Rakuten Capital - for Global Innovation

About Rakuten Capital

Rakuten Capital is the corporate venture capital arm of Rakuten Group, a global leader in internet services headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
Launched in 2014, Rakuten Capital invests and operational support to its portfolio companies worldwide. Rakuten Capital has invested globally in more than 70 companies, including Careem, Carousell, GoTo, Lyft, Pinterest and Upstart.
Rakuten Group provides more than 70 services across a wide range of fields, including the following: e-commerce, mobile services, travel, digital content, FinTech services including credit cards, banking, securities, e-money, and cashless payments and professional sports. By seamlessly linking these services through Rakuten membership, we have formed a truly unique “Rakuten Ecosystem.”

Transformative Business: Focus on transformative products and technologies especially in the fields of Commerce, Communications, Marketing, Financial Services, Mobility and Healthcare.

Founder Friendly Support: With access to Rakuten’s ecosystem of more than 70 services, global businesses and technology expertise across Asia, Europe and the Americas, Rakuten Capital provides financial, operational and strategic support for founders and entrepreneurs.

Data Friendly Approach: Utilizing consumer and industry data extensively accumulated within Rakuten’s ecosystem, Rakuten Capital explores a truly unique investment strategy with exceptional support to all of its portfolio companies.

Our Fund（Strategy)

Investing across the IT sector, Rakuten Ventures partners with early and growth-stage startups to build services that can have a lasting impact in an increasingly competitive digital age. Rakuten Ventures combines the objectivity and network of traditional venture funds with the unique access to Rakuten’s global businesses to help portfolio companies unlock the distribution and expertise necessary to stay ahead of the curve.

Fund Size	US$ 200 Million (Global) JPY 10 Billion (Japan)
Sector	Information Technology
Stage	Early to Growth Stage
Geographic Coverage	Global

Rakuten FinTech Fund invests in disruptive financial services startups across the world. The fund targets investments in innovative financial services businesses that offer attractive return potential. The FinTech Fund leverages Rakuten’s expertise in financial services, including card and payments services, banking, insurance, securities and asset management to help portfolio companies grow and expand into new markets.

Fund Size	US $100 Million
Sector	Payments, Lending, Asset Management, FX / Remittances, Insurance, Blockchain and other emerging technologies
Stage	Early to Mid Stage
Geographic Coverage	Global

Rakuten Global EC Fund invests in e-commerce startups and merchants internationally. The aim of the fund is to create and grow e-commerce businesses together by leveraging data and resources of the Rakuten Ecosystem.

Sector	EC (Manufacturers, Wholesalers, Retailers, Marketplace Operators, C2C platforms and more)
Stage	Early to Late Stage
Geographic Coverage	Global

Rakuten Mobility Investment focus on disruptive ridesharing startups and mobility platforms across the world. The investment platform targets early to late stage investments in innovative companies that offer attractive return potential.

Sector	Mobility
Stage	Early to Late Stage
Geographic Coverage	Global

Rakuten Strategic Investment focuses on transformative startups who potentially have game changing technology or products and demonstrate strategic synergies to Rakuten’s global ecosystem. Rakuten Capital commits to provide startups with strategic support to grow further and faster, which could also aid in expanding the Rakuten ecosystem.

Stage	Growth Stage
Geographic Coverage	Global

TEAM

President / Managing Partner

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Seiichiro Sonoda

President of Investment Company

Seiichiro Sonoda

Executive Officer of Rakuten Group, Inc.
President of Investment Company
Director of Corporate Strategy Supervisory Department
Director of Financial Business Supervisory Department

Seiichiro is President of Investment Company, where he is responsible for leading Rakuten Capital's various investment funds, including Rakuten Ventures, Rakuten FinTech Fund, Rakuten Global EC Fund, Rakuten Mobility Investments, and Rakuten Strategic Investments. He also leads Corporate Development Department (M&A and alliance) and is responsible for Corporate Strategy Development and Financial Business Supervisory.
Seiichiro joined Rakuten in 2010 and has held various executive positions, including Vice President of Rakuten USA, CFO of Ebates, CFO of Rakuten Card USA, and Senior Executive Officer of Rakuten Card. He has led post-merger integration of acquired overseas businesses, spending six and a half years in the US and two years in Canada.
Before joining Rakuten, Seiichiro worked at Industrial Bank of Japan (now Mizuho Bank). He earned his MBA at International University of Japan and his LL.B. at Waseda University.
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Oskar Mielczarek de la Miel

FinTech Fund/Mobility Investments

Oskar Mielczarek de la Miel

Managing Partner, Rakuten FinTech Fund
Senior Executive Officer of Rakuten Group, Inc.

