# Nomura Strategic Ventures

Nomura Strategic Ventures is a Venture Capital based in New York, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Venture Capital
- **Headquarters:** New York, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** New York, NY, United States
- **Founded:** 2019
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** nomuraholdings.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/nomura-strategic-ventures

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Nomura Strategic Ventures was established in 2019 as the dedicated corporate venture capital arm of Nomura Holdings, the Tokyo-based financial services group that is Japan's largest brokerage and investment bank. The New York-headquartered unit operated under Nomura's Wholesale division, then led by Christopher Willcox, with a mandate to invest in technology companies strategically aligned with the bank's core businesses. The initiative marked Nomura's re-entry into systematic venture investing after winding down a previous corporate venture effort earlier in the decade. NSV deployed capital from a dedicated pool across asset classes concentrated in late-stage venture and growth equity, with a sector focus on fintech, enterprise software, AI/ML, digital health, and cybersecurity. The fund wrote equity checks in the range of $1M to $10M per company, targeting firms where Nomura could layer on additional value through capital markets access, structured products, or M&A advisory. Confirmed portfolio companies included the fintech platform Addepar, the digital identity firm ForgeRock, the enterprise AI provider DataRobot, and the insurtech startup Next Insurance. Geographic coverage centered on North America and Europe, with selective exposure to Asia. Team scale remained modest relative to independent venture firms, operating as a specialized unit within Nomura's broader Wholesale banking function without separate offices. In May 2024, Nomura restructured its digital and venture operations and folded NSV into a broader innovation group, discontinuing new standalone venture investments under the NSV brand (per the firm, May 2024). The bank integrated the portfolio and team into its digital transformation unit, Laser Digital, which handles crypto, blockchain, and broader digital asset strategy. NSV's early-stage direct investing model gave way to a structure emphasizing strategic partnerships and internal technology development. Nomura's corporate venture structure differed from most bank-affiliated VC arms by embedding the investment team directly inside the Wholesale division rather than operating as a standalone entity with separate compensation and return metrics. This alignment made NSV's capital decisions subordinate to strategic banking priorities, a model that facilitated deeper integration between portfolio companies and Nomura's capital markets, wealth management, and investment banking franchises — but also limited NSV's ability to build a standalone track record independent of the parent bank's priorities.

## Sectors

- FinTech
- Enterprise Software
- AI/ML
- Digital Health
- Cybersecurity

## People

- Christopher Willcox — Head of Wholesale, Nomura Holdings

## Questions

### Who made investment decisions at Nomura Strategic Ventures?

NSV operated under Nomura's Wholesale division, which was headed by Christopher Willcox during the unit's active investment period. The venture team reported through the Wholesale banking structure rather than functioning as an independent partnership, meaning final investment decisions were subject to Nomura's internal committee processes and strategic alignment with the broader bank.

### What companies did Nomura Strategic Ventures invest in?

Confirmed portfolio companies from NSV's active period include Addepar, a wealth management technology platform; ForgeRock, a digital identity provider (acquired by Thoma Bravo in 2023); DataRobot, an enterprise AI and machine learning platform; and Next Insurance, an insurtech focused on small business coverage. These investments reflected the fund's emphasis on financial technology and enterprise software with near-term capital markets potential.

### What was the scale of Nomura Strategic Ventures' fund?

Nomura has not publicly disclosed the precise size of NSV's dedicated capital pool. Published reports place the allocation in the range of several hundred million dollars, but the firm has not confirmed a specific figure. The lack of a standalone vehicle with external LP reporting obligations means detailed deployment metrics remain private.

### How did NSV's structure differ from independent venture capital firms?

NSV was a corporate venture capital unit fully embedded in Nomura's Wholesale banking division, not an independent partnership with its own economics. This meant investment returns were not the sole performance metric; strategic value to Nomura's trading, wealth management, and investment banking lines carried significant weight. The structure gave portfolio companies preferred access to Nomura's balance sheet and advisory services, but limited NSV's ability to operate with the speed and independence of a traditional venture firm.

## Related profiles

- [Werth Ventures](https://altss.com/profile/werth-ventures)
- [ADDMAN Engineering](https://altss.com/profile/addman-engineering)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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