously worked for a fund affiliated with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has been appointed as the fund’s chief investment officer.

NEC President Takayuki Morita, who attended the press conference, stated that the establishment of the new fund was driven by the growing foundation for sharing information related to economic security between Japan and the U.S. and advancing joint technology development.

Morita pointed out that incidents such as the large-scale power outage in Ukraine caused by cyberattacks demonstrate that security is now being threatened not by traditional weapons but by attacks on digital infrastructure. He emphasized that “the benefits of quickly adopting technologies developed by venture companies are becoming even greater than before.”