Takeshi Kodama is a founding member, executive manager and head of business strategy and investment at 31Ventures, Japan-based real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan’s corporate venture capital (CVC) department with over $400m under management plus undisclosed budget for strategic fund-of-funds investments. He has been in this role since April 2015.
Kodama, who is a member of Japan Venture Capital Association’s Open Innovation Committee, said 31Ventures now runs three funds and one budget pool for strategic limited partner VC fund investments.
On his CVC journey, Kodama said: “I would say I am one of the first penguins in the real estate industry because most developers and landlords usually focus on opening co-working and innovation spaces rather than operating CVCs.”
To date, the unit has achieved numerous success stories, according to Kodama, who said: “As for the quantitative aspect, 31Ventures has three initial public offerings on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, three positive mergers and acquisitions from shy of 50 portfolio companies so far. The total equity multiple including LP investments is more than 1.20.”
Among 31Ventures’ recent investments have been CompStak, a database provider for commercial real estate leases in the US market, and Japanese 3D viewing technology developer Photosynth.
Kodama had previously been based in New York at the company’s US subsidiary, Mitsui Fudosan America, as director of acquisitions.
He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Waseda University in Tokyo as well as a certificate in business excellence (CIBE) from Columbia Business School in New York.
