Koichiro Nakamura
InvestorManaging Director at Sozo Ventures · Board director at Eclipse Foods
San Francisco Bay Area
Writes $100K – $5M checks · typically $1.5M
Midas 2025 · #53Midas 2024 · #45Midas 2023 · #55Midas 2022 · #63Midas 2021 · #72
About
Koichiro "Koh" Nakamura is a Founder and General Partner of Sozo Ventures who appeared on the 2021 Forbes Midas List for investments in Coinbase, Palantir, and Square. Before co-founding Sozo, he spent over 20 years building technology companies, was a member of the founding team of Yahoo Japan, and worked at Mitsubishi Corporation, where he created Japan's first Application Service Provider and founded Datastations (later acquired by ValueCommerce) and the Innovation Kitchen incubator. He holds a degree from Waseda University and an MBA from the University of Chicago, and was a Kauffman Fellow (Class 12).
Contact· published on Koichiro's own website
Board director at Eclipse FoodsYC W19
Intro paths
Koichiro went through Y Combinator (Winter 2019) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
Their group partner at YC was Gustaf Alstromer — the partner who ran Eclipse Foods's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗
In turn, Koichiro can intro founders to Eclipse Foods's investors below.
Eclipse Foods's investors · 6
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Co-founders at Eclipse Foods
Experience
- Sozo VenturesManaging Director & Co-Foundercurrent2012 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- Kauffman FellowsKauffman Fellowcurrent2005 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- Mitsubishi CorporationCOO - Innovation Kitchen Incubator2007 — 2011Tokyo, Japan
- Mitsubishi CorporationManager1997 — 2007Tokyo, Japan
- Yahoo! JAPANFounding Team1996 — 1997Tokyo, Japan
Skills & more
From Koichiro's professional profile.
Deals · 1
SquareLed round
via Sozo Ventures · filed Apr 2021
Attribution from SEC filings, press coverage, and firm rosters.
Other disclosed investments
Board seats
Eclipse FoodsScigineer
Sources: the firm's website · SEC Form D filings.
Colleagues at Sozo Ventures
Network1
Investors connected to Koichiro in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Koichiro Nakamura?
- Koichiro "Koh" Nakamura is a Founder and General Partner of Sozo Ventures who appeared on the 2021 Forbes Midas List for investments in Coinbase, Palantir, and Square. Before co-founding Sozo, he spent over 20 years building technology companies, was a member of the founding team of Yahoo Japan, and worked at Mitsubishi Corporation, where he created Japan's first Application Service Provider and founded Datastations (later acquired by ValueCommerce) and the Innovation Kitchen incubator. He holds a degree from Waseda University and an MBA from the University of Chicago, and was a Kauffman Fellow (Class 12).
- Where does Koichiro Nakamura work?
- Koichiro Nakamura is Managing Director at Sozo Ventures and Board director at Eclipse Foods.
- What check size does Koichiro Nakamura write?
- Koichiro Nakamura typically writes checks of $100K – $5M.
- What boards does Koichiro Nakamura sit on?
- Koichiro Nakamura holds tracked board seats at Eclipse Foods, Scigineer.
- What companies has Koichiro Nakamura invested in?
- Investments tracked here include Square, Coinbase, Palantir.
- Where did Koichiro Nakamura go to school?
- Koichiro Nakamura studied at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Master of Business Administration - MBA); Waseda University (Bachelor's degree, Law).
- Does Koichiro Nakamura lead rounds?
- Yes — Koichiro Nakamura has led 1 tracked investment.
Same school
Also attended The University of Chicago Booth School of Business491
+ 485 more
Also attended Waseda University59
+ 53 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Kauffman Fellows381
+ 375 more
Also worked at Mitsubishi Corporation11
+ 5 more
