AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Forum Japan 2023
The premier private equity & venture forum in Japan
The Conrad, Tokyo and online
28
Jun
Venture capital: The next level
Japan’s VC managers are being asked the same questions as their global peers on valuation policies, portfolio exposure, and exit timelines. Beneath the surface, however, there remains a sense that the country’s start-up ecosystem is at an inflection point; that the investment opportunity, especially in areas like deep technology, has barely been tapped. Our panellists consider the characteristics that will define the next generation of local start-ups and how quickly they can achieve global scale.
- What makes Japan an attractive market for venture capital?
- Which will deliver the most alpha: deep tech, climate tech, or biotech?
- What has happened to growth-stage funding?
- How are investing thinking through their exit options?
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SpeakersKazushige Kobayashi Managing Director MCP ASSET MANAGEMENT
Yuka Hata Senior Managing Director, Head of Fund Investments JAPAN INVESTMENT CORPORATION
Satoshi Fukushima Partner GLOBIS CAPITAL PARTNERS
Kiichiro DeLuca Head of Research WERU INVESTMENT
BT Slingsby Founder & Managing Director CATALYS PACIFIC
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Kazushige has over 30 years of experience in the private equity (PE) business. Kazushige is handling a couple of PE-related businesses in parallel.
He joined MCP Asset Management in 2020 and manages 2 fund of funds programs of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government including a climate tech VC program.
In addition, he serves as an advisor for a couple of GPs including Rhone, a global mid-market PE fund, as an independent consultant.
Until 2020, he was Managing Director – Head of Primary Investments at Capital Dynamics (CD), a global private asset management company. He oversaw CD’s PE investments in Asia and also served as a member of the Global PE Investment Committee and Executive Committee.
Before joining CD in 2010, he worked for Mitsubishi Corporation, and as a part of that, he served as President and CEO of Alternative Investment Capital (AIC), a private equity advisory firm in Tokyo. AIC was established in 2002 and has grown AIC as a globally recognized PE investor.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Hitotsubashi University.
Yuka Hata is a Senior Managing Director and heads Fund Investment Team at Japan Investment Corporation (“JIC”).
Ms. Hata joined JIC in July 2020 in order to build and support Japan’ private equity / venture capital ecosystem as well as to provide the risk capital with the investment funds which bring Japan’s industry to the next stage. Prior to joining JIC, as a co-head of private equity, Ms. Hata worked for Nissay Asset Management where she was mainly responsible for European small-mid buyout, GP stake investments, secondary and Japan’s VC funds. She also worked for Nomura Asset Management (or Nomura Private Equity Capital) and managed fund of funds focused on Asia market as a member of Investment Committee.
Ms. Hata is a Chartered Member of the Security Analysts Association of Japan., and received a B.A. in Environmental Information from Keio University and an M.B.A. from Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales-HEC in Paris.
Satoshi Fukushima is Partner at Globis Capital Partners (GCP). He leads investments in problem-solving startups with a focus on healthcare and life-style sector as well as fund-raising of GCP 7th fund (JPY 73B). His track record includes Medley (4480) and acting as a board member of AI Medical Services (Endoscopy AI), Kakehashi (SaaS for pharmacies), SDP (Clinic group specializing in surgery), justInCase (Mobile&AI based insurance), White Plus (Online dry cleaning) and Yoriso (Online platform for seniors). Prior to joining GCP in 2014, he worked at Deutsche Securities Inc. where he was acting as FA for SoftBank and other tech-companies’ fundraising and cross-border M&A transactions. He received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Tokyo in 2007.
Kiichiro is a venture capitalist at WERU Investment, the oldest university affiliated venture capital firm in Japan. He leads investment research at the firm, covering a broad range of technology and industry domains. He serves on the board of multiple portfolio companies including LeoLabs and Confidencial, leading startups in the space and cybersecurity domains.
Prior to joining WERU Investment, Kiichiro led technology-focused business development efforts at startups in the US and Japan. He began his career as an aerospace engineer working on spacecraft development at NASA/JPL and industry. Kiichiro holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering with Highest Honors from Georgia Tech
BT Slingsby is Founder and Managing Director with Catalys Pacific.
He founded Catalys Pacific to transform life-sciences innovation in Japan using transpacific bioventure. He is a physician-scientist and biotechnology entrepreneur leading the company creation efforts for the firm. Prior to Catalys Pacific, he founded the Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund – the world’s first public-private fund focused on the development of new medicines for low- and middle-income countries. In his role as CEO and Executive Director at the GHIT Fund, he deployed over 100 investments and grew the fund to $350M in capital. Previously, he was global head of access strategy at Eisai Co., Ltd. where he led market access strategy for global products and managed a portfolio of anti-infective clinical programs.
He graduated from Brown University with honors, earned his M.P.H. and Ph.D. from Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo, and received his M.D. with honors from the George Washington University. In recognition of his contributions to global health, he has been awarded a Foreign Ministry Commendation from the Government of Japan. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles on medicine and public health and currently lectures at the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University.