Z Venture Capital ("ZVC") is pleased to announce its investment in Melife and Melife Support (collectively, the “Melife Group”).

The transaction is a buyout led by Boost Capital, with ZVC participating as a co-investor. The Melife Group operates approximately 150 Chamber of Commerce computer schools across Japan. ZVC decided to participate in the transaction as part of its all-stage investment strategy, which allows us to invest flexibly in outstanding businesses and management teams, regardless of company stage or transaction structure.

Why We Invested

Bringing AI to a Nationwide, Community-Based Platform

Over the past 20 years, the Melife Group has built a nationwide network of approximately 150 schools and earned the trust of the local communities it serves. This combination of physical presence and long-standing community relationships is a valuable asset that cannot easily be replicated. ZVC believes that established businesses with deep roots in the physical world have significant untapped potential to evolve through AI. This opportunity was a key factor in our decision to invest.

Expanding Our All-Stage Investment Approach

Since its establishment in 2012, ZVC has invested across all stages, from seed to late stage. At the heart of this approach is our commitment to supporting exceptional businesses and management teams with flexible capital, regardless of their stage or the structure of the transaction. Our participation in this private equity-style buyout is a natural extension of that strategy.

Potential Collaboration with the LY Corporation Group

Many of the Melife Group’s students are seniors living in communities across Japan. Its nationwide network provides a rare platform for helping people discover, through in-person learning, how digital tools can make their everyday lives easier and more fulfilling. ZVC will explore opportunities for future collaboration with the LY Corporation Group’s wide range of services, while supporting initiatives that make digital tools more accessible to people in communities throughout Japan.

Comment from Masaki Yuda, Partner at Z Venture Capital

The learning experiences taking place every day across approximately 150 schools nationwide are among the Melife Group’s greatest assets in the age of AI. We believe that AI and other technologies can help us support more people on their learning journeys and open up new possibilities for them. Together with Boost Capital, our fellow investors, and the management team and employees of the Melife Group, we look forward to bringing this vision to life.