Japan-US Startup Ecosystem Roundup
Join us September 4th for a Japan-US Startup Ecosystem Roundup, exploring the latest policy and market-driven opportunities for cross-border startup growth. The event runs from 4:00-6:30 PM, followed by networking and refreshments from 6:30-8:00 PM. Designed for investors and corporates engaging with startups, the event will feature key voices in US-Japan innovation.
Virtual participation options are possible for those joining us from Japan (8:15-10:30AM Sept 5th Japan Time) and those who we cannot fit into our limited space in-person (4:15-6:30PM Sept 4th Japan Time).
Note that in-person attendance is limited, but we will still invite those for whom we don’t have room in person to join us remotely.
AGENDA
Keynotes:
Participants will have the option to choose which breakout room to attend:
Networking will follow the sessions.
SPEAKERS
Richard Dasher
Dr. Richard Dasher has directed the US-Asia Technology Management Center and served as adjunct faculty at Stanford since 1994. From 1998 – 2017, he served concurrently as Executive Director of the Center for Integrated Systems (now Stanford System X Alliance). In 2004, Dr. Dasher became the first non-Japanese person to join the governance of a Japanese national university, serving on the Board of Directors and then on the Management Council of Tohoku University until 2011. Other service (selected) includes the Program Committee of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) of MEXT since its founding in 2007, and advisory roles with research institutes, accelerators, and nonprofits in Thailand, China, Japan, S. Korea, Canada, France, Germany, and the U.S. Dr. Dasher received the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation in 2023 for long-term promotion of economic relations between Japan and the U.S.
Kenta Yasukawa
Kenta Yasukawa is Co-Founder and CTO of Soracom, a global technology company delivering cloud-native cellular connectivity and AI integration services. Acquired by KDDI in 2017 and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2024, Soracom is evolving into a real-world AI connector, linking physical devices and digital knowledge to AI to realize the vision of IoT. Kenta holds a PhD in engineering and, before co-founding Soracom, worked on early IoT projects as a researcher at Ericsson and served as a solutions architect at Amazon Web Services in Tokyo and Seattle.
Kathy Matsui
Kathy Matsui is Co-Founder and General Partner of MPower Partners, Japan’s first ESG-integrated global venture capital fund. Former Vice Chair of Goldman Sachs Japan and creator of the influential “Womenomics” framework, she has advised Japan’s government on gender diversity and corporate governance. Named to Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women in Asia” and Forbes’ “50 Over 50 in Asia,” she serves on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards, lectures at Kyoto University, and continues to shape Japan’s startup and investment ecosystem.
Yutaka Matsuo
Yutaka Matsuo is currently the chairman of JDLA, an outside director of SoftBank Group Corporation and Panasonic Holdings, and the chairperson of Japan's AI Strategy Council. He graduated from the University of Tokyo with a Ph.D. in Engineering in 2002. He has conducted research at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (2002~2005), at Stanford University as a visiting researcher (2005~2007) and has been a professor at University of Tokyo (2019~). His research specializes in AI, deep learning, and web mining.
Kazuki Ohta
Kazuki Ohta is the CEO and Co-Founder of Treasure Data, a global leader in Customer Data Platforms. With a vision to unify data, AI, and customer engagement, he has scaled the company from startup to industry innovator, serving some of the world’s largest enterprises.
Jorge Cortell
Jorge Cortell is Executive Director of TECH-Tokyo, Visiting Professor at Institute of Science Tokyo, and Lecturer at the University of Tokyo. A serial entrepreneur with six profitable startups (five exits, one unicorn), he has held senior roles at Harvard Innovation Labs and advised over 100 healthcare ventures. His healthcare tech innovations are used in 15 countries. Jorge has lectured at Harvard, Oxford, MIT, and Stanford, and received awards from NASA, IBM, HIMSS, and the Wall Street Journal.
