Football star Keisuke Honda sets up VC fund - Ex-AC Milan player in talks to raise US$100mil

Aiming high: Staff prepare for a test at satellite-launch startup Interstellar Technologies in Japan. Honda says his fund won’t have rivals in his home country. — AFP

TOKYO: Former star football player Keisuke Honda, a rare Japanese athlete-turned-angel-investor, is in talks to raise as much as 15 billion yen for his first fund wholly dedicated to startups in his home country.

The X&KSK Fund plans to invest in about 30 Japanese startups. It seeks to identify at least one that will eventually reach a valuation of US$10bil, Honda said in an interview.