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Message from our CEO
Thank you for your interest in &Capital. We wish to express through our corporate name, capital that engages the potential of “and” to co-create the realization of a vision — a people-centric impact ecosystem for sustainable growth and well-being that we can pass on to the next generation.
OUR “&” PURPOSE / MISSION
We came into existence to pioneer new channels for investments with the intent of positive impact “&” prosperity, accompanied by like-minded partners to achieve a better tomorrow than today. These channels will be co-created, Africa “&” Japan. We will develop and manage a private “&” public sector global initiative that will be “made with Japan” for impact investing in early-growth stage start-ups in Africa.
OUR “&” INVESTMENT APPROACH
We believe that impact investment is an “&” approach. Impact investment incorporates the traditional two-dimensional risk (uncertainty) / return (profitability) “&” impact with intent as the third dimension.
Our “&” investment approach will incorporate financial analysis such as future cashflow expectations as well as an impact model as a driver for value creation in all investment decisions made. Our intent is not to burden our investees with excessive disclosure requirements, but rather to co-work with them to develop material impact metrics that will be KPIs for monitoring and creating enterprise value.
We will take an “&” approach of making direct investments into start-ups in the early-growth stage in Africa, originating on the continent or from Japan as well as investments through fund-of-funds in the impact space in Africa.
Our target investment themes will include health care, food security (nutrition, agriculture), sustainable energy, vocational training, and women empowerment, where we believe all will have components of “&” finance “&” technology as enablers of impact.
We will actively develop trusted “&” relationships with local partners so that our regional coverage shall be Pan-Africa.
OUR “&” STORY
Our “&” story has just begun. But the beginnings of this story have taken five years in the making, where a team of young investment professionals aspired to launch a public-private sector impact fund into the emerging markets. Since our challenge was unprecedented in Japan we faced numerous difficulties, but the project regained momentum when it merged with the aspiration by the Africa Project Team at Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives) to deliver a sound proposal to entice a new form direct investments into Africa.
At TICAD 8 held in Tunisia in August 2022, the proposal to create an impact fund as a new flow of capital for Africa was received quite well by leaders from Africa and development financial institutions. In the follow-up session at Africa Development Bank’s “Africa Investment Forum” held in Abidjan in November 2022, AfDB and Keizai Doyukai signed a letter of intent to foster closer collaboration and to strengthen business ties between Japan and Africa, thereby agreeing to cooperate in the co-creation of an impact ecosystem.
&Capital Inc. was established on January 6, 2023, by the founding principals, with follow-on capitalization expected during spring 2023 by the members of the Africa Project Team at Keizai Doyukai. Governance will be assured by experienced top-level corporate and legal executives. We are targeting our first close of our fund during spring to early summer of 2023.
(Note: &Capital Inc. is the investment management entity, not Keizai Doyukai the organization)
Our “&” story has just begun. Yet, with our partners aspiring for the co-creation of impact, we expect that it will develop into a great saga.
Team
LinkedIn
Ken Shibusawa
Founder and CEO
Ken is a seasoned entrepreneur in the investment industry in Japan and is well recognized for bridging the social sector and business. After gaining financial market experience in the late 1980s and through 1990s at JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Moore Capital, a global macro hedge fund, Ken founded in 2001, Shibusawa and Company, Inc., currently an advisory firm engaging multi-stakeholder dialogue.
In 2007, Ken also founded Commons, presently Commons Asset Management, a mutual fund dedicated to deliver cross-generational long-term investments to the Japanese household and to support social entrepreneurship in Japan through its Commons SEEDCap program.
Ken joined Keizai Doyukai “Japan Association of Corporate Executives” in 2002 (director since 2004), where he has participated in the Africa committee since 2012 (presently vice chairman of the Africa PT). In 2016, he collaborated with other like-minded members of the committee to establish Entre Africa Japon, a program to support Japanese entrepreneurs in Africa.
He is founding member of the GSG “Global Steering for Impact Investment”National Advisory Board in Japan established in 2014, and he was also named as board member of the newly founded International Foundation for Valuing Impact in 2022.
His additional roles include senior advisor to Brunswick Group (global strategic advisory firm), external auditing director to Higo Bank, external director to MICIN (med-tech venture), advisor to the Office of the President at the University of Tokyo, steering group member of UNDP SDG Impact, member of the Council for New Form of Capitalism, established by Prime Minister Kishida, and chairs Study Group on Impact Investment for Global Health at the Cabinet Office. He was also named as special advisor to the ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board) chair. He is also a published author in Japan, mostly relating to the philosophies of his great-great grandfather, Eiichi Shibusawa, known as the “father of Japanese capitalism.”
Ken earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Texas in 1983 and his MBA from UCLA Graduate School of Business in 1987.
LinkedIn
Akira Satoh
Founder and CIO
Akira established & Capital with Ken Shibusawa on January 6, 2023, as a founding principal.
Since 2017, Akira has been collaborating with Ken and building a diverse network related to impact investing, ranging from start-ups, large-cap corporations, and venture capitals, to establish a full-fledged impact fund focused on emerging markets. In 2022, Akira participated in a working group and a preparatory committee meeting of the Keizai Doyukai’s Africa PT with objectives to launch an Africa-specific impact fund.
In 2012, Akira joined INCJ (formerly Innovation Network Corporation of Japan), a semi-governmental investment fund in Japan. Early in his career at INCJ, Akira worked on domestic reorganization deals, foreign co-investment transactions with Japanese major corporations and start-up investments. He moved to the Venture Growth Investment Group of INCJ in 2016 and participated in venture investments including a carve-out deal from a domestic large-cap corporation. Akira transferred INCJ’s stakes in multiple investee companies to domestic big businesses. He was also involved in an IPO of Microwave Chemical Co., Ltd.
He started his career at Daiwa Securities SMBC, a Japanese investment bank, and then worked at UBS Securities. During his time at both investment banks, he served as an M&A banker and was involved in domestic and overseas M&A transactions in diverse industry segments.
At elementary school, Akira was moved by programs created by World Healthcare Organization and decided that he wanted to contribute to the development of the African continent by providing philanthropic support in the future. That decision was shifted from “donation/support” point of view to “investment & cooperation” approach to create a sustainable society, giving opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment for life thus helping society as a whole. As such, Akira determined to choose a role “creating co-existence with impact and prosperity” as his life-long career goal.
Akira graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo in 2007.
Corporate Profile
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Corporate Name
&Capital Inc.
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Date of Establishment
January 6, 2023
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Executive Director
Ken Shibusawa Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Akira Satoh Founder and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) -
Non-Executive Director
Mutsuo Iwai Chairperson of the Board, Japan Tobacco Inc.
Toshiyuki Shiga Chairman and CEO Member of the Board, INCJ, Ltd. -
Independent Auditor
Masaru Ono Of Counsel, Nishimura ＆ Asahi
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Business Description
(1) Management of LPS
(2) Cultivation of human resources
(3) Consulting services
(4) Other businesses pertaining to each of the above items -
Address
5F, Hirakawa-cho K Bldg, Hirakawa-cho 2-4-5, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0093, Japan c/o Shibusawa and Company, Inc.