# Social Entrepreneurs Association

Social Entrepreneurs Association is a Private Equity based in Tokyo, Japan.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Private Equity
- **Headquarters:** Tokyo, Japan
- **Region:** Asia
- **Address:** Tokyo, Japan
- **Founded:** 2018
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** social-ea.org
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-social-entrepreneurship-association

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Social Entrepreneurs Association is a social entrepreneur support organization in which entrepreneurs who have scaled businesses themselves provide accompaniment support. It runs three support activities: funding support centered on SEED investment, mentoring by entrepreneurs, and a social entrepreneur community. It has begun operating a social startup fund specialized in disability, welfare, and mental health.

## Sectors

- Healthcare Services
- Education
- Mental Health & Wellbeing

## People

- Hitoshi Shindo — Representative Director
- Kunihiro Ogihara — Representative Director, GP of SEA Social Startup Fund
- Atsushi Matsumoto — Director
- Hiroki Komazaki — Director

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at Social Entrepreneurs Association?

Investment decisions for the SEA Social Startup Fund are led by Kunihiro Ogihara, who serves as Representative Director of the association and GP of the fund. He works alongside Representative Director Hitoshi Shindo and Directors Atsushi Matsumoto and Hiroki Komazaki. The broader mentor network — eleven serial founders — supports deal evaluation and portfolio guidance but does not hold formal investment committee authority based on public disclosures.

### Does Social Entrepreneurs Association participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?

SEA operates through its own dedicated vehicle, the SEA Social Startup Fund, which makes direct seed-stage equity investments. There is no public indication that the fund commits capital to third-party funds or acts as a limited partner in other venture funds. Its model is built around proprietary direct deal flow sourced through its mentor network and community.

### What investment stages and sectors does SEA target?

SEA targets seed-stage social startups in Japan. The publicly disclosed sector focus — formalized with the October 2025 fund launch — is disability, welfare and mental health. Prior to that dedicated fund, SEA operated a broader mentorship program for social entrepreneurs without a publicly defined sector boundary.

### How does SEA source its deals?

Deal flow runs through SEA’s mentor bench of eleven named Japanese founders, who collectively hold networks across social enterprise, health-tech, education and community platforms. The association also accepts applications directly through its website for both investment and mentorship. The community events and group mentoring sessions create an additional referral layer.

### How is SEA structured — is it a fund, a foundation, or something else?

SEA is a general incorporated association under Japanese law, paired with a GP entity that manages the SEA Social Startup Fund. This dual structure allows it to run a mentorship-and-community nonprofit while deploying for-profit equity capital into early-stage social startups. It is not a registered venture-capital firm in the traditional limited-partner sense.

## Related profiles

- [Socialatom Group](https://altss.com/profile/socialatom-ventures)
- [SocialFare](https://altss.com/profile/socialfare)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T15:08:11.274Z

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