Shiseido Invests in venture capital fund co-founded by Will Smith and Keisuke Honda

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Sep 26, 2018

Japanese multinational personal care company Shiseido Company, Limited announced it will invest in the Dreamers Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in early-stage startups with promising growth potential in the U.S.

The company will invest in the fund through its corporate venture capital, Shiseido Venture Partners, as a limited partner.

The company intends to use the new partnership to gather information about the U.S. consumer market and have early involvement with up-and-coming startups. 

The decision comes as part of Shiseido's new Three-Year Plan, the second phase of its medium-to-long-term Vision 2020 strategy, a product development project based on partnerships as well as mergers and acquisitions. The new initiative was first announced in 2018 and will run through 2020.

In a press release, the Japanese company said the plan will build their global presence "through digital acceleration, synergy maximization with new technologies and brands that have now joined Shiseido, and by increasing further investment."

Dreamers Fund was co-founded in 2018 by professional soccer player Keisuke Honda and American actor Will Smith, both of whom own investment companies. The duo first announced their plans to raise money from Japanese institutions and individuals with the intention of investing in U.S. ventures earlier this year.

Using a private information network based on the West Coast, the fund aims to invest in startups across the country.