Before joining UTEC, Noriaki Sakamoto helped draft finance and recycling laws at Japan's METI, ran his family's apparel logistics business, and worked at McKinsey across industries like pharma, auto, and retail in Japan, Southeast Asia, and Europe, giving him a broad mix of policy, operations, and consulting experience that shapes how he invests—looking for overseas startups with real ties to Japan, staying closely involved from seed stage through exit on boards like ACSL, Neural Pocket, and Finatext, and helping build companies through recruiting, governance, and KPI design rather than just providing funding. Beyond UTEC, where he is Managing Partner and COO, he also serves as General Manager of the Planning Department at the Japan Venture Capital Association and focuses on turning university research into working companies, giving him a hand in shaping Japan's startup ecosystem well beyond his own fund.