Oskar is the Managing Partner in charge of Rakuten’s growth venture investments in industries such as Fintech, Mobility, Digital Media, and Healthcare.
Previously, Oskar acquired extensive investment, advisory and operational experience in the financial industry, including banking at JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch, private equity and retail financial services in North America and Europe. Oskar is responsible for Rakuten’s mobility investments, including ride-sharing leaders Lyft and Careem, as well as leading on-demand delivery leader Glovo.
Other key investments sourced include Fintech disruptors such as BlueVine, Upstart, Azimo, Currencycloud, and Acorns among others. Recent investments include Fever, a millennial data-driven entertainment curation platform.
Oskar earned his MBA at Harvard Business School and BA at ICADE in Spain.

Members

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Hiromichi Aoki

Planning & Strategic Investment

Hiromichi Aoki

Senior Partner, Planning & Strategic Investment
General Manager of Rakuten Group, Inc.

Hiromichi is General Manager in charge of strategy and planning of Rakuten Capital.
Prior to joining Rakuten, Hiromichi had extensive experience in investment banking, private equity and asset management at Nomura in New York, Tokyo, London and Hong Kong.
Hiromichi earned BA in Commercial Science at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, Japan
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Alec Fujii

FinTech Fund/Mobility Investments

Alec Fujii

Financial Analyst, Rakuten FinTech Fund/Rakuten Mobility Investments

Alec is a Financial Analyst for Rakuten Fintech Fund. He is responsible for providing analytical and business support to the Fund’s respective portfolio companies, as well as sourcing and the due diligence for new opportunities.
Alec earned his BA degree at Brown University, double concentrating in Applied Mathematics-Economics and Engineering.
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Regina Ho

Rakuten Ventures

Regina Ho

Senior Associate, Rakuten Ventures

Regina is a Senior Associate at Rakuten Ventures. In this role, she provides analytical and business development support to portfolio companies and contributes to the sourcing and due diligence processes of new investment opportunities.
Regina earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the National University of Singapore.
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Nicole Jang

Rakuten Ventures

Nicole Jang

Partner, Rakuten Ventures

Nicole is a Partner at Rakuten Ventures and is responsible for investment in Japanese startups. She has experiences in strategic consulting and financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Bank of America in Korea and US.
Nicole earned her BA at University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
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Michael Piechalak

FinTech Fund/Mobility Investments

Michael Piechalak

Partner, Rakuten FinTech Fund/Rakuten Mobility Investments

Michael is a partner at Rakuten Fintech Fund, based in the U.S. He leads investments in international fintech and mobility startups. Including projects within the Corporate Development Department of Rakuten, he has completed over 15 deals since joining the company in 2014. Prior to joining Rakuten, Michael spent over 10 years in private equity and investment banking positions with firms in the U.S. including H.I.G. Capital and Lehman Brothers. Michael earned his MBA at Duke University and his undergrad degree at Northwestern University.
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Hajime Sako

EC Fund

Hajime Sako

Senior Associate, Global EC Fund

Hajime is in charge of due diligence processes of new investment opportunities and providing support to portfolio companies.
Prior to joining Rakuten Global EC Fund, He worked in the Marketplace business as an EC Consultant.
Hajime earned BA at Waseda University, in Tokyo, Japan.
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Shoichiro Suzuki

EC Fund

Shoichiro Suzuki

Senior Partner, Rakuten Global EC Fund
General Manager of Rakuten Group, Inc.

Shoichiro is Senior Partner at Rakuten Global EC Fund, based in Singapore. He leads venture investments in global startups and synergy creation with Rakuten ecosystem.
Prior to joining Rakuten, Shoichiro had over 10 years of experience in building start-ups (as co-founder), open innovation, and corporate venture investment.
Shoichiro earned his MBA with Honors at The University of Chicago and BA in Economics at The University of Tokyo.