We Are All Professionals

Yasuhiko Yurimoto

Founder / CEO / General Partner

Yasuhiko founded Global Brain after holding senior positions in Citibank N.A. and Fuji Bank (Mizuho Bank). Leveraging his experience as a founder and overcoming financial crisis in 2000 and 2008, he is a mentor to many entrepreneurs.

Isao Yasuda

General Partner

Isao joined GB as an expert in IPO. At Japan Securities Dealers Association, he was responsible for listing examinations, introducing book building system and other initiatives.

Jiro Kumakura

Investment Group

General Partner

Jiro is a partner in charge of technologies. He was an early member of Digital Design, an enterprise middleware provider which made an IPO at NASDAQ Japan as its very first listing.

Keisuke Tatsuoka

Investment Group

General Partner

Keisuke built his career in consulting and new business development at Recruit and Boston Consulting Group for clients in the telecom, CPG, and financial institutions.

Kazuhiko Miyama

Investment Group

Partner

Kazuhiko is a strategist with experience in corporate planning and new business development, having lead and managed various services at Recruit and TSUTAYA Online.

Ayu Shinoyama

Corporate Management Group

Partner / Chief Financial Officer

Ayu is an expert in tax accounting. Prior to joining GB, she managed the back office for a tax accounting firm supporting client auditing,incorporating and many other functions.

Tasuke Nakagawa

Investment Group

Partner / M&A

Tasuke brings financial expertise from his work at Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC. Experienced in auditing, financial due diligence and IPO preparation.

Hiroshi Shimazu

Corporate Management Group

Partner / General Counsel

Hiroshi manages legal and due diligence across the GB's global operation and also helps portfolio companies with the strategic legal and IP issues. Prior to joining GB, he served as APAC Regional Counsel at a U.S. company and the head of U.S. Legal at a Japanese company.

Noriko Usui

Fund Management Group

Partner / Chief Fund Management Officer

Noriko is responsible for the fund management and administration. She also advises the portfolio company in HR, general affairs, and accounting matters. She has experience in managing the back office both in a public company and a venture company.

Naoki Kamimaeda

Investment Group

Partner
Europe Office Representative

Naoki is responsible for AI, Big Data and Cloud Tech areas. Prior to joining GB, he worked for Sony as a software engineer specialised in AI and Big Data technologies. For the last 2 years in his Sony career, he worked in San Francisco as a software engineering manager of PlayStation Network.

Hirokazu Watanabe

Investment Group

Partner

Hirokazu has various experiences about venture-investment, M&A, JV and new business development. He has lead many deals in NTTDoCoMo, LINE and venture-capital for a long time.

Kenta Kitsuka

Investment Group

Partner

Kenta built his career in Sanyo Electric, and L'Oreal as a researcher. He has a Ph.D in the material science and physical chemistry, and brings expertise in consumer products.

Jooil Hong

Investment Group

Partner
South Korea Office Representative

Hong is Venture Partner and is responsible for the investment in Korea. Prior to joining GB, Hong was a Head of Growth Strategy Part at Daum Kakao. He also served as an Entrepreneur and CSO of a Startup. He also built his career at Skylake Investment and focused IT Sector Investment.

Masamune Shin

Investment Group

Partner

Masamune has various experience both in the retail business and strategy consulting firms. He led the corporate strategy division and digital strategy division in the apparel company, Sanyo Shokai, developed and executed the growth strategy which include DX, New business development, M&A, and JV. Also, as a strategy consultant, he led many strategy projects and executed hands-on supports for large corporations and private equity funds.

Hiroyuki Izumi

Investment Group

Partner

Hiroyuki joined GB after working for a major system integration company and an M&A firm. At a major system integration company, he developed overseas products for the Japanese market. He was in charge of China and Singapore and led business expansion through “0→1” business start-up and global deployment of packaged solutions. He was engaged in global strategy planning, cross-border M&A, and start-up investment as General Manager of Overseas Business Division.

Ai Minamizaki

Investment Group

Principal

Prior to joining GB, Ai worked for the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry. She has various experiences among trade policy, IoT business creation support, and space industry policy. She set up many opportunities for overseas startups and Japanese companies to collaborate and deeply engaged in bridging with Indian startups.

Akeo Ito

Investment Group

Director

Prior to joining GB, Akeo worked at Dentsu Digital and Mercari. At Dentsu, he was involved in consulting for clients in the e-commerce and financial sectors. At Mercari, he was involved in a wide range of growth areas, including developing marketing strategies, setting up the organization, and working as a data analyst on CRM-related analysis and developing customer development models.

Asuka Watanabe

Corporate Management Group

Associate

Prior to joining GB, Asuka worked at law firm in Tokyo and at Japan’s first bicycle sharing startup, where she provided legal support and led all business development efforts. At GB, Asuka is charge of providing legal and financial support to GB’s portfolio companies.