Don Butler
Don is a Managing Director at Thomvest Ventures, a venture fund investing the assets of Peter Thomson, whose family owns the majority of Thomson Reuters. Don focuses on companies in the fintech, data & AI infrastructure, and cybersecurity industries. Previously, Don led the Japanese business development efforts for several startups while at Asia Pacific Ventures, and before that was an Investment Banking Analyst at Lehman Brothers. Don received a B.A. in Chinese from UCLA and M.A.s in both East Asian Studies and Political Science from Stanford University.
Shiho Watabe
Shiho Watabe is Chairman of Shibuya Startups KK, supporting or investing in 50 startups in Japan and globally, from the Care Economy to the Creator Economy. A Stanford and ICU graduate, she began her career as an analyst at Morgan Stanley and later held leadership roles at Google, Mercari, and ELSA Speak. Harajuku–Shibuya homegrown and globally traveled, Shiho brings two decades of experience across APAC, EMEA, MENA, Silicon Valley, and Washington D.C., offering a unique blend of local insight and international perspective to accelerate Japan’s startup ecosystem and shape its future on the world stage.
Simeon Bochev
Simeon Bochev is Co-Founder & CEO of Compute Exchange, creating the world’s first open marketplace for AI compute. Based in Japan for much of his career, he served as Industry AI Technical Expert for MPower Partners, advising startups in Japan, the U.S., and Europe, and co-founded Pride Business Alliance Japan, the country’s first chamber-level LGBTQ+ business network. Formerly President, Japan & Asia-Pacific at QuantCo and a leader at Apple and Lambda, Simeon bridges global AI strategy with Japan’s innovation ecosystem.
Yuta Tsukagoshi
Yuta Tsukagoshi is the Development Manager at Mitsubishi Electric US, where he is responsible for expanding existing businesses and creating new opportunities within the mobility business unit. He actively seeks partnerships with startups that possess advanced expertise in data analytics, computer vision, and related technologies.
Takehiro Ishiguro
Takehiro Ishiguro is the Senior Manager of Open Innovation at Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Inc., where he leads collaboration with startups and external partners to accelerate new business creation. With nearly a decade of R&D experience at Mitsubishi Electric, he focuses on advanced technologies that can drive innovation across global markets.
Ludovic Copere
Ludovic brings 18 years of experience in venture capital, new business creation and strategic partnerships at Sony. Based in Silicon Valley as a core member of Sony Ventures since its inception, Ludovic leads startup scouting, due diligence, venture investment execution as well as portfolio management in many core investment focus areas such as web3, FinTech, Cybersecurity, Enterprise AI and Climate. Ludovic was previously at Sony's global headquarters in Tokyo where is was involved in Intellectual Property & technology strategy.
Takafumi Ochiai
Takafumi Ochiai is a Senior Partner at Atsumi & Sakai and Head of its Policy Research Institute, where he advises on digital regulation, fintech, and innovation policy. He co-founded Smart Governance Inc. and serves as Distinguished Visiting Professor at Keio University’s Graduate School of Media Design. Ochiai is Vice Chair of the Fintech Association of Japan, holding senior roles in government councils on regulatory reform and digital policy, and serving as an outside director for companies including bitFlyer. He is widely recognized as a leading voice on Japan’s digital governance.
Chris McKinnon
Chris McKinnon is a Partner at Morrison Foerster who advises startups and investors on investment, M&A and fund transactions. He focuses on venture-backed startups in the technology industry, including AI, fintech, AR/VR, semiconductors and software. Before rejoining Morrison Foerster, Chris advised a leading Tokyo-based global investment firm, as Associate General Counsel and Legal Director, on domestic and cross-border investment and M&A transactions in the technology industry. Chris also currently serves as Co-Chair of the ABA’s Angel Venture Capital committee.
Ed Hemphill
As CEO of Austin, Texas-based Izuma Networks since 2022, Ed Hemphill leads development of intelligent edge-compute technologies and steers the company’s involvement in NEDO’s post-5G infrastructure project with SoftBank in Japan. Previously, he directed Edge and Gateway Market Development at Arm and co-founded WigWag (acquired by Arm). With a strategic blend of technical leadership and global business development, Ed brings deep expertise in edge-computing innovation and collaboration within Japan’s evolving telecom ecosystem.
