SIIFIC (SIIF Impact Capital, Inc.)

SIIFIC (SIIF Impact Capital, Inc.) is a venture capital firm specializing in impact investing, founded in September 2022. The firm was established after its two Founding Partners—Kazu and Reiri—who first met in Silicon Valley in 2007, were reconnected in January 2022 through a mutual friend at the Japan Social Innovation and Investment Foundation (SIIF).

#The Origin Story

In 2007, Reiri was seconded from Mitsubishi Corporation to a healthcare-focused fund in San Francisco, while Kazu was stationed in Silicon Valley as an investment professional for Japan Asia Investment Co., Ltd. It was during this time that the two first met, beginning a connection that would continue for years.

After returning to Japan, Kazu launched the Seeds Rocket Fund, where he invested in numerous healthcare startups. Around 2018, while leading a venture he himself had founded, he realized a critical issue: even if a startup successfully develops a product, its early sales may amount to only a few million yen, making it difficult to evaluate the true value of the product or the company. He recognized that impact assessment—quantifying a product’s social value—was the missing link needed to bridge this gap. By 2022, when he reconnected with Reiri, he was already envisioning his next fund as an impact fund.

Reiri, meanwhile, had long been drawn to impact-related themes through her work in corporate strategy and business development at healthcare companies. She studied CSV (Creating Share Value) at Harvard Business School and fundraising for non-profits at Fundraising School run by Japan Fundraising Association, building practical experience aligned with impact investing. Around 2020, while involved in managing a company owned by a large PE fund preparing for IPO, she witnessed firsthand how investor priorities shape corporate decision-making. She became convinced that Japan needed a new investment approach—one that values both financial and social returns—and grew determined to pursue system-level change through impact investing.

In January 2022, when Kazu and Reiri were reintroduced by a mutual friend, they found that their problem awareness and aspirations aligned. This became the catalyst for launching SIIFIC together, in partnership with the Japan Social Innovation and Investment Foundation (SIIF), a leading impact investment platform in Japan.

#What makes SIIFIC Unique

SIIFIC’s approach to impact investing is defined by three distinguishing features:

1. Integrating Systems Thinking
SIIFIC analyzes changes in society and business not merely through KPIs or linear logic models, but through systems thinking. This involves mapping causal relationships, identifying feedback loops, and examining institutional constraints and human–environment interactions.

2.Designing “Theory of Change That Moves People”
Through dialogue, SIIFIC creates a Theory of Change (ToC) that sparks insight among partner companies—helping founders reconnect with their original passion and enabling employees to internalize a clearer sense of purpose. A ToC that “moves people” can shift how teams engage with their work.

SIIFIC designs such ToCs using systems thinking and translates them into logic models, placing ToC that moves people at the heart of investment decision-making and post-investment support.

3.Transforming Reporting Into a Tool for Co-Creation
Rather than treating the Impact Performance Report as a static results summary, SIIFIC uses it as a blueprint for collective learning among investors, portfolio companies, and stakeholders. This shifts the investor–investee relationship from “monitoring” to “co-creation,” enabling system change to be felt and shared.

Through these practices, SIIFIC aims not to be a fund that merely “measures outcomes,” but a fund that “shapes systems and moves people and society”—leading the next generation of impact investing in Japan.

#Core Stance of SIIFIC

Radical Ownership: Always Thinking From the Other’s Perspective

SIIFIC embodies radical ownership—approaching every challenge with the mindset of the portfolio company, taking full responsibility rather than simply monitoring KPIs or providing capital. SIIFIC actively works alongside portfolio companies toward impact realization.

In the IMM Memorandum attached to investment agreements, SIIFIC explicitly articulates not only the investee’s commitments but also the fund manager’s own contributions. The appended ToC includes not only outcomes for the investee but also “what the investor brings.” This reflects SIIFIC’s commitment to nurturing each portfolio company as a co-creator of impact.

Principled Autonomu

SIIFIC places utmost importance on integrity—doing the right things in the right way. While foundational, this principle requires an organizational culture where colleagues can challenge each other openly and as equals. Kazu and Reiri have built SIIFIC on this foundation of mutual respect and principled autonomy, and they expect the same from their portfolio companies.

Through both hands-on support and engagement, SIIFIC helps portfolio companies embed this principle within their organizational systems.

Meaningful Relationships

At SIIFIC, we cherish meaningful relationships. While we operate with discipline and principled autonomy, we recognize that even the smallest encounter can someday evolve into a deeply significant collaboration.

This is why SIIFIC values relationships not only with institutional investors and portfolio companies, but also with individuals across different fields, students, and members of local communities. Recently, SIIFIC joined the Shibuya Aoyama Street Shoppers Association, where SIIFIC’s office is located. Through internships, community engagement, and cross-sector collaboration, we seek to contribute our knowledge and presence beyond the boundaries of impact investing. We treasure meaningful relationships—connections that may one day grow into powerful collaborations.