Ippei Matsubara

Ippei Matsubara spent the core of his career inside Japan's Long-Term Credit Bank — later rebuilt as Shinsei Bank and today SBI Shinsei Bank — which he joined as a new graduate. Over the years he rotated through corporate finance, distressed-debt and non-performing-asset recovery, and markets/trading roles (commercial paper, short-term bonds, and interest-rate futures) before moving into corporate restructuring and principal investing. This mix of credit workout, capital markets, and turnaround experience shaped a "disciplined, rational" investment style that the firm still uses to describe itself.

In 2012 Matsubara founded Shinsei Corporate Investment (the bank group's dedicated investment subsidiary) and became its inaugural Representative Director and President & CEO. Under his leadership the firm built out three lines of business — venture capital, mid-market buyouts, and impact investing — frequently through co-managed funds with domain-specialist partners. He also served as a director at Raffiae Capital and, at the portfolio level, took a board seat as an outside director at model-car maker Kyosho.

After SBI Holdings acquired Shinsei Bank, the vehicle was rebranded SBI Shinsei Corporate Investment. Matsubara transitioned from President & CEO to Executive Advisor in 2024, where he now advises LP investors and the firm's funds while a next generation of managing directors (e.g., Kazunobu Nishimura) leads day-to-day investing. Note: some third-party profiles and databases still list him as "President and CEO," reflecting the role he held for more than a decade.

• Bank-backed, discipline-first investing: The firm positions itself as running funds "with disciplined and rational judgment," providing not just capital but strategic support from the Shinsei/SBI banking network to accelerate portfolio growth.
• Three complementary strategies: early/venture investment, majority-stake mid-market buyouts (including business-succession situations), and impact investment targeting Japan's demographic challenges (declining birth rate, aging society, depopulation) while balancing financial and social returns.
• Fintech/InsurTech conviction: On the justInCase deal, Matsubara framed the thesis explicitly — combining "the financial services of the Shinsei Bank Group with justInCase's insurance technology" to "lead Japan's bancassurance."
• Co-fund model with specialists: Rather than investing only off one balance sheet, the firm repeatedly raises jointly managed funds with sector or regional experts (gumi ventures, gumi Cryptos, FreakOut, Shikigaku, etc.) to reach areas like mobile/Asia startups, crypto/web3, and global IT ventures.
• Deep-tech and hard-science tilt: Portfolio spans AI, space, materials, medtech, and agri-tech — capital-intensive, IP-driven companies that fit a patient, bank-affiliated investor.