Nomura SPARX Investment

Co-CEOs Shinji Naito and Yutaka Mogi lead the firm. Naito brought two decades of product development and marketing experience from SPARX Asset Management; Mogi spent fifteen years in Nomura’s M&A advisory and merchant-banking divisions, rising to head of Japanese M&A and co-head of European investment banking. The board also includes senior executives from both parent companies, but day-to-day investment decisions rest with the co-CEOs.

The firm draws on the combined origination networks of Nomura Securities and SPARX Group. Nomura’s investment-banking franchise provides visibility into growth-stage corporates across Japan, while SPARX contributes relationships from its twenty-plus years of domestic venture capital activity. This dual-channel model gives the firm access to both banker-led and VC-led deal introductions.

It’s an asset manager that deploys capital exclusively into private, growth-stage Japanese companies. Its flagship vehicle, Japan Growth Capital Investment Corporation, is structured as a listed investment corporation — a format closer to a closed-end fund that trades on an exchange, rather than a traditional GP/LP venture fund. The firm itself is a registered investment manager regulated by Japan’s Kanto Local Finance Bureau.

All publicly disclosed investments are direct equity stakes in operating companies — the firm has not reported any fund-of-fund commitments or limited-partner positions in third-party vehicles. Its stated mandate is to invest directly in unlisted growth-stage equities and hold them through and beyond IPO.

The firm targets expansion and late-stage rounds, as well as pre-IPO placements. Its portfolio includes companies like Synspective and Astroscale, which had already raised substantial venture capital before Nomura SPARX entered. The vehicle is structured to hold positions post-listing, so it operates across the late-private to early-public continuum.

It’s a joint venture owned 51% by Nomura Holdings and 49% by SPARX Group, established on April 1, 2021. Both parents supply board directors and deal flow, but the firm operates as a separate registered investment manager with its own capital, license, and portfolio. It is not a division or subsidiary of either parent.

The Japan Growth Capital Investment Corporation has no fixed wind-down date. The firm explicitly states it intends to remain a long-term shareholder after portfolio companies go public, distinguishing it from typical pre-IPO funds that distribute stock to LPs shortly after listing.