The Conclusion Reached After 15 Years: “Only the Entrepreneur Matters”
Japan’s startup industry is at an inflection point. Anri Samata, general partner at Anri Inc., said on the investor podcast “Investor’s Sunday”: “Frankly, I think we’ve reached a market where you can no longer recommend to every talented person that they should just start something and things will somehow work out.” The era of casually encouraging entrepreneurship is over, and both the market and regulators have raised the bar. Yet at the same time, he asserts that large Japanese corporations have proven over 15 years of open innovation attempts that they simply “cannot” generate new businesses internally. This gap, he argues, is the greatest opportunity left for startups.
Having invested across a wide spectrum—from cancer therapeutics to YouTuber talent agencies—Samata’s conclusion after 15 years is strikingly simple.
“It really comes down to whether the entrepreneur is tough enough to keep going. We think about all sorts of things—technical due diligence, expert references—but ultimately the conclusion is nothing more than the question of whether the entrepreneur can somehow make it happen.”
The reason lies in the length of investment horizons. In investments that take at least six to seven years, early technical advantages or proprietary intellectual property “get caught up in an instant,” and ultimately the accumulation of day-to-day decisions determines everything.
Vulgar Motivations Are Fine—But Passion Must Be Sustained
On the subject of entrepreneurs’ initial motivations, Samata offers a remarkably pragmatic view.
“As long as the passion lasts, anything works. I think every band member in the world starts a band because they want to be popular. But once they start filling domes, somehow they all start thinking about world peace. And I think that’s fine. You can absolutely start with an extremely vulgar motivation.”
What matters, he says, is the self-management ability to sustain that passion.
“I think it’s fine to swap out a few of the engines driving that motivation, but it’s better if you can manage yourself so that the passion endures.”
He explains the emotional ups and downs of entrepreneurship with a distinctive metaphor.
“Riding a roller coaster is tough, but the moment you visualize yourself riding the roller coaster, you can think, ‘Ah, I’m on a roller coaster right now.'”
The LUUP Investment: “Short-Term Irrationality, Long-Term Rationality”
The investment in LUUP, which operates an electric kickboard business, succinctly illustrates Samata’s investment philosophy. At the time of investment, the service could not legally operate under Japan’s Road Traffic Act. The prospects for legal revision were unclear, but Anri made multiple investments anyway.
The original concept was care mobility, but through repeated discussions and the emergence of Lime and Bird in the US, Samata proposed pivoting to electric kickboards. After a US research trip, the team designed a uniquely Japanese “port-based” business model—requiring users to return vehicles to designated locations rather than leaving them anywhere.
Samata recalls, “By the third or fourth investment, the Road Traffic Act had changed.” For investments in regulated industries, he explains that it was crucial to engage in rule-design discussions with police and the Metropolitan Police Department through industry associations rather than LUUP acting alone. This investment style is rooted in Anri’s fundamental principle that “what appears irrational in the short term but rational in the long term is the source of competitive advantage.”
Anri’s Investment Strategy and T-Shirt Development
Anri’s sixth fund reached ¥30 billion (approximately $187.4 million) as of 2026, marking its largest fundraising to date.
Portfolio CompanyBusiness AreaInvestment PeriodLUUPElectric kickboards2018-2023TuringAutonomous driving2023-2026NOT A HOTELReal estate tech2022-2026AtomPhysical AI2026UpsiderFintech2025
Turing’s fully AI-based autonomous driving technology demonstrates technical innovation, achieving end-to-end autonomous driving with just 200 lines of code. Samata predicts: “If multiple startups emerge in Japan challenging deep tech areas like autonomous driving, some of them are highly likely to become the core of Japan’s growth industries.”
He also devotes extraordinary effort to brand building. He places great importance on the question of whether the company logo T-shirt “looks cool,” reportedly spending “an enormous amount of time” on design development referencing the apparel brand Marni. This is not merely a hobby but is positioned as a commitment to “what appears irrational in the short term but rational in the long term.”
“Japanese-Style Innovation” Rather Than Imitating Silicon Valley
The core of Samata’s argument is that Japan’s startup industry should forge its own path.
“America grew the way it did within its own ideology. But Japan has a different ideology and different strategies, and I think we need to reconsider what startups mean within that context.”
While acknowledging that the Bay Area’s equity compensation incentive design is “incredible,” he argues that imitating it in Japan would be a mistake.
“I asked how much engineers make—around ¥300 million (approximately $1.9 million) a year on average. They said, ‘Well, that’s fine because there are juniors too,’ and then told me they themselves make even more. It’s mostly equity compensation. The Bay Area as an incentive system is an incredibly formidable opponent, and trying to compete on incentives alone—I think doing that in Japan would be a mistake.”
