# Kotaro Sasamoto

> Kotaro Sasamoto is a Series A investor at Dentsu Ventures backing Medical and Biotechnology. See 2 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Dentsu Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dentsu-ventures)
- Location: Tokyo, Japan
- Total investments: 2
- Last investment: Sep 2025
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kotaro-sasamoto-24982624/

Kotaro Sasamoto is a Series A investor at Dentsu Ventures in Tokyo focused on Medical and Biotechnology. Joined Dentsu in 2003 and engaged in a variety of marketing-related work, focusing on planning and implementing client marketing strategies in the strategic planning and account management divisions. He then switched to work overseas and was involved in helping launch client operations overseas and establishing overseas Dentsu branches. After aperiod of study overseas he was transferred to the Corporate Strategy Division, where he is in charge of investing in startups both in and outside of Japan and developing new businesses.Graduated from the Faculty of Integrated Human Studies at Kyoto University, then earned his MBA at Harvard Business School.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Medical | 1 | 50% |
| Biotechnology | 1 | 50% |
| Stock Exchanges | 1 | 50% |
| Financial Services | 1 | 50% |

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 1 | 50% |
| Series B | 1 | 50% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Metagen Therapeutics | Metagen Therapeutics (MGTx) is a clinical-stage company operating Japan’s first GMP-compliant manufacturing platform for fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) therapies. The company combines proprietary paired metagenomic datasets with AI/ML-driven donor-recipient matching to advance precision microbiome medicine across ulcerative colitis,immuno-oncology, and neurodegenerative disease. Headquartered in Tsuruoka, Japan, MGTx leverages a cross-border regulatory strategy spanning PMDA and FDA pathways, positioning it as a platform bridging Japanese clinical innovation with global market access. | $15.7M | Series B | Sep 08, 2025 |  |
| Folio | FOLIO is a financial Instruments Business Operator . | $992.2M | Series A | Jan 18, 2018 |  |

2 of 2 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Fast Track Initiative, Inc.](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/fast-track-initiative) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [JAFCO](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jafco-co-ltd) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Japan Bank for International Cooperation](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/japan-bank-for-international-cooperation) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [JIC Venture Growth Investments](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jic-venture-growth-investments) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Mirai Creation Investment](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mirai-creation-investment) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [SMBC Venture Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/smbc-venture-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About Dentsu Ventures

VC Fund · Tokyo, Japan

Dentsu Ventures is the corporate venture capital fund of Dentsu. It specializes in seed, early, mid and later-stage investments. It prefers to invest in the marketing and communication business sectors in the United States of America, Europe, and Asia.

5 contacts available at Dentsu Ventures.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Daiji Horibe | General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/daiji-horibe |
| Daisuke Takemori | General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/daisuke-takemori |
| Katsuyuki Hasegawa | General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/katsuyuki-kevin-hasegawa |
| Kotaro Sasamoto | Managing Partner & Co-founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/kotaro-sasamoto |
| Yu Hirayama | General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/yu-hirayama |

## 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
- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Kotaro Sasamoto invest in?

Kotaro Sasamoto invests primarily in Medical, Biotechnology and Stock Exchanges startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 2 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Japan. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Kotaro Sasamoto last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Kotaro Sasamoto closed in Sep 2025. Shizune tracks 2 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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