The global pandemic has highlighted people’s yearning for health and well-being. Collective neremiaa Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, is exploiting that — and the gender disparity in venture capital — with its first fund with $22.5 million in capital commitments.
Niremia Collective is the latest female-led seed fund, joining other funds such as New Fare Partners, Curate Capital, Pact, Double Down and f7 Ventures.
Founders Naoko Okumoto and Nicole Bradford met in 2018 and worked on various projects before coming together as investors to back pre-seed and seed stage startups focused on luxury technology.
Neremiah got its name from the combination of the words “Jeremiah”, which means a state of peace and tranquility in Greek, and the first letter of the founders’ names.
“Human happiness and health should be at the center of the world,” Okumoto told TechCrunch. “We were born to be happy, and we want humans to be the best versions of themselves. Investing in technology enables people to tap into that human potential.
Okumoto, who has spent 17 years working with major technology companies, has a history of investing and building businesses in the US and Japan. She previously managed US investing and community impact building for Mistletoe Venture Partners, a social impact fund founded by Taizo Son. Okumoto was also CEO of Amber Bridge Partners, a consulting firm specializing in business development, investment and cross-border operations.
Bradford, who has also worked in technology and project building, ventured into video games, working at Disney Interactive and Vivendi Games. While in corporate strategy at Vivendi, she was part of the deal team on Activision Blizzard’s merger with Microsoft. She is also the founder of Transformative Tech, described as “the world’s largest luxury tech ecosystem” with around 9,000 members in 72 countries.
Mistletoe Venture Partners is one of the limited partners of the new fund and is joined by local and international companies and institutional investors, including Shionogi Pharmaceuticals and MIXI Inc.
as Global wellness market Niremia Collective is expected to be valued at $8.5 trillion by 2027, and intends to provide capital and management resources to high-growth luxury startups. In addition, the company wants to incubate new businesses and be a resource for those planning to enter this sector.
“We invest in mental, social and emotional well-being, as well as purpose and human performance,” Bradford said. “It’s all human potential and technology. It’s how we heal and thrive and reach our highest potential as human beings. You have to be mentally healthy to be able to do that.”
Niremia Collective has made 12 investments from its first fund to date. These companies include Feno, which provides AI-powered oral care services; Tripp, a VR/XR wellness platform; and DeepWell, which specializes in mental health therapy using games.