Koichiro “Koh” Nakamura is a Co-Founder and General Partner of Sozo Ventures. He was first Japanese in the Forbes Midas List 100, global Venture Capitalists Ranking 45 in 2024, and on top 100 Ranking in 2021, 2022 and 2023. 

 He also serves as a Council Member at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at University of Chicago and Council member at Tokyo Institute of Technology.

He was an early pioneer in Japan’s IT scene as a member of the founding team of Yahoo Japan, and led the seed investment into Scigineer (TSE:6031). He co-founded Sozo Ventures in 2012 to guide globally ambitious founders looking to maximize Japan and Asian expansion opportunities. 

Koh has helped drive creative market success for global icons in the Sozo portfolios such as Square, Palantir, MongoDB, Fastly, Zoom, Coinbase and Metagenomi.

He graduated from Waseda University, then received an MBA from the University of Chicago. He was a member of Kauffman Fellows Class 12 and received the Jeff Timmons Memorial Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the program. 

On October 2, 1950, Charles M. Schulz introduced a brand-new comic strip with an unlikely round-headed hero, “Good ol’ Charlie Brown.” PEANUTS was born. Soon, readers came to know and love a whole cast of indelible young characters: philosophical Linus and his crabby big sister Lucy; piano-playing Schroeder; attention-grabbing Sally; pals Franklin, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Pigpen and his famous dust cloud. But no one stole the show quite like Snoopy, the coolest beagle on the planet. From humble beginnings in just seven U.S. newspapers, PEANUTS grew to become not only the best-loved comic strip in history, but a true global phenomenon. 

Today PEANUTS is featured in global online syndication and in thousands of newspapers worldwide; in classic specials and in new streaming series “Snoopy in Space” and “The Snoopy Show” on Apple TV+; and in mobile apps, stage productions, feature films, and books (hundreds of them). PEANUTS has inspired theme park attractions, public art projects, and every kind of consumer product from pj’s to popcorn makers. In 2018, Peanuts Worldwide partnered with NASA on a multi-year Space Act Agreement designed to inspire a passion for space exploration and STEM among the next generation of students. PEANUTS speaks a universal language—and has also introduced a vocabulary all its own: “Good grief!,” “security blanket,” “You blockhead!” and “Happiness is… .” For fans everywhere, happiness is PEANUTS. 

For four decades, the GRAMMY®-nominated pianist/composer/ arranger David Benoit has reigned supreme as one the founding fathers of Contemporary Jazz. Along with his three Grammy nominations, he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Smooth Jazz Awards. The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation presented him with the Excellence in Music Award in recognition of his role as a long-time guest educator.

He has served as conductor with a wide range of symphonies including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and the Asia America Symphony Orchestra (currently serving as musical director and conductor). Benoit has also been a popular film and television composer, with notable films, including the score for The Christmas Tree, voted Best Score of 1996.

His association with Charles Schulz and the famed Peanuts realm led to over 10 years composing music for the Peanuts TV special on CBS. As a tribute to Charles M. Schultz, he performed the Peanuts Piano Concerto and the music of Vince Guaraldi in conjunction with his recording of Here’s To You, Charlie Brown: 50 Great Years. Japan Society of Northern California is honored that multi-talented, David Benoit will join us at our Award of Honor Gala.