About World Innovation Lab
World Innovation Lab is a venture capital firm founded in 2013. It is primarily based out of Palo Alto, United States. As of Sep 2026, World Innovation Lab is an active investor, having invested in 143 companies, with 5 new investments in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Series C round in United States based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Enterprise Applications to High Tech and Retail. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series A round of PeopleX Overall, World Innovation Lab portfolio has seen 22 unicorns, 18 IPOs and 28 acquisitions including key companies like DocuSign, HubSpot and RingCentral. A lot of funds co-invest with World Innovation Lab, with names like New Enterprise Associates sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. World Innovation Lab has team of 35 people including 25 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Series A, Series B & 7 more
Portfolio IPOs
Portfolio Acquisitions
Portfolio Unicorns
Portfolio Soonicorns
World Innovation Lab's List of Top Investments
World Innovation Lab has a portfolio of 143 companies, including 22 unicorns. Their most notable investments are in Toreta and Harutaka.Their portfolio spans across United States, Japan, China and 7 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Retail and 31 other sectors, across stages such as Series A, Series B and 7 more. Here is the list of top investments by World Innovation Lab:
1. DocuSign
Provider of electronic signature and intelligent agreement management platform solutions. The platform offers tools for contract lifecycle management, agreement preparation, and agreement workflow automation. It provides features such as electronic notarization, web forms, and multi-channel delivery options. The platform extends its capabilities through integrations, APIs, and a mobile application.
Key facts about DocuSign
- Founded Year: 2003
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Annual Revenue: $1B+ as on Jan 31, 2026
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $520M
- Employee Count: 8,578 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: HTIF, Glynn Capital and 92 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Jul 20, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Public

2. HubSpot
Provider of a platform offering marketing, sales, and customer service software. The platform provides tools for marketing automation, sales management, and customer support. It offers an CRM as its core, integrating various hubs such as Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub, Operations Hub, and Commerce Hub, each providing specialized tools to enhance different aspects of customer management and business operations. Key features include a robust CRM supporting contact and deal management, email tracking, marketing email creation, and meeting scheduling.
Key facts about HubSpot
- Founded Year: 2005
- Location: Cambridge (United States)
- Annual Revenue: $1B+ as on Dec 31, 2025
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $101M
- Employee Count: 15,513 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Cross Creek, Fidelity Investments and 22 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Jun 02, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Public
3. RingCentral
Cloud based platform offering unified communication solutions. It offers products with features including video and audio conferencing, team messaging, screen or file sharing, online meeting management, real-time analytics, and live reports. The company caters to industries such as health care, education, finance, retail, government, nonprofit organizations, etc. It enables user access on a subscription-based pricing model.
Key facts about RingCentral
- Founded Year: 1999
- Location: Belmont (United States)
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $44M
- Employee Count: 6,671 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Adams Street Partners, GIC and 59 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Oct 21, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired

4. ElevenLabs
AI platform for speech, voice cloning, music, and AI agents. It provides tools for creating realistic speech, converting text to natural-sounding audio, cloning voices, generating music and sound effects, and building conversational AI agents. It serves developers, enterprises, and creators through APIs and integrated products designed for applications such as content production, customer support automation, media localization, and interactive AI experiences.
Key facts about ElevenLabs
- Founded Year: 2022
- Location: New York City (United States)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series D
- Total Funding till date: $822M
- Employee Count: 1,313 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Salesforce Ventures, Bond Capital and 51 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series D, Jun 17, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick

