'sprout' Tag
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Our Sprout program in review
June 15, 2024One year ago we announced the Sprout initiative at Shizen Capital. Sprout is a GP-in-Training program for ambitious women in Japan who aspire to manage their own VC fund. The Sprout participant is first employed by Shizen Capital as Investment Director, during which she is exposed to all aspects of VC fund operations in a […]
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A milestone
October 26, 2023Today marks a milestone for Shizen Capital which warrants a moment of celebration. In May, we introduced the Sprout GP-in-Training program to play our small part in combating the pervasive diversity problem in VC in Japan. We evaluated several impressive candidates over the summer, and last month we hired Mayumi Wakebe as the inaugural Sprout […]
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Our new GP-in-training
October 8, 2023Welcome Mayumi Wakebe into the Shizen capital team ! Just prior to the summer we announced our new Sprout initiative at Shizen Capital. Our hypothesis was that female venture capitalists were far too scarce in Japan, and not for lack of talent. We believe that diversity in venture capital teams is important for maximizing financial performance […]
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A new opportunity for future female VC leaders in Japan
May 21, 2023Lack of diversity in the venture capital business is a problem worldwide. As readers of my blog know from my past tirades, I believe that this pernicious issue negatively impacts VC fund returns, impedes female and other under-represented entrepreneurs, stifles the health of a region’s startup ecosystem, and deprives society as a whole of innovation. […]