PKSHA Capital

The investment team is led by Hideyuki Ebihara, who spent roughly 12 years at CyberAgent Ventures (now CyberAgent Capital) and led the firm's Korea office launch from Seoul. He works alongside senior investment professionals Shunsuke Itadani (formerly China head at Dream Incubator), Tengqi Hu, Maowen Cheng, and Sanghyun Han, who collectively cover Japan, China, Korea, and Southeast Asia with local operating experience at firms such as Mizuho Securities and Nomura Research Institute.

Sourcing draws on a structural advantage: the firm's strategic partnership with the University of Tokyo's Matsuo Laboratory provides early visibility into research-originated AI startups. The multi-office footprint in Tokyo, Seoul, and Shanghai allows on-the-ground presence in three major Asian technology hubs. Additionally, team members' prior roles at CyberAgent Capital, Dream Incubator, and local consulting firms create networks that span the Japanese, Korean, and Chinese startup ecosystems.

It operates as the external early-stage investment entity of PKSHA Technology, a Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed AI software company, but with operational independence. It maintains its own investment team, brand (PKSHA Algorithm Fund), and portfolio, while benefiting from the technical resources of its parent and the academic pipeline of the Matsuo Laboratory.

The firm targets seed and early-stage companies, with the ability to support portfolio companies through to post-IPO. Its program includes IGNITE, an incubation-focused initiative, indicating activity from pre-seed through growth stages, though the core mandate is early-stage venture.

The firm's portfolio concentrates on AI and software applied to industrial transformation. Sectors notably absent from its published portfolio include deep biotech therapeutics (beyond AI-enabled drug-trial support from Hope AI), pure-play hardware without a software layer, and traditional heavy-industry plays without a technology-enabled automation thesis.

PKSHA Capital lists the Matsuo Laboratory as a strategic partner, providing a direct channel to academic research in deep learning and social implementation of AI. Professor Yutaka Matsuo's lab is a wellspring of AI talent in Japan, and the relationship gives the firm access to spinout opportunities and technical due-diligence capabilities that generalist VCs lack.

The firm's disclosed investments are overwhelmingly direct deals, but its portfolio includes an LP commitment to Legend Capital, a major China-based venture firm. This indicates a selective fund-of-funds strategy alongside its direct-investment activity in the China market.