# Akira Ochiai

> Akira Ochiai is a seed investor at SMBC Venture Capital backing Retail and E-Commerce. See 3 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [SMBC Venture Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/smbc-venture-capital)
- Total investments: 3
- Last investment: May 2023
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026

Akira Ochiai is a seed investor at SMBC Venture Capital focused on Retail and E-Commerce. Akira Ochiai

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Retail | 1 | 33% |
| E-Commerce | 1 | 33% |
| Oil and Gas | 1 | 33% |
| Manufacturing | 1 | 33% |
| Wine And Spirits | 1 | 33% |

6 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 1 | 33% |
| Series C | 1 | 33% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 33% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Kyoto Fusioneering | Kyoto Fusioneering is a research & development, design, and manufacture of parts related to fusion reactors. | $77M | Series C | May 16, 2023 |  |
| The Ethical Spirits | Ethical Spirits, a craft gin brand specializing in ethical, leads the world by reviving sake lees from Kuramae, Tokyo, and beer left over due to the influence of corona, as gin. It aspires to be a long-lasting spirits brand. | $28.3M |  | Aug 23, 2022 |  |
| The Ethical Spirits | Ethical Spirits, a craft gin brand specializing in ethical, leads the world by reviving sake lees from Kuramae, Tokyo, and beer left over due to the influence of corona, as gin. It aspires to be a long-lasting spirits brand. | $1.5M | Seed | Aug 23, 2022 |  |

3 of 3 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Beyond Next Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/beyond-next-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [JIC Venture Growth Investments](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jic-venture-growth-investments) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Suntory Holdings](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/suntory-holdings) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Vector](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/vector-inc-) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Coral Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/coral-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [DBJ Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dbj-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About SMBC Venture Capital

VC Fund · Tokyo, Japan

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and its group companies offer a broad range of financial services centered on banking. They are also engaged in the leasing, securities, credit card, investment, mortgage securitization, venture capital and other credit related businesses. The following lists the activities of SMBC, its subsidiaries andaffiliates in the various business segments.

5 contacts available at SMBC Venture Capital.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Akira Ochiai | President & Chief Executive Officer | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/akira-ochiai |
| Furuta Daiji | Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/furuta-daiji |
| Ishibashi Tatsushi | President and CEO | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ishibashi-tatsushi |
| Keita Kawato | Deputy General Manager | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/keita-kawato |
| Makoto Nakamura | Executive Officer | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/nakamura-makoto |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Akira Ochiai invest in?

Akira Ochiai invests primarily in Retail, E-Commerce and Oil and Gas startups, most often at Seed and Series C stage. Most of the 3 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Japan. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Akira Ochiai last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Akira Ochiai closed in May 2023. Shizune tracks 3 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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