5. Mercari
Online marketplace platform for used multi-category products. The platform allows users to buy and sell products from different categories like fashion, beauty, sports, electronics, books, pet supplies, art supplies, home decor, office supplies, and more. The mobile application is available for Android and iOS users.
Key facts about Mercari
- Founded Year: 2013
- Location: Minato City (Japan)
- Annual Revenue: $1B+ as on Jun 30, 2026
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $114M
- Employee Count: 1,782 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: World Innovation Lab, Mitsui and 10 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Oct 12, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Public
World Innovation Lab's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
World Innovation Lab has invested in 143 companies over the last 12 years, with an average of 8 new investments annually in the last 10 years. In 2025, it made 13 investments, while as of Sep 2026, it has made 5 investments in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in PeopleX and most recent follow-on round was in Tive.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 5 | 0 | 5 |
2025 | 9 | 4 | 13 |
2024 | 11 | 5 | 16 |
2023 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
2022 | 8 | 6 | 14 |
2021 | 7 | 5 | 12 |
2020 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
2019 | 7 | 4 | 11 |
2018 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
2017 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
World Innovation Lab's Investments by Stage
World Innovation Lab has made 27 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $19.8M, 22 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $41.9M and 20 investments in Series C stage with an average round size of $82.3M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Series A | 27 |
Series B | 22 |
Series C | 20 |
Seed | 9 |
Series D | 5 |
Others | 8 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
World Innovation Lab's Investments by Sector
World Innovation Lab has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Consumer, Vertical SaaS and Enterprise Infrastructure. Notably, it has invested in 114 Tech companies, 99 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 91 Software companies and at least 62 companies focusing on Saas.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 55 |
High Tech | 15 |
Consumer | 14 |
Vertical SaaS | 14 |
Enterprise Infrastructure | 12 |
Others | 81 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
World Innovation Lab's Investments by Geography
World Innovation Lab has made most investments in United States (44), followed by Japan where it has made 39 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
United States | 44 |
Japan | 39 |
United Kingdom | 3 |
Argentina | 1 |
Finland | 1 |
Others | 4 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
World Innovation Lab's recent investments
World Innovation Lab has made 5 investments in 2026 so far. PeopleX and Lovable are the latest among them.Here are the most recent investments by World Innovation Lab:
Date | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep 02, 2026 | Japan | Series A | 5391 | [+3] | |
Aug 12, 2026 | Sweden | Series C | 6728 | [+12] | |
Aug 04, 2026 | Japan | Series C | 5829 | [+12] | |
Feb 27, 2026 | United States | Seed | 4285 | ||
Jan 14, 2026 | Japan | Series A | 4467 |
Unicorns in World Innovation Lab's Portfolio
World Innovation Lab has 22 unicorns in its portfolio - HappyRobot, Framer, Lovable and others. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is HappyRobot. It became a unicorn in 2026.Here is a list of unicorns in World Innovation Lab's portfolio:
Tracxn Score | Company | Short Description | Founded year | Sector | Location | Company Stage | First Investment/ Acquisition Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
59 | Developer of an AI operating system for autonomous business operations | 2023 | San Francisco | Series C | oorolkn | ||
70 | Provider of a no-code website builder with integrated content management | 2014 | Amsterdam | Series D | jvjfmjr | ||
66 | Developer of an AI platform for building applications and websites | 2023 | Stockholm | Series C | cjlee{z | ||
85 | AI platform for speech, voice cloning, music, and AI agents | 2022 | New York City | Series D | fpchboz | ||
69 | Developer of software for generating videos using artificial intelligence avatars | 2017 | London | Series E | lqrneno |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in World Innovation Lab's Portfolio
18 of World Innovation Lab's portfolio companies have become public. every got listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TYO), in Aug 2026 at marketcap of $28.7M and Digital Grid got listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TYO) at marketcap of $188M.Here are World Innovation Lab's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Aug 04, 2026 | - | - | 1869 | |
Apr 22, 2025 | - | - | 8479 | |
Dec 13, 2024 | Oct 06, 2015 | Series A | 6598 | |
Mar 26, 2024 | Jun 12, 2015 | Series A | 4996 | |
Oct 04, 2023 | - | - | 9495 |
Acquired companies in World Innovation Lab's Portfolio
28 companies from World Innovation Lab's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Fortinet in Aug 2026 by Virtue AI for $*****.Here are World Innovation Lab's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Aug 17, 2026 | - | - | 6378 | |
Dec 19, 2025 | - | - | 6203 | |
Nov 19, 2025 | May 17, 2022 | Series A | 8697 | |
Nov 04, 2025 | Apr 21, 2021 | Series C | 4034 | |
Jul 29, 2025 | May 12, 2022 | Series C | 7959 |
Team profile of World Innovation Lab
World Innovation Lab has a team of 35 members including 25 Partners, 1 Venture Partner and 4 Principals located in United States and Japan. World Innovation Lab's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of top team members in World Innovation Lab:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Palo Alto | - | - | |
Partner | San Francisco | - | ||
Partner | Tokyo | - | ||
Partner | Japan | - | ||
Partner | Palo Alto | - | ||
Partner | Tokyo | - | ||
Partner | Menlo Park | - | ||
Partner | Palo Alto | - | ||
Partner | Los Altos | - | ||
Partner | San Francisco | - | ||
Partner | - | - | - |
Co-investors of World Innovation Lab
Over the past 12 years, 926 investors have co-invested in World Innovation Lab's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before World Innovation Lab: Andreessen Horowitz, Accel and 471 others have invested in rounds before World Innovation Lab. There are 10 companies where Andreessen Horowitz has invested before World Innovation Lab and 6 companies where Accel has invested before World Innovation Lab.
- Top Co-investors of World Innovation Lab: 241 investors entered a company along with World Innovation Lab. These include investors like New Enterprise Associates (4 companies).
- Invested after World Innovation Lab: A total of 212 investors have invested in World Innovation Lab's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Salesforce Ventures (5 companies), Mitsubishi UFJ Capital (5 companies) and Goldman Sachs (4 companies).
Recent News related to World Innovation Lab
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Aqua Theon Secures $13M Seed Round to Expand OoMee Marine Plant-Based BeverageFoodBev Media•Feb 27, 2026•Aqua Theon, Sparks Asset Management, Beyond Next Ventures, World Innovation Lab and 2 others
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Taxnap, provider of tax return app, raises 1.3 billion yen in Series A round.Startup Log•Jan 14, 2026•Archetype Ventures, WiL, Taxnap, Mizuho Financial Group and 2 others
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Lightsmith Group backs Tive to climate-proof global supply chainsImpactAlpha•Jan 13, 2026•AVP, Tive, The Lightsmith Group, Sageview Capital and 2 others
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Tabs Raises $55M Series B in FundingFinSMEs•Sep 16, 2025•Tabs, Lightspeed Venture Partners, World Innovation Lab, General Catalyst and 2 others
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HappyRobot raises USD $44 million to boost AI for supply chainsIT Brief UK•Sep 03, 2025•HappyRobot, Base10 Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Array Ventures and 14 others
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Sherpa & Company raises 1 billion yen in Series B round 1st closeStartup Log•Aug 28, 2025•Global Brain, Canon, , SmartESG and 2 others
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Amsterdam’s Framer raises $100M at $2B valuationSilicon Canals•Aug 28, 2025•Framer, Atomico, HV Capital, Meritech and 3 others
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Goldman Sachs leads $50m series F of Japan-US legal AI startupTech in Asia•Jul 26, 2025•LegalOn Technologies, World Innovation Lab, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, Mizuho Financial Group and 3 others
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LegalOn secures $50m to expand AIVerdict•Jul 25, 2025•LegalOn Technologies, World Innovation Lab, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, Mizuho Financial Group and 2 others
