To earn stakeholder trust. How to create impact reports that truly resonate.

Since its establishment in December 2015, the Keio Innovation Initiative (KII) has been committed to investing in and nurturing startups that leverage research outcomes, with the mission of contributing broadly to societal development.

In October 2023, it established the "KII Fund III Impact Fund," successfully raising a total of ¥20.2 billion. In April 2025, it published the " Impact Report " to accurately convey its impact and social significance.

The report is available here: Impact Report 2024

Despite covering the highly uncertain field of Deep Tech × Impact, the report was praised as "exceptionally clear" not only by the fund's stakeholders but also by the impact investing industry. This time, we explore how to create an impact report that truly communicates its message through a conversation between KII Principal Yuriko Gibo and Dentsu Inc. Creative Director Kei Suzuki, who directed the Impact Report.

What is an Impact Report?
A report that quantitatively measures and evaluates the positive impact a company's activities have on society and the environment, presenting the results. As the emphasis on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors grows, these reports are gaining attention as a means to enhance corporate transparency and build trust.

Deep Tech × Impact Investing: Still Rare Globally

──First, could you tell us about KII's business activities?

Yoshihiro: KII is Keio University's official venture capital firm, established in 2015. We identify promising startups with high growth potential, providing investment and business support. Our mission is "Until that research, that invention, that innovation changes society." We aim to contribute to societal development by investing in and consulting with startups commercializing the university's research outcomes.

The startups it supports primarily focus on "deep tech" fields, centered on technology areas like AI and space, and health domains such as medicine and drug discovery. Since its first fund in 2016, it has formed funds three times, in 2020 and 2023.

For its most recent third fund, KII took on the challenge of becoming the "first university venture capital impact fund" to accelerate its potential for societal transformation (impact). Raised as the "KII Fund 3 Impact Fund," it secured a total of ¥20.2 billion. KII's current total assets under management stand at ¥35 billion, with investments in 70 companies.

──So, another key feature is your focus on deep tech impact investing.

Yoshihiro: That's correct. While the term "impact investing" may not be widely familiar, it is defined as an investment approach that simultaneously pursues financial returns and social/environmental impact.

While the term "impact" might evoke a sense of "shock" or "jolt," making it somewhat difficult to grasp, the "impact" in impact investing refers to the "positive change" that occurs in society as a result of the investment. It signifies forward-looking change that contributes to solving social issues. Crucially, it must be change that "only occurred because the investment was made."

KII aims to bring new change to society through investments in startups tackling cutting-edge technologies.

──Could you explain why you decided to publish this Impact Report?

Yoshihiro: Impact investing focused specifically on deep tech is still rare globally, and the business itself operates in a challenging domain. To further grow the business going forward, it's essential to raise awareness about the characteristics and significance of this investment approach.

The KII Fund 3 Impact Fund has received a total of ¥20.2 billion in capital from large corporations. Naturally, this carries significant responsibility, and we felt it was essential to fulfill our obligations to investors regarding evaluation, measurement, and disclosure.

Suzuki: Just as the term "sustainability management" has gained attention in recent years, I believe we've entered an era where a company's integrity and social responsibility are scrutinized. Similarly, there's no doubt that investments are now expected to have social significance.

Given this trend, I interpreted KII's establishment of the "Impact Fund" as an evolution of its previous two investments, designed to be even more impact-oriented.

Gibo: Exactly. Investors want to know how their funds are being invested and what they are contributing to. As a pioneer in deep tech × impact investing, KII also decided to take on the challenge of creating an impact report for this unprecedented domain.

The difficulty of communicating the significance of investing in areas where measuring impact is challenging

──What were the key challenges in creating the impact report?

Gibo: Our portfolio companies are startups conducting early-stage research, often called "seed" stage, within deep tech. Measuring impact is difficult, and there's significant uncertainty about how these ventures will develop. Therefore, we can't clearly present outcomes like "we applied this research to create this product," as you might see with established businesses.

How could we accurately convey the significance and process of our activities? It wasn't just difficult to communicate this to others in the impact investing industry—looking globally, it seemed no one had even managed to articulate it. I felt utterly hopeless and was at a loss.

──So it was that difficult a field to communicate.

Yoshihiro: Exactly. But while I was agonizing over this, Suzuki-san reached out to me, and that became the turning point. We'd worked together before on our website redesign and pamphlets, so I thought, "Suzuki-san is absolutely the right person!" I clung to that hope and pleaded, "Your timing couldn't be better! Please help us!"

Suzuki: I'd long felt KII was doing truly meaningful work. Supporting university-spinoff startups was especially intriguing. While I understood the complexity of explaining deep tech × impact investing, I thought, "Let's organize the information piece by piece and create something that could serve as a model impact report."

What needed to be communicated to get initial approval? Identifying key points and conveying them step by step

──It's a specialized field with a high level of complexity. Creating an impact report in such an area must have been a very challenging and difficult task. What did you focus on during the creation process, Mr. Suzuki?

Suzuki: First, after receiving a rough overall outline, I engaged in extensive dialogue with Mr. Gibo, including discussing the "dilemmas" KII was facing. That said, things were quite chaotic at the start—it felt like tangled threads spreading out endlessly.

While listening to various perspectives, I began by gently tugging at parts of the tangled threads, asking, "Is this the most concerning part? Or is it this one?"

But the threads wouldn't untangle easily. Even when thinking, "It's still tangled," we kept repeating the process carefully, over and over. Then, there comes a moment when pulling a certain spot makes the threads suddenly slide smoothly apart. Repeating this further reveals more places that can be untangled. Gradually, it becomes clear: "This is the root! Starting from here will get the message across!"

Through this dialogue, I became convinced that "the most important thing is to convey what makes this investment challenging." So, in the opening "Introduction," I concisely expressed the overview and significance of KII's impact fund and explained the underlying situation that forms the basis of the difficulty.

──So rather than explaining everything from 1 to 10 all at once, the top priority is to identify key points and communicate them step by step.

Suzuki: Exactly. I often have conversations like, "If we just understand this one thing, can we call it OK for now?" I actually believe this is the essence of communication work. If, during this report creation, I only kept saying "Deep tech + impact investing is difficult, it's tough," then people would just think, "Well, then why not just stop?"

By showing a positive attitude—saying "It's tough, but we're taking on this challenge"—I wanted to foster the feeling of "Oh, this challenge doesn't seem so bad after all."

The page above concisely explains both the challenges and potential of Deep Tech × Impact Investing.

Using mountain climbing as an analogy, the left section, "Challenges Unique to Deep Tech," shows the mountain's height and ruggedness, while the right section, "Impact Management Process/Structure," demonstrates how to climb it. The idea was to present the mountain's full picture and the climbing method, aiming for readers to think, "We might just be able to climb it." We developed this approach in close consultation with Mr. Gihō and the team.

How do you convey passion and confidence in the venture despite an uncertain future?

──Given the lack of concrete results, what approaches did you take to convince stakeholders and investors?

Suzuki: This impact report contains no flashy achievements whatsoever. Since we ultimately can't show tangible deliverables like "We achieved these results," our only option is to earn trust by consistently building up facts: "We're following this process from this perspective," "We saw effects in this area." We focused on conveying the business's safety and reliability through sincere communication.

Therefore, for the copywriting, I consciously chose words that convey passion and confidence throughout. I strive to communicate facts objectively and clearly, with a confident tone, eliminating all unnecessary elements.

Additionally, to avoid the sterile, overly logical feel common in corporate reports, we included photos and comments from KII staff on each page to add a human touch. To further enhance realism, we interviewed startups and featured their comments. By presenting evaluations from both KII and the startups, we believe we achieved greater concreteness.

 

Yoshihiro: The latter part of the report introduces the types of startups we invest in, alongside a list of portfolio companies. At KII, we define three impact areas—improving quality of life (QOL), transforming socio-economic systems, and protecting the environment—based on our Theory of Change (ToC). These areas serve as indicators of the societal changes we aim to bring about through our investments.

This report carefully organizes such portfolio and specialized content, moving beyond mere text lists. It incorporates visual elements like iconography representing the ToC and each company's directional goals. We feel these efforts significantly enhance readability and clarity.

 

Suzuki: Furthermore, when introducing each portfolio company, the limited-edition report for fund investors includes a logic model alongside 2024 topics, showing monitoring metrics and long-term outlooks. However, what gave us a headache here was the business phase of each company.

KII primarily invests in seed and early-stage deep tech startups, meaning many companies are still in the technology and business development phase. Consequently, for numerous companies, impact measurement will only be possible years or even decades from now.

To address this, we introduced "impact KPIs" for companies that have reached the impact creation phase and "impact milestones" for those still in the development phase. This approach serves as a wedge to communicate progress, making it easier to visualize future impact.

Yoshihiro: Neither "Impact KPI" nor "Impact Milestone" are established technical terms, but we were grateful that the Dentsu Inc. team came up with concise, easy-to-visualize language that effectively communicates the concept.

Impact Report Exceeding Investor Expectations Completed

──What was the response like after publishing the impact report?

Yoshihiro: This time, we created two versions: a limited edition for fund investors and a public version for a wider audience. Investors receiving the limited edition likely held the impact report with mixed feelings—strong anticipation about what information would be disclosed, coupled with anxiety about what if there was no progress...

Despite this context, we received significant feedback such as: "I wondered what they could present without visible results, but they explained the mechanism. With such a mechanism in place, it's very reassuring."

Furthermore, specialized impact investment organizations viewing the public version stated, "The intentionality of impact investing (a clear social purpose of what you want to change) came across very strongly." The government's Impact Consortium commented, "It's impressive you entered the extremely challenging field of Deep Tech × Impact. We can expect significant growth going forward." Young students also shared feedback: "Though it was an unfamiliar field, I understood the concept of impact investing and felt the potential for solving problems using technology."

──The feedback about feeling "reassured" and "seeing potential" is truly wonderful.

Yoshihiro: This is entirely thanks to the Dentsu Inc. team, led by Mr. Suzuki, who approached this project with such integrity. The most dangerous aspect of impact reporting in impact investing is "impact washing" – presenting something as impactful when it hasn't actually generated any real effect. Honesty is paramount, so I'm truly glad we entrusted this to the Dentsu Inc. team.

Suzuki: We constantly considered the reader's perspective throughout the production process. Fundamentally, if readers sense even one instance of questionable wording, trust is lost immediately. Similarly, making excuses for unseen results is absolutely counterproductive.

Therefore, we continuously explored how to create a report that allows readers to understand the social significance of deep tech and sense its future potential—without feeling any discomfort.

Communication drives business growth! A reference for diverse IR materials

──This impact report could become a guiding principle going forward, couldn't it?

Yoshihiro: I agree. It perfectly aligns with the fact that Dentsu Inc. is leading and consulting on it. IR For Growth ." We created this 2024 Impact Report, but since this fund will continue for 10 years, we'll keep publishing reports next year, the year after... and beyond.

Next year, if we can't show progress, it could lead to distrust among investors. This makes us feel the need to grow alongside this Impact Report.

We are grateful to Dentsu Inc. not only for producing the Impact Report but also for consulting with KII and helping us increase our value.

Suzuki: In the Impact Report, we declared, "Through challenges, Deep Tech and KII will be forged and grow." I also felt that having this report seen by others would forge us as well.

Furthermore, beyond the Impact Report itself, we feel confident we've presented a format applicable to IR development for many companies.

In recent years, with the rise of individual shareholders influenced by factors like the new NISA, the IR perspective seems to be expanding toward BtoC. Dentsu Inc. also aims to build new forms of communication targeting diverse audiences going forward.

──It certainly seems like this will serve as a reference for how to present IR materials in various scenarios.

Yoshihiro: This report will be featured on various sites going forward. Seeing this unprecedented presentation style, many companies are likely to reference it. I believe it's the optimal way to summarize not just for financial institutions, but for any organization undertaking initiatives that may not yet show tangible results but hold future significance.

Suzuki: Having your own creations referenced is the greatest joy for a creator. It means the cumulative thought process leading up to completion was accepted. Even without flashy results or outcomes, you can express a business's safety and reliability by sincerely communicating its mechanisms. We're truly honored to have created one such example. We'd be delighted if various companies adapt it for their own use.