Kotaro Chiba doesn't just invest in drones—he flies them, holding pilot licenses in Japan and the U.S., owning dozens of drones, and earning a rare Japanese super license after starting out flying a toy drone every day; he was also the first person in Japan to own a HondaJet and the first private buyer of SkyDrive's SD-05 flying vehicle. Beyond the cockpit, he built Chiba Dojo, a community for founders built on trust and a symbolic blood oath meant to keep it running well beyond his own involvement, and he once wore a kimono to a government meeting on flying cars to show pride in Japanese culture.
About their Fund
Drone Fund is one of the only venture funds in Japan or abroad built entirely around the vision of a drone and air mobility-based society, and it goes beyond investing by offering regulatory support and running a community for portfolio companies, including twice-yearly Chiba Dojo Drone Club camps where founders share operating challenges in a market still too small to navigate alone. Its track record includes being named the top drone investor in the world by deal count over the past decade, a first fund that returned about 85.2% in four years, and a portfolio that has grown from drone makers into air mobility, ground and aquatic robotics, with notable investments in noise-reduction startup Dotterel, delivery-drone company Wingcopter, and warehouse-robot startup LexxPluss.
















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