HiJoJo Partners Inc., scheduled to speak on a panel at Investor’s Stage, SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025 (STT 2025), made headlines last year by announcing a strategic capital alliance with Nasdaq Private Market, a major player in secondary platforms. Remarkably, the company achieved this despite being a startup, alongside the world’s top investment banks.
As an independent VC, the firm has invested in both U.S. unicorns and leading domestic startups, while continuing to pursue bold, global initiatives as a startup itself. We spoke with Yoichi Morimoto, Executive Officer at HiJoJo Partners, about their expectations for SusHi Tech Tokyo and the event’s unique appeal.
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Yoichi Morimoto, Executive Officer, Head of Business Development, HiJoJo Partners.In his previous role at Goldman Sachs, he oversaw three divisions – Institutional Sales, Corporate Sales, and Corporate Access – and led initiatives to support the enhancement of corporate value for listed companies as well as formulated IPO and PO sales strategies. Currently, Yoichi is responsible for supporting the sustainable growth of portfolio companies.
HiJoJo Partners invests in unlisted mid-to-late-stage companies both domestically and overseas, including global unicorn companies, while simultaneously providing capital policy advice and business growth support to investees. In 2024, it entered into a strategic capital and business partnership with Nasdaq Private Market, the world's largest secondary market platform. The company also contributed to the easing of regulatory requirements for Type I Financial Instruments Business License in 2021 as a member of the Japan Securities Dealers Association (JSDA)’s Regulatory Reform Committee
- With STT 2025 just around the corner, could you tell us about your company’s involvement this year?
- Yoichi: HiJoJo Partners is taking a much more proactive role this time around. We’re approaching the event from a broader perspective—thinking about how we, and Tokyo as a financial hub, can effectively promote Japan to global investors. Our main focus is on attracting overseas investors, and we’ve formed a strategic partnership with EY Japan to support the Investors Stage from behind the scenes. Not only Japanese investors, but we have also received strong interest from the global investment community. We’re also scheduled to appear as panelists, and we’re very much looking forward to connecting with both international investors and the many startup founders who will be attending.
- What inspired your decision to participate in STT this year?
- Yoichi: We manage our fund business with the purpose of “Unlocking Investment, Transforming Markets, Empowering Japan.” Until now, we’ve focused primarily on connecting individual investors in Japan with unicorn companies in the U.S. Last year, we invested in a Japanese microfinance company with global ambitions. This reaffirmed our view that globally minded startups are increasingly emerging in Japan. That realization, combined with our aim to strengthen our strategic branding, made us keen to participate in STT 2025. While Japan’s seed and early-stage investment ecosystem is world-class, we believe there is still plenty of room for growth in the late and growth stages. That is why we even plan to revamp our company website in preparation!
- Since you're also involved in the planning process, are there any aspects of this year’s STT you’re particularly excited about?
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Yoichi: STT 2025 is structured with a strong emphasis on “creating business”—it’s a shift we can really feel. From the original City-Tech Tokyo event in 2023 to last year’s SusHi Tech Tokyo event, the scale has continued to expand steadily, and we believe the event has now entered a new phase. Tokyo Metropolitan Government is clearly taking a strategic approach, and the content and participating organizations are increasingly diverse. With its growing international brand recognition and drawing power, STT is gaining momentum as a world-class startup event. That’s why we decided to engage more actively this year. In addition to our existing fund operations, we hope to use STT as a platform to build networks for our new investment banking business that targets startups.
We’d love for attendees to experience cutting-edge business and services—and through that, to catch a glimpse of “global business originating from Tokyo.”