Kaoruko Onishi
Kaoruko Onishi represents MOL Switch LLC, the corporate venture arm of Mitsui OSK Lines, where she researches new technologies and develops partnerships to drive innovation in shipping and logistics. With additional responsibilities as a Technical Specialist at MOL (Americas) LLC and more than five years’ experience in ship planning, design, and smart shipping at MOL in Tokyo, she brings the perspective of a global corporation actively seeking to support and collaborate with startups.
Neeraj Hora
Neeraj Hora is CEO & Managing Director of Nomura Strategic Ventures, where he leads investments and partnerships connecting global startups with Japanese corporates. Based in California, he also heads Innovation and Investment at Nomura Holding America and serves on the steering committee of the Nomura–SRI Innovation Center in Menlo Park. With senior leadership experience at Nomura Asia, Lehman Brothers, and JPMorgan, Neeraj brings deep expertise in finance, cross-border growth, and corporate–startup collaboration.
Brian Burns
Brian Burns, Founding Partner at BYG, has over 30 years’ experience driving North American tech success in Japan and across Asia. Fluent in Japanese and Mandarin, he has led market entry, sales growth, and strategic partnerships for firms including Apple, Microsoft, HashiCorp, Hortonworks, and Cloudian. Based in Silicon Valley, Brian has built regional teams, closed multi-million-dollar deals with Japan’s largest enterprises, and advised global SaaS/PaaS ventures. He serves on advisory boards and speaks frequently on Japan-U.S. technology and cloud innovation.
Marcus Otsuji
Marcus Otsuji has lived in Japan for 23 years including 7 years as Japan Country Manager at web analytics startup Omniture and 5 years leading iPhone and Enterprise sales at Apple Japan. For the last 9 years Marcus has led Japan operations for venture capital firm Geodesic Capital (Foster City, CA) where he and his team have supported over 25 Silicon Valley based portfolio companies including Databricks, Figma, Workato, Vercel, Uber and Airbnb with their Japan entry and growth strategies. He also works closely with Japanese corporate investors in Geodesic’s funds supporting their digital transformation strategies.
Insun Yoon
Insun Yoon is a strategic program leader with over 20 years of experience driving innovation across the US–Japan technology ecosystem. As Senior Program Manager at the Nomura–SRI Innovation Center, she connects Japanese corporates with Silicon Valley startups to accelerate cross-border collaboration. Her background spans leadership roles at Samsung Electronics, Samsung Semiconductor, and VMware, alongside entrepreneurial ventures in Silicon Valley, giving her a unique perspective on bridging global startups and established enterprises.
Nao Shibata
Nao Shibata is a Visiting Associate at Benhamou Global Ventures (BGV) in Menlo Park, where she supports cross-border venture investment and portfolio growth between the U.S. and Japan. She also serves as a Manager at Marubeni America Corporation, building on over seven years with Marubeni in Tokyo and the U.S., and earlier experience in digital marketing and CRM at NTT Docomo.
Amil Khanzada
Amil Khanzada is Founder & CEO of Virufy, a Stanford-born nonprofit startup with 250+ staff and offices in Dubai, Silicon Valley, and Fukuoka. He advises startups in Japan and Saudi Arabia and is a Doctorate student at the University of Fukui in Japan, focusing on applied health AI research and nudge theory. Often consulting with Japanese ministers and government officials, he also serves as Eiheiji Town Evolution Ambassador. With near-native Japanese fluency and deep ties across the Japan–US startup ecosystem, Amil bridges applied AI research, policy, and entrepreneurship to advance innovation with societal impact.
ORGANIZERS:
Alec Walker (Stanford MBA 2015) is a community builder and twice exited founder, helping companies like Google, GM, Dow, and AECOM with AI strategy and internal startup incubation. He has worked with dozens of startups and VCs on operations and international business development.
US-ATMC programs aim at integrating practical perspectives into international strategic technology management along with analysis of research trends in selected areas of leading-edge technologies.
SPONSORS: