JAPAN IMPACT
INVESTING NETWORK
JAPAN IMPACT
INVESTING NETWORK
BUSINESS X IMPACT
We are a network of entrepreneurs, investors and supporters of global business with impact.
Connected to Japan. Working globally.
OUR MISSION
J-IIN’s mission is to encourage and support entrepreneurs and investors who want to build impactful, scalable business beyond Japan by creating a network to share practical experiences, case-studies and insights on current global topics related to impact and critical to solving global environmental and social issues.
We believe that ensuring positive impact on both people and the planet is an essential part of business and investment decisions – alongside a financial return commensurate with the risk.
We aim to help both entrepreneurs and investors
- Come together for frank and direct discussion of experiences with impact strategy and investing
- Decide on ways to rigorously measure, demonstrate and increase impact
- Attract investment and partners by being able to demonstrate both their financial strength and deep impact.
As the practice of business and investment with impact grows, we envision capital increasingly directed towards solving the most urgent global issues, particularly within emerging markets.
WHAT WE DO
What is Business with Impact?
Business with impact is a business approach that aims to generate positive social and environmental outcomes while also generating risk-adjusted financial returns.
Business with impact is often considered a further evolution of the traditional concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), corporate philanthropy and ESG investing. In a business with impact strategy, businesses engage both in building stable and scalable businesses and in rigorously measuring, monitoring and reporting impact.
Business with impact is a paradigm shift. Instead of seeing social and environmental issues as risks to manage, businesses see them as opportunities to be seized. These companies target positive social and environmental impact as an intentional aspect of their business strategy.
Japan is no exception.
We see a growing number of investors and businesses in Japan interested in the concept of business with impact. And yet, we also see a need for more opportunities for direct dialogue between entrepreneurs and investors to develop a "common language" to discuss their objectives.
J-IIN aims to create a forum to share the success stories and failures, to learn how investors or businesses outside Japan have tackled their challenges and measured their impact and how Japanese businesses are active globally.
PRACTICE
Business with Impact
Promote the practice of long-term, scalable business with positive impact by encouraging direct dialogue between the entrepreneurs and corporates in the J-IIN network.
EDUCATE
Measure Impact
Provide opportunities to discuss examples of sustainable business with impact and explore practical ways to measure impact, track data and deepen impact.
COLLABORATE
Support Ecosystem Development
Support the development of business with impact from Japan, by connecting entrepreneurs, investors and their supporters with opportunities and experiences globally.
WHO WE ARE
We are a network of entrepreneurs, investors and supporters of global business with impact. Connected to Japan. Working globally.
Takuro Kimura
Founder
Takuro’s experience includes two decades at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and included posts in Washington, Tokyo and Cairo. The IFC is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, offering investment and advisory services to support private-sector development in emerging markets. Takuro was Global Head, Manufacturing from 2011—2014 and had previously held senior positions covering agribusiness, services and energy (oil, gas and mining) across all continents. After returning from Washington to Tokyo, Takuro was the Managing Director at Orix Corporation’s Global Business Development and Investment Group, focusing on investment in emerging economies with a focus on agriculture value chains, healthcare and related logistics.
Takuro is a graduate of Kyoto University’s law faculty, completed graduate work at the Ecole Superieure du Commerce de Paris (ESCP) and received his MBA from ISA-HEC in France. He began his career at Sanwa Bank in Tokyo and later joined the IFC-managed Africa Enterprise Fund, focusing on SME investment consulting in Sub-Saharan Africa, based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He is currently the CEO of G-Cubed Partners, focusing on support for sustainable investing in emerging markets.
Sawa Nakagawa
Founder
Sawa is the Founder & Partner of ThreeArrows Impact Partner, a specialized advisory firm focused on impact investing and social innovation based in Johannesburg. She has over 17 years of financial services experience across impact investing, general management, investment banking, and strategy. Originally from Japan, she has worked in Asia, Europe, Africa, U.S. and Latin America. Previously Sawa served as Chief Executive Officer of E2 Investments (Pty) Ltd, an impact investment company with a mission to create jobs and attack poverty in South Africa. Before moving to South Africa, she worked at the International Finance Corporation in Washington D.C. where her investment projects included creating blended finance mechanisms in emerging markets in a financially, socially, and environmentally sustainable manner.
Sawa serves as non-executive director of Spartan SME Finance, a non-banking financial institution that lends exclusively to SMEs and entrepreneurs in South Africa and as Independent Member on the Board Investment Committee of the National Empowerment Fund, a South African government agency that invests in entrepreneurs from historically disadvantaged backgrounds. Sawa holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Masters in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
Toshi Masuoka
Founder
Toshi has rich experience in investment, advisory, strategy and impact measurement in emerging markets from his over 30 years of career at International Finance Corporation (IFC). He held key leadership positions as director for IFC’s operational strategy, technical assistance and corporate advisory, and impact framework and measurement. He was involved in various transactions in private infrastructure, general manufacturing, services and financial markets in Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. For the last 9 years of his time at IFC, Toshi founded and led the Inclusive Business initiative to catalyze the growth of inclusive businesses – commercially viable and scalable businesses with positive social and economic impact at the base of economic pyramid.
He is the co-funder and chairman of G-Cubed Partners, LLC, a Japanese seed investment and advisory company focusing on investments in emerging markets. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School, and a BA in Economics from Waseda University.
Meros Consulting
Founders
Chisa Ogura, Ayako Kuroki, Lucia Vancura and Tina Peneva founded Tokyo-based Meros Consulting in 2016 to support innovation and investment in global food and agriculture. Their work spans the entire food and agriculture value chain, working with farmers, entrepreneurs, global corporations and investors, as well as governments and international development agencies to create market links, develop agribusiness strategies and understand trade challenges in global agriculture. Their team has experience in over 40 countries, with a focus on “on-the-ground” field work and industry assessment.
The Meros Team joins J-IIN as entrepreneurs themselves, with deep experience helping businesses grow in new international markets and linking farmers and agribusiness in emerging markets with global markets. Meros advises investors and corporates in evaluating opportunities and challenges in global agribusiness, one of the core areas ripe for impact investing.
