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Shoko Kanehara
Director, Business Development

Shoko grew up in Tokyo and San Francisco, and has an M.B.A. from Keio University during which she also studied at IESE Business School in Barcelona, and holds a B.A. fromKeio University. She kicked off her career with Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores in Tokyo, climbing from Sales to key positions in new store development and then to their Acquisitions &Investment team. Shoko held strategic roles at J. Front Retailing (holding company of Daimaru Matsuzakaya), where she contributed to making fund and US startup investments.  Additionally, she expanded her investment acumen as an Analyst at Scrum Ventures in San Francisco.

After spending 12+ years in the retail sector, she joined Recruit Strategic Partners which is an early stage corporate venture capital firm owned by Recruit Holdings where she sourced and ran diligence, managed deal flow in B2B SaaS and B2B2C tech startups in the US and India. While at Recruit, she took initiative in Japan expansion support where she organized and connected their portfolio companies with several potential clients.


After spending some time in Hong Kong and London with her family while working as a Freelance Consultant for corporates and startups, Shoko joined Counterpart inJune 2025 to promote business development and support investors. Her diverse background spans in retail, strategic planning, and venture ecosystems across both Asia and North America, equipping her with a rare blend of operational insight and global investment perspective.

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