Japan’s future, he argues, is closer to the French LVMH model rather than the Silicon Valley model of “changing the box into something else.” LVMH has maintained its corporate vessel while replacing its contents through M&A. Japanese large corporations should similarly absorb startups through M&A, with the management talent from those acquisitions going on to lead the parent companies in a virtuous cycle.
Samata identifies Yahoo! as a pioneer of this model. Talent that entered through M&A climbed the ranks, building businesses through repeated acquisitions. The 2025 investment in Upsider, which joined Mizuho Group, is the latest concrete example of this trend. Samata says, “I want them to go all the way and become Mizuho’s management.”
Capital Market Discipline Driven by Activists
Samata sees hope in the intersection with Masumi Nishida’s work as an activist investor. When activists pressure listed companies to seriously pursue new businesses, large corporations are forced to procure businesses they cannot build internally through M&A, thereby expanding exit opportunities for startups.
“It’s work that makes companies that aren’t taking things seriously feel they must continue to work seriously and sincerely. Ah, so that’s how it connects.”
Samata welcomes the tightening of capital markets, noting that “doing a lukewarm MBO will get you even more criticism.” He points out that the traditional assumption on the startup side that “IPO is the only option” has collapsed, and it is now an era where exit strategies—including M&A—must be considered more rigorously.
The “Snack Bar Mama” Role Forged by the Coincheck Incident
Samata’s own experiences have shaped how he engages with entrepreneurs. In his twenties, he was solely responsible for handling the ¥40 billion (approximately $249.9 million) loss from the Coincheck unauthorized outflow incident. This experience led him to a state where “whether it’s tens of millions, hundreds of millions, or billions, it no longer carries the same impact.”
During the Coincheck crisis, a senior executive at a large corporation told him, “You think you’re dying right now, but in three years you’ll be laughing your head off.” At the time he thought, “I will never forgive this,” but indeed, three years later, he could laugh. From this experience, he resolved to serve as a “snack bar mama”—a confidant and advisor—for entrepreneurs, drawing on his experience of having survived a crucible.
“When things are going well, you don’t need to contact me. But when you actually have something to discuss, call me right away. If it’s bad news, press the button immediately. If it’s good news, it can wait. Only the bad news—press that button right away.”
The Current State of Japan’s Startup Talent
Samata assesses that the quality of Japan’s startup talent has improved dramatically over 15 years. Twelve to thirteen years ago, a University of Tokyo engineering professor showed him a list of employers that read NEC and Toshiba. Today, it has become “the norm” for information science students to start companies.
However, he also points out that compensation has not kept pace with the quality of talent. From his 2025 stay at Stanford, he was shocked to learn that the average annual compensation for Meta engineers is around ¥300 million (approximately $1.9 million). While acknowledging that Silicon Valley’s equity compensation incentive design is “incredible,” he argues that imitating it in Japan would be a mistake.
Samata’s outlook is that if Japanese startups consolidate their strengths, they are highly likely to become the core businesses of future Sony- or Toyota-scale enterprises.
“Japan has abundant seeds of technology and excellent entrepreneurs. If we consolidate our strengths, I believe there is a high probability that they will ultimately become the core businesses of a future Sony or a future Toyota.”
Integration Between Large Corporations and Startups Is “Fundamentally Difficult”
Samata acknowledges that post-M&A integration between large corporations and startups is “fundamentally difficult,” but sees reason for hope. As more people from large corporations have moved to the startup side, meaningful dialogue has become possible.
“People who were at the same high school, same university, same company—they just spent six years in different places—now there are more people who can have the same conversation. In the past, startups were seen as a place for wild outsiders who couldn’t make it in the mainstream. Now, it’s actually the establishment side.”
From his two years of study at Recruit, he points out that even Recruit’s core business is Indeed, and its new businesses have been built through M&A. Unless this structure spreads beyond software to other industries, he argues, Japan’s large corporations cannot chart their next strategy.
Toward a Firm with Two Characters
Samata describes his future career along two axes. First, as a venture capitalist, continuing to engage directly with entrepreneurs. Second, as the manager of Anri, nurturing talent more capable than himself and building the vessel of a financial alternative asset firm.
“BlackRock sounds formidable, doesn’t it? But no one has decided that we can’t beat BlackRock.”
His investment philosophy is not limited to the venture capital product; he aims to build a firm that holds various financial products under the same philosophy.
To create Japan’s growth industries, venture capital alone cannot supply unlimited capital. The conclusion drawn from 15 years of experience is that it is crucial to collaborate with the capital of large corporations and the government, and to address the shortage of teams that create seeds at the early indie stage. Samata says, “I’m basically always free—my evenings are completely open, and I wake up around 5 a.m. and just zone out, so I have plenty of time. Please come meet me,” opening the door for information exchange.