Recognition as Registered VC Positions Firm to Expand Investment in Japan’s Pharmaceutical Startup Ecosystem

 

NEW YORK, April 7, 2026 – B Capital, a global multi-stage investment firm, today announced that it has been selected as a registered venture capital firm under the Government of Japan’s Agency for Medical Research and Development’s (AMED) Strengthening Program for Pharmaceutical Startup Ecosystem. This designation enables B Capital to invest in and serve as a commercialization partner to pharmaceutical and biotech startups in Japan.

 

Through the Strengthening Program for Pharmaceutical Startup Ecosystem, AMED provides subsidies to startups specializing in drug discovery with the goal of strengthening the foundation of Japan’s pharmaceutical startup ecosystem. Additionally, AMED maintains a registry of venture capital firms with established track records of investing in and providing hands-on support to startups in the pharmaceutical discovery and development space, from pre-clinical R&D through clinical stage drug development.

 

Japan represents one of the world’s most dynamic markets for pharmaceutical innovation, home to a deep base of scientific talent and a growing ecosystem of drug discovery startups poised for global impact. B Capital’s application to the AMED program reflects the Firm’s conviction that the next generation of breakthrough therapies will increasingly emerge from Japan and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

 

“Our selection as a registered VC under AMED’s program is a meaningful milestone that will position our team to accelerate our healthcare investment strategy in Japan,” said Raj Ganguly, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of B Capital. “Japan is home to world-class science and a new generation of pharmaceutical startups. We are honored to support those founders as they work to translate science into impactful therapies for patients in Japan and around the world.”

 

“We are pleased to be selected as a registered VC through this program,” said Robert Mittendorff, MD, a General Partner and Global Head of Healthcare at B Capital. “As we witness unprecedented innovation across the global healthcare landscape, we believe that continued private and public investment in new therapeutic technologies will be critical. With our extensive track record supporting world class pharmaceutical and AI-enabled drug discovery companies and this designation under AMED’s program, B Capital looks forward to having a positive impact on both development and commercialization across Japan’s drug discovery ecosystem.”

 

“We’ve seen firsthand from our work across Asia that the pharmaceutical ecosystem in Japan stands out for its scientific rigor and increasingly ambitious community of founders building globally relevant companies,” said Kelly Qiao, PhD, Senior Principal at B Capital. “Working closely with teams on the ground, we see particular momentum at the intersection of biotech, medtech and data‑enabled healthcare, where strong research is increasingly paired with translational and clinical focus. This designation allows us to apply B Capital’s healthcare experience across Asia to work closely with founders when promising science is ready to scale, helping advance development and commercialization with a long‑term, global lens.”

 

Since inception, B Capital has invested in over 50 healthcare-focused startups globally, across health-tech, digital health, biotech and medtech. Going forward, B Capital intends to leverage this certification to expand its engagement with Japan’s pharmaceutical startup community, partnering with founders at the earliest stages of drug discovery and supporting their path to global commercialization.

 

 

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