
Meet the Team

Tomoaki Fukuoka
With a major in Valuation (Corporate Value) in a university, then he joined Value Create in April 2020.
Since then he supported the CVC sourcing area for major food companies, and also engaged in researching new business areas such as food-tech and agri-tech, as well as startups around the world.
Additionally, he was engaged in IR support for listed companies, and has supported a wide range of companies from IPO-stage ventures to small- and medium-sized companies and large corporations. He acts as a bridge between investors, sell-side analysts, and operating companies, and supports the enhancement of corporate value through IR.

Tomoko Kagawa
Tomoko has a double degree in business and design: After graduating with a BA in Business, she went to the UK to study furniture and product design. After graduating, she worked for a London-based furniture manufacturer as a communications assistant and helped the company launch its brand in the Japanese market in 2006.
Since returning to Japan in 2007, she has gained extensive experience as a project manager bridging 'Japan and overseas' or 'business and design', including as a community manager for PechaKucha, a global creator community that originated in Tokyo. In September 2015, she completed the Executive Education Design Thinking Bootcamp program at Stanford University.

Advisor
Taka Nakamura
Born in 1995, graduated from Kyoto University. She built two schools in Cambodia as a representative of an international cooperation organization while she was at the university. Later, she studied at a business school in New York. At a local news bureau, she was involved in coverage of the 2016 presidential election and the UN General Assembly as an assistant producer.
Through various experiences, she felt the need to "support players in solving social issues" and founded taliki Inc. during her senior year of university after returning to Japan. While incubating more than 250 social entrepreneurs mainly in the Kansai region and promoting business development and open innovation at listed companies, she also established a VC for solving social issues as the youngest female representative in Japan in 2020 and is engaged in investment activities.

Barry O'Neill
Barry O'Neill, Partner at Value Create, is an entrepreneur with experience spanning the USA, Europe, UK, Japan, and China. He brings his extensive expertise in growth and internationalization to companies across diverse industries. Barry firmly advocates that established sectors can learn from startups by embracing creative innovation and borderless operating models to maintain competitiveness.
In his previous role, Barry successfully led StoryToys, a renowned education games publisher, achieving significant milestones such as securing partnerships with licensors like LEGO, Disney, and Marvel. He orchestrated two acquisitions and raised over $13M from global investors, including PGA Ventures and Silicon Valley's Emerson Collective. Notably, StoryToys was sold to Team17 PLC in 2021, marking Barry's second successful exit transaction.
Beyond his entrepreneurial endeavors, Barry has served as an advisor to large corporations and venture funds, He has also made contributions to European Commission R&D programs and played an instrumental role in the design and operation of Enterprise Ireland's Internet Growth Accelerator Program (IGAP).

Hiroshi Okamoto
Hiroshi Okamoto has broad and diverse range of experiences in investment advisory (investment banking and venture capital), as an entrepreneur (having founded and successfully exited two startups), and in corporate finance and accounting in the U.S. and Japan.
He recently served as CFO of NYSE-listed SmartRent, a leading U.S. proptech/IoT company, and prior to that CFO of Kinkisharyo International, a global leader in urban transit. Okamoto holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from UCLA, a Master of Business Administration form Harvard Business School and is a U.S. Certified Public Accountant (inactive)

Akira Sato
He has experience in sales for individual investors and as a securities analyst at Nomura Securities Group. At the age of 29, he was ranked No. 1 in the Nikkei Financial Newspaper (now Nikkei Veritas) analyst rankings in the overall corporate sector, and No. 1 by sector for seven consecutive years. Later, he worked as the head of research at an investment research firm in the IT industry, and established Value Create in 2001:
Appointed as a Non-executive director of EN Asset Management (hedge fund), Asuka Corporate Advisory (engagement fund), Rheos Capital Works (growth equity fund), and an executive director at Commons Asset Management Inc (long-term investment)
Associate Professor at Digital Hollywood University, Adjunct Lecturer at Tokyo University of Science MOT Graduate School
Director of WICI, initiator of Basic Report Award and IR Good Visual Award
Head of Research Department of Lawson
Head of Research Department of Ajinomoto
Head of Research Department of Marui Group (current position)
Non-Executive Director of Rheos Capital Works
Advisor to several listed companies and invited to many external lectures including at Tokyo Stock Exchange, Japan Investor Relations Association, etc.
Advisor to Pronexus, in charge of "IR Basic Course" hosted by Pronexus
Author of "The Book to Understand the Basics of Corporate Valuation and its Structure”