Socials Inc. held a panel titled “Catalytic Funding & Impact Investment: Bridging Japanese Capital and Global Resilience” on the main stage of the invitation-only executive summit Tech for Impact Summit 2026, hosted on April 26, 2026 at Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho, Kioi Conference. The discussion examined whether Japan’s public, institutional, and individual capital can be aligned with genuine catalytic investment and impact funding, against the backdrop of GPIF, the movement of household financial assets under the new NISA system, and funding gaps in climate and development. Speakers included Ken Shibusawa, Jesper Koll, Anastasia Dieieva, and moderator Tim Kelly, senior correspondent at Reuters in Tokyo. The panel began by defining “catalytic capital.” Ken Shibusawa said catalytic capital does not need to be large in itself; its importance lies in attracting subsequent, larger pools of capital. To bring in large financial investors, however, the catalytic capital itself must have some scale. Jesper Koll argued that Japan is already a major catalytic investor, having remained one of the world’s largest creditor nations for nearly four decades, while GPIF has helped drive ESG and SDG-oriented investment. He emphasized a return to the Japanese principle of “sanpo-yoshi,” under which financial return is only one part of corporate responsibility, alongside obligations to business partners, employees, local communities, and diverse stakeholders. Anastasia Dieieva, speaking from Ukraine’s wartime frontline perspective, redefined catalytic capital as capital that arrives when everyone else is leaving: patient capital under extreme urgency, and a filler that bridges gaps among development agencies, investors, companies, governments, social sectors, and local communities. The panel also addressed structural changes in Japanese institutional capital. Koll used the example of a steel mill to explain that a pension fund needs not only investment returns, but also the long-term