ウーマノミクスからファウンダーノミクスへ：松井キャシーが語る未完の革命
「ウーマノミクス」提唱から25年。松井キャシーが女性創業者への投資、ESGバックラッシュ、日本の投資プレイブックの書き換えについて語る。
In 1999, Kathy Matsui published a research report at Goldman Sachs estimating that closing the gender gap in workforce participation could boost Japan’s GDP by as much as 15%.
She called it Womenomics. The term went into the policy lexicon, fed into Prime Minister Abe’s economic platform, and put Japan’s gender gap on the agenda of global investors. Twenty-five years on, Matsui runs a venture fund.
MPower Partners
Matsui is General Partner of MPower Partners, Japan’s first ESG-focused global venture capital fund. The fund backs companies where environmental, social, and governance factors are part of how the business competes, rather than a reporting task.
ESG under pressure
Major US asset managers are retreating from climate pledges, and European regulators keep revising their sustainability rules. Japan has had less of a public fight over it so far.
At Tech for Impact Summit 2026, Matsui takes part in a fireside chat titled “Womenomics to Founder-nomics: Rewriting Japan’s Investment Playbook.”
Questions on the table:
- Has Womenomics delivered? Where has progress stalled, and which structural barriers remain?
- Can ESG survive the backlash? How should impact-focused investors adapt?
- What does “founder-nomics” look like? How MPower finds and funds the next generation of Japanese entrepreneurs
For investors
Japanese government support for startups has grown, and female founders still receive less than 3% of venture funding in the country. MPower invests in those founders directly.
Tech for Impact Summit 2026 takes place April 26 at Kioi Conference, Tokyo. Join the 2027 waitlist →