Takashi Kimura brings an unusual combination of 14+ years advising large Japanese corporations on M&A and capital strategy at Mizuho Securities—including five years based in New York executing cross-border deals—to his current role as a government-backed VC at JIC Venture Growth Investments. He focuses specifically on AI-enabled B2B software and digital infrastructure that modernizes core enterprise operations, leading investments in companies like Qast (AI knowledge management) and Tailor (headless ERP) while explicitly framing his work around strengthening Japan's broader capital markets ecosystem rather than just generating fund returns.