Keita Nakanishi, CEO at Yamaha Motor Ventures, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2026 Powerlist.
Yamaha Motor appointed Keita Nakanishi as CEO of Yamaha Motor Ventures, the investment arm of the Japanese mobility company, at the beginning of this year.
Nakanishi came from Yamaha’s technical research and development centre, having spent 27 years in automotive and mechanical engineering roles at the company. He took over as CEO from Kei Onishi, who was appointed the chief general manager of the corporate strategy centre at Yamaha Motor in Japan.
Founded in 2015, but reshaped over the past four years under Onishi, the Silicon Valley-based unit has quietly evolved from a peripheral innovation scout into a focused investor across mobility, robotics, agriculture, digital health and industrial decarbonisation.
With roughly $300m under management and more than 40 investments, its model blends early-stage venture discipline with something most financial VCs cannot replicate: direct access to Yamaha’s engineering, manufacturing and global distribution infrastructure
Yamaha’s latest deals over the past year include Phoenix Tailings in the metals, minerals and mining industry, Ridepanda, a platform for e-bike access and leasing, and Sortera Alloys in a $45m round targeting AI-enabled metal recycling.
Yamaha Motor Ventures has typically focused on early-stage investments (up to $3m per deal) within robotics, mobility and sustainability, with about 10 portfolio exits. Since the start of 2025, these exits have included Yamaha buying New Zealand-based portfolio company Robotics Plus.
What has changed most since its earlier incarnation is discipline. The portfolio is no longer a broad scan of “future tech”, but a structured set of bets aligned to macro theses: automation of physical industries, decarbonisation of materials and logistics and augmentation of human capability through digital health.
The unit also appears to have increased its willingness to follow on and syndicate into larger rounds, signalling confidence and a shift toward ownership rather than optionality.
Yamaha Motor Ventures is no longer behaving like a cautious corporate outpost. Instead, it is increasingly operating as a conviction-led venture platform translating a legacy manufacturing giant into a systems player for the next industrial era.
The GCV Powerlist represents the 100 individuals spearheading the future of the corporate venturing industry.
These individuals excel in terms of their venturing approach and structure, number and quality of portfolio companies and in their contributions to the corporate venturing profession.
Here’s a snapshot of their recent deals:
