Kanako Inoue is the General Partner (often titled Managing Director) and founding member of NEXTBLUE. See contact routes.
Kanako Inoue is the General Partner (often titled Managing Director) and founding member of NEXTBLUE, a venture capital firm she launched in 2020 that operates in Tokyo and Berlin. Her background includes investment banking at GCA, strategy work at BCG after earning an MBA from Kellogg, and serving as a portfolio director at D4V before founding NEXTBLUE. NEXTBLUE’s investment thesis targets early-stage startups in Japan and the EU, with a specific focus on digital health, AI, SaaS, and women’s wellbeing, particularly those led by female founders. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies, and its second fund is a $40 million vehicle dedicated to women’s wellbeing innovations. While specific check sizes and lead/follow behavior are not publicly detailed, NEXTBLUE is described as an early-stage investor focused on impact-driven and disruptive startups. Notable portfolio companies include Famzon, where Inoue served as a Board Member, and investments supported by ASKA Pharmaceutical in NEXTBLUE Fund 2. Inoue has not published distinctive public writing, but her firm’s clear point of view centers on empowering female founders in the women’s
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