Team | ANRI

General Partner

Anri Samata

After working at Recruit and East Ventures, he founded ANRI as a General Partner and currently serves as the CEO. He is engaged in investing in internet startups and supporting serial entrepreneurs in their new ventures.

General Partner

Junichiro Kono

Joined JAFCO (now JAFCO Group) in 2002. After working at ITOCHU Technology Ventures since 2008, he joined ANRI in 2019. He is also engaged in investing in internet startups and supporting serial entrepreneurs with his 23-years-experience in VC.

General Partner

Masahiro Samejima

Joined ANRI in 2017 after working at Mitsubishi Corporation and the University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC). Holds a Master's degree in Astronomy from the Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo.

Senior Principal

Junsuke Nakaji

Has been involved in startups since his time at Waseda University. After graduation, he worked at Google Japan and DCM Ventures before joining ANRI in 2018. At Google Japan, he supported web marketing for SMB clients.

Senior Principal

Yusuke Miyazaki Ph.D.

Graduated from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Tokyo and obtained a Ph.D. in Life Sciences from Stanford University. Before joining ANRI in 2018, he worked at Nikon and Boston Consulting Group (BCG). At Nikon, he was involved in new business development in the biomedical field at the U.S. subsidiary. At BCG, he mainly worked on healthcare and new business projects. At ANRI, he focuses on investing in early-stage technology startups.

Principal

Yuta Motoshima

Holds a Master’s degree in Applied Physics from the Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo. Joined ANRI in 2019 after working in accounting and corporate planning at Risa Partners Inc., and involved in launching the startup investment program at the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

Principal

Taro Maruyama

Joined ANRI in 2021 after working at Panasonic and Boston Consulting Group (BCG). At Panasonic, he was involved in strategic planning and business development for operations in Asia and Europe. At BCG, he worked on strategy for PE funds and consumer goods manufacturers, and was based in Malaysia and Singapore offices.

Senior Associate

Erika Kanai

Joined ANRI in 2022 after her years with NTT DOCOMO where she experienced multiple works from marketing, overseas investments and alliances management, to business development in healthcare business. She was a core member in the formation of the joint venture company with M3, where she managed the business development team. She hold an MBA degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Senior Associate

Kazuhiro Sakakibara Ph.D.

Joined ANRI after working at M3, where he was engaged in consulting sales and mid-to-late stage investments in the corporate venture capital division. He holds a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo.

Senior Associate

Riho Kawaguchi Ph.D.

Holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo. After interning at ANRI in 2020, she officially joined ANRI in 2023.

Associate

Hikaru Murai

Co-founded Bluezone while in graduate school at the University of Tokyo (selected for the 2021 MITOU Advanced Program and FoundX). Joined ANRI as a new graduate in fall 2023.

Director

Norihiro Shiraishi

Director

Yoko Toiyama

Director

Kei Nakamichi

Managing Director

Hiroto Mouri

Senior Manager

Manasa Okada

Fund Administrator Assistant

Mayuko Sekiguchi

Press Relations Manager

Keiko Korogi

Community Success

Marino Mori

Operations Specialist

Kaoru Sasaki

Corporate Development

Ayumi Washitani

Venture Partner

Yumi Egami

Venture Partner

Miki Kinoshita Ph.D.

Entrepreneur in Residence / EIR

Takahiro Kameda

Advisor

Koji Shingai

Yasushi Shingai

Team members