TOKYO — Keisuke Honda, a former player on Japanese national soccer team, is launching a fund, a fund to invest in Japanese startups, with deployment of capital expected to start as early as February.

The fund aims to raise 15 billion yen ($101 million) by the end of the year, primarily from domestic and foreign institutional investors. Observers are focused on how Honda will capitalize on his global network of human contacts, as well as business and investment experience and expertise honed by the fund’s partners in Silicon Valley, to ensure strong performance.