KIBOW Social Investment Fund Releases 2025 Impact Report In English

August 28, 2026

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TOKYO (August 28, 2026)—The KIBOW Social Investment Fund published its Impact Report 2025 in English, featuring the social impact of its fund and portfolio companies.

The report can be downloaded from the following link:
https://globis.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/KIBOW-Social-Investment-Fund-Impact-Report-2025.pdf

The Impact Report 2025 demonstrates KIBOW’s contributions to a more sustainable society and shares the knowledge gained from its initiatives to date. It presents KIBOW’s vision for an ideal society, outlining a roadmap, specific target social issues, ongoing initiatives, and current progress.

Through this report, KIBOW aims to expand its social impact by illustrating the outcomes of its investment activities and strengthening its transparency. Furthermore, KIBOW aims to contribute to the development of social impact investment*1 in Japan.

*1 Investment activities related to solving social issues such as poverty, discrimination, environment, education, and welfare, while simultaneously pursuing economic profit.

2025 Impact Report Overview

The report describes the fund’s vision and mission, referred to as “Theory of Change”—the roadmap toward social transformation. It also highlights key details of its investment process and criteria, information on its portfolio companies, and special feature articles.

The chapter on portfolio companies includes an overview of each business and the social issues they address and the key performance indicators (KPIs) used to measure progress.

This year’s feature articles cover the following topics:

Impact Startups Speak Out: The Reality of Publishing Impact Reports
A dialogue with Ms. Megumi Saito of Light-Right and Mr. Ryosuke Matsubara of GAXI. They shared how publishing their impact reports helped align employee vectors and improved company-wide services.
Investors Speak About the KIBOW Social Investment Fund, Responses to Social Impact, and Expectations for the Future
This segment features two investors, Mr. Kohei Terada and Mr. Allen Miner, as well as President Yoshito Hori of the KIBOW Foundation. March 2026 marked fifteen years since KIBOW launched in the wake of the Great Tohoku Earthquake and ten years since the establishment of the KIBOW Social Investment Fund. At this milestone, the three investors were asked to evaluate the fund so far and share their expectations for the future.
Our Social Entrepreneurs’ Sense of Mission
Tomoya Nakamura, who also teaches management philosophy at the Graduate School of Management, GLOBIS University, asked Mr. Takuya Oka of Kakemichi Project, Mr. Carlos Melen of GOOD COFFEE FARMS, and Mr. Wataru Hayase and Ms. Sayaka Watanabe of Rapport Hair Group about how they cultivated their sense of mission.

Moving forward, KIBOW will continue to contribute to the expansion of social impact and the advancement of impact investing through events and initiatives related to this report.

KIBOW Social Investment Fund Track Record (As of September 30, 2025)

KIBOW operates under the mission to “create businesses and transform society together with entrepreneurs who solve social issues and generate hope.” Since its establishment in September 2015, the fund has reached a cumulative investment amount of 1.017 billion yen (including follow-on investments) and generated 2.162 billion yen in the priming effect*2. To date, it has made a cumulative total of 28 investments with 3 successful exits, supporting the business growth of impact startups.

Rather than acting merely as a source of capital, the KIBOW Social Investment Fund operates as a “hands-on support fund.” By walking alongside entrepreneurs to create a flow of people, capital, and knowledge, KIBOW aims to accelerate social creation and transformation through both business development and social impact generation.

*2 The cumulative total of co-investments and follow-on investments by other companies in projects where KIBOW acted as the lead investor. Note: In reports prior to 2024, this was calculated as an approximate total including co-investments, follow-on investments by other companies, loans, and grants.

Message from Tomoya Nakamura and Reiji Yamanaka, Managing Directors of KIBOW Social Investment Fund

“We firmly believe that solving social issues is not something a single company can achieve alone. It is only when the courageous challenges of entrepreneurs, the strong intent of investors, and the collective wisdom and support of diverse partners come together that we can truly move forward.

In this report, we go beyond merely presenting achievements and figures to capture the conflicts and lessons born from real-world practice, as well as the unwavering resolve that drives the next challenge. Through our three special features in particular, we hope you can feel how the shared kokorozashi, a personal mission, of investors, partners, and entrepreneurs connects to trigger a powerful chain reaction.

We sincerely hope this report will broaden the horizons of everyone involved in social impact investment and serve as a catalyst to inspire new collaborations and next steps. Moving forward, we will remain dedicated to further expanding our social impact by continuously sharing insights and creating opportunities for meaningful dialogue.”

Tomoya Nakamura Managing Partner, KIBOW Social Investment Fund

Reiji Yamanaka Managing Partner, KIBOW Social Investment Fund

About KIBOW

Project KIBOW was launched three days after the Great East Japan Earthquake to support disaster relief and reconstruction efforts. It was named after “kibou,” the Japanese word for hope, and rainbow. As a result of the desire to provide long-term support to the disaster-affected areas, KIBOW became a general incorporated foundation in February 2012. Today, the KIBOW foundation goes beyond supporting disaster-stricken areas and focuses on social impact investment, which involves investing in social entrepreneurs who aspire to change society, and supporting them in scaling up their businesses.

About KIBOW Social Investment Fund

In September of 2015, KIBOW established the KIBOW Social Investment Fund with the mission “Together with entrepreneurs who tackle social challenges and generate hope, we create businesses and transform society.’’
Since its founding, the KIBOW Social Investment Fund has consistently made social impact investments targeting social entrepreneurs.
In the ten years since its establishment, KIBOW has invested in a total of 22 startups, and currently manages the “KIBOW Social Investment Fund No. 3” (Total fund size: 1 billion yen). Through the Social Investment Fund, KIBOW is proudly taking on unknown and unresolved social issues and accelerating the resolution of social issues through social impact investment.

About GLOBIS

Since its foundation in 1992, GLOBIS has fostered a vision to create and innovate societies by fostering management ecosystems of people, capital, and knowledge. Today, the company is involved in a range of activities, from higher education and corporate training to venture capital. GLOBIS also operates the G1 Institute and the KIBOW Foundation, both non-profit organizations to promote creativity and innovation in society. The GLOBIS MBA and corporate training programs are offered both online and in person across Japan, China, Singapore, Thailand, the USA, Belgium, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Taiwan. GLOBIS University is the proud home of Japan’s largest MBA and is rapidly growing to claim this title for all of Asia.