Senior Associate
Alumni Ventures is a venture capital firm that provides accredited individual investors and institutions with access to professionally managed, diversified venture portfolios. It offers funds, syndicates, investing clubs, investor education, and strategic support for portfolio founders.
About Alumni Ventures
Founded in 2014, Alumni Ventures democratizes access to venture capital by sourcing and rigorously vetting startup investments, then offering diversified funds and deal-by-deal syndicates to accredited investors and institutions. Its platform spans multiple sectors, stages, geographies, and investment themes, including AI, healthcare, deep tech, fintech, blockchain, and digital assets. AV also operates investing clubs and AV Academy, and supports portfolio companies through co-investment, founder networking, recruiting, customer introductions, events, and other platform services.
Skills
Candidate Availability
Required and preferred rules are kept separate and reflect the wording in the original posting.
About the Role
You will source and evaluate Seed-stage investment opportunities in Japan and selected Asian markets. You will conduct screening and diligence, use AI for research and analysis, support investment memos and transactions, maintain portfolio relationships, evaluate follow-on investments, and connect founders with international capital and growth opportunities.
Requirements
- 3–8+ years of experience in venture capital, investment banking, consulting, corporate strategy, or an early-stage startup environment
- Knowledge of the Japanese startup ecosystem
- Experience in or exposure to the US venture capital ecosystem preferred
- Bachelor’s degree required
- Analytical rigor and ability to evaluate early-stage business models and technologies
- Professional fluency in Japanese and English
- Strong cross-cultural communication skills
- Professionalism and judgment when representing the company externally
- Comfort operating independently in a fast-paced investment environment
- Fluency with AI tools including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity
- Authorization to work in Japan without visa sponsorship
Responsibilities
- Identify and source Seed-stage investment opportunities across Japan and selected Asian markets
- Build and maintain relationships with founders, investors, funds, incubators, accelerators, universities, and ecosystem participants
- Maintain an organized investment pipeline
- Represent Alumni Ventures at industry events and ecosystem gatherings
- Conduct first-round screening through founder interviews, product review, market assessment, and competitive analysis
- Evaluate teams, traction, market size, business models, and technology differentiation
- Use AI tools for market research, competitive analysis, screening, and company assessment
- Prepare investment summaries and preliminary analyses
- Coordinate financial, legal, and market diligence
- Support investment memos and investment transactions
- Maintain portfolio company relationships and support founders
- Evaluate follow-on investments
- Monitor portfolio performance and key metrics
- Connect Japanese and Asian founders with international capital and growth opportunities
