Beyond Next Ventures Inc. (Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Founder CEO / Managing Partner: Tsuyoshi Ito) is pleased to announce our investment in Visban, Inc. (Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, CEO & Co-founder: S.B. Cha) as part of the company’s Series A3 funding round. The total amount raised by Visban in this round reached JPY 350 million (approximately USD 2.24 million).

About Visban

While 5G adoption continues to expand, high-frequency bands such as millimeter waves (mmWave, such as the 28 GHz band) face challenges in providing sufficient coverage because the signals attenuate easily and are highly susceptible to physical obstructions such as buildings.

Visban is a startup supporting the implementation of next-generation networks for telecommunications carriers and industrial applications. They combine Network-Controlled Repeater (NCR) technology, which compensates for the “connectivity gaps” in mmWave communication, with specialized control software called AI Orchestrator.

The company is developing infrastructure technology to bridge the “last-mile” of communication in the fields expected to grow as promising 5G use cases, including fixed wireless access (FWA), local 5G, and beyond-5G/6G networks.

A key differentiator is Visban’s application of “glass substrates,” commonly used in display manufacturing technology, to communication antennas. Through this, the company aims to achieve both cost efficiency and high performance while keeping its product compact. The company is building a distributed network called “V-MESH” that controls and optimizes groups of NCRs to eliminate mmWave blind spots and achieve a more stable communication environment without requiring major changes to the underlying network.

Website: https://visban.com/

Background of the Investment

The ongoing evolution of the digital society continues to push the demand for data communication capacity. mmWave and higher-frequency spectrum bands will enable high-speed, large-capacity mobile communications needed to fulfil the demands of future digital societies.

The physical properties of high-frequency radio waves, however, make it challenging to deliver signals reliably to users’ devices. Achieving broad coverage technically requires deploying a large number of base stations, which significantly undermines investment ROI and has become a major barrier to widespread adoption. It’s also one of the most fundamental challenges that the mobile communications industry faces today.

Visban tackles this bottleneck from an entirely new angle by bringing in technologies from outside the conventional telecommunications equipment industry, specifically the use of glass substrates and AI-based system-level orchestration. The company’s business directly confronts the fundamental challenges inherent to the industry, and therefore has substantial potential for transformative impact.

We believe Visban has the potential to drive meaningful change across a wide range of industries and areas of daily life. Based on this conviction, we decided to invest in the company.

Comments from Beyond Next Ventures

Tsuyoshi Ito (Founder CEO / Managing Partner) and Hiroyuki Kageyama (Principal)
To meet rising demand for connectivity, utilizing higher-frequency spectrum is essential. However, the higher the frequency, the harder it becomes to deliver signals to user devices. This fundamental contradiction has already emerged as a major bottleneck to the broader adoption of 5G. The player that truly resolves this challenge will become a leader shaping the next generation of the mobile communications industry.

Visban’s technology is a prime example of “new combinations of knowledge,” introducing glass-substrate technology into the telecommunications industry. We made this investment because we are convinced that their approach can offer a unique solution to challenges the industry has faced for many years. Visban’s vision for mobile communications architecture represents the future itself, and we are committed to supporting the team as they work toward the day when society witnesses a new era of connectivity.

About Beyond Next Ventures Inc.

Creating the beyond next society; enabling exceptional people solving global challenges.
Beyond Next Ventures is a deep-tech venture capital firm dedicated to translating scientific breakthroughs into real-world impact and building a virtuous cycle in which the value created fuels the next wave of innovation. We manage JPY 48 billion (approximately US$320 million) in funds focused on deep-tech startups. Through our proprietary company creation capabilities—including executive talent matching, and the TECHNIUM Global Conference that convenes key stakeholders from Japan and around the world—we strengthen a deep-tech innovation ecosystem and accelerate the commercialization of research outcomes in collaboration with industry, academia, and government.

• Head Office: 3-7-2 Nihonbashi Honcho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, MFPR Nihonbashi Honcho Building, 3rd Floor
• Subsidairy: Galaxy-Wework, 43, Residency Road, Shanthala Nagar Ashok Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India – 560025
• Representative: Founder CEO / Managing Partner Tsuyoshi Ito , Managing Director / General Partner Kengo Ueha
• Established: August 2014
• Business: Investment and growth support for deep tech startups in Japan and India, support for the commercialization of research seeds, cultivation and formation of management talent and teams, operation of shared wet labs, etc.
• Website: https://beyondnextventures.com