Shinzo Nakano has been the president and CEO of Itochu Technology Ventures (ITV), the corporate venture capital (CVC) offshoot of Japanese trading conglomerate Itochu Corporation, for the past seven years.
Nakano was responsible for setting up the unit in 2000 but returned to another Itochu subsidiary, the Silicon Valley-based Itochu Technology, six years later. After a subsequent stint as the general manager of the IT business department for the parent, he resumed control of ITV in 2015.
ITV has launched five technology venture funds to date, the most recent raising $100m in 2019. ITV says it leverages Itochu Corporation’s vast network of industry resources and global market expertise in major industrial sectors to maximise the growth of portfolio value through sales and new business development support.
It adds: “Our ultimate goal is the financial return from our investments, and our decision to back entrepreneurs is based on future high growth potential. Our decision-making process enables us to make investments with speed and flexibility in a wide range of fields.”
Among the unit’s recent deals, it has taken part in the $10m series B round for OriCiro Genomics, a genome technology developer headquartered in Tokyo, and a role in the $1m seed round for a customer success SaaS developer, Openpage. Other current portfolio companies include EditForce, a developer of pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins and versatile DNA/RNA editing tools, and retail finance technology firm MFS.
Nakano has a bachelor of arts in law from Keio University in Tokyo.
