The global pandemic has put a spotlight on people’s longing for wellness and well-being. Niremia Collectivea Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, is capitalizing on this—and the gender disparity in VC—with its first fund of $22.5 million in equity commitments.
Niremia Collective is the latest female-led debut fund, joining the likes of New Fare Partners and Curate Capital, Pact, Double Down and f7 Ventures.
Founders Naoko Okumoto and Nichol Bradford met in 2018 and worked on various projects before coming together as investors to support pre-seed and seed-stage startups focused on well-being technology.
Niremia takes its name from the combination of “iremia”, 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 people to be the best version of themselves. Investing in technology enables people to tap into that human potential.”
Okumoto, who spent 17 years working with major technology companies, has a storied history of investing and building businesses in the US and Japan. He previously managed US investment and collective community impact for Mistletoe Venture Partners, a social impact fund founded by Taizo Son. Okumoto was also the CEO of Amber Bridge Partners, a consulting firm specializing in cross-border business development, investment and operations.
Bradford, who also worked in technology and venture capital, worked in the video game industry, working at Disney Interactive and Vivendi Games. While in corporate strategy at Vivendi, he was part of the deal team on Activision Blizzard’s merger with Microsoft. She is also the founder of Transformative Tech, which bills itself as “the world’s largest ecosystem in well-being technology” with approximately 9,000 members in 72 countries.
Mistletoe Venture Partners is one of the limited partners of the new fund, which includes domestic and international corporate and institutional investors, including Shionogi Pharmaceuticals and MIXI Inc.
As the global wellness market poised to reach $8.5 trillion by 2027, Niremia Collective intends to provide capital and management resources to high-growth startups. Additionally, the company wants to incubate new businesses and be a resource for those planning to enter the industry.
“We invest in mental, social and emotional well-being as well as human purpose and performance,” Bradford said. “These are all human capabilities and technology. This is how we heal, thrive and reach our highest potential as humans. You have to be mentally healthy to be able to do that.”
Niremia Collective has made 12 investments since its debut so far. These include Feno, which offers oral care services powered by artificial intelligence. Tripp, a VR/XR wellness platform. and DeepWell, which specializes in mental health treatment using gaming.