Chisa Shinsakaue

Corporate Management Group

Principal

Chisa is responsible for planning, events, HR, and PR for GB and startup companies. Prior to joining GB, She worked for a major human resources company. Engaged in recruitment support specializing in startups, managed an interview video site as recruitment PR, and design, direction, brand management, and advertising of group companies.

Daisuke Kashiro

Investment Group

Director

Daisuke is an experienced business development professional with a history of working in the digital industry. He has marketing, strategic planning, sales, finance, and partnership development skills acquired through experiences of launching new businesses at an internet company and a financial company.

Daisuke Nishida

Investment Group

Director

Prior to joining GB, Daisuke worked at Toyota Motor Corporation and Hitachi Medical Corporation.  He has been engaged in Legal, Corporate Strategy Planning, startup collaboration and investment, CVC management, etc.

Harue Hayashi

Fund Management Group

Director / Vice Chief Fund Management Officer

Harue is responsible for the fund management and administration. She also advises the portfolio company in HR, general affairs, and accounting matters. She worked for a life assurance company and a tax accounting firm.

Hidetaka Aoki

Investment Group

Director

Hidetaka is responsible for aerospace and new technology sector. He joined GB from Dream Incubator where he was an evangelist for the aerospace business, developed strategies and consulted for the clients. Prior to DI, he developed “Kounotori”, Japan’s first automated cargo spacecraft at Mitsubishi Electric and won a number of awards.

Hiroaki Ninomiya

Investment Group

Principal / Tech Talent

Hiroaki is responsible for system developments and data analysis architecture at Global Brain. Previously, Hiroaki was a software engineer in charge of partner alliance developments at a Japanese marketing-tech company.

Hirotaka Togashi

Investment Group

Principal

Prior to joining GB, Hirotaka worked at NRI (Nomura Research Institute). At NRI, he specialized in enterprise software for the financial industry, and was engaged in a wide range of project lead and consulting services such as corporate planning, business development, planning of industry-standard services, and digital innovation.

Hiroto Sorita

Investment Group

Principal

Hiroto built his career in mobility sector at Toyota Tsusho Corporation. He was in charge of trading vehicles to African distributors as well as initiating Japanese grant-aid projects. He was also stationed at regional headquarters in South Africa to support operational development (“Kaizen”) and lead DX projects through SaaS implementation.

Hiroyoshi Iwata

Investment Group

Director

Prior to joining GB, Hiroyoshi worked for a Japanese plant engineering and construction company. Previously Hiroyoshi was a chemical engineer in charge of R&D and business development in Environmental and Energy sector, and planned collaborations with universities and companies at sales headquarters.

Hiroyuki Kawamoto

Investment Group

Principal

Hiroyuki used to work at the D2C venture, Mega Venture, Unicorn company, etc. At the D2C venture, he worked as a marketer, at Mega venture, he worked as Managing Director of India business. At OYO LIFE he was founding member in Japan and responsible for the launching of HR, Biz Development, PM team, and growth for the new potential area.

Jean Lu

Corporate Management Group

Legal Counsel

Jean is mainly responsible for due diligence, legal analysis, as well as contracts with respect to prospective and current portfolio companies outside of Japan. Prior to joining GB, she worked for a U.S. law firm.

Junji Okamoto

Investment Group

Director

Prior to GB, Junji spent several years at an investment bank where he was involved in M&A advisory and real estate business. He's also worked for a VC and RECRUIT where he was involved in startup investment in China, US and South East Asia.

Kaori Akiba

Corporate Management Group

Principal

Kaori administers our office and supports our portfolio companies in accounting. Previously she managed promotions and events at an association which provides course and certification program.

Kazunori Yamaguchi

Investment Group

Director

Kazunori has developed his career in Strategic Consulting industry before joining GB. At the Boston Consulting Group, he worked with various clients, such as Financial Institution, Trading Company, and Manufacturers. He has also worked in a Japanese professional baseball team as a member of Business Planning Team.

Keiji Niizu

Investment Group

Director

Prior to joining GB, Keiji worked at Microsoft, Mobile Internet Capital (MIC), and JICT (government fund). At Microsoft, Keiji was an engineer for server software and cloud services. At MIC, Keiji invested in startups in Japan, US, and Israel. At JICT, Keiji co-invested with Japanese companies in oversea IT projects including M&A.

Keiko Yoshida

Fund Management Group

Senior Associate

Keiko is an accounting expert. Prior to joining GB, she worked for an accounting firm where she advised her clients on monthly financial closing and analysis. At Daiwa Securities Group, she was advising individuals and businesses on asset management.

Kia Ishii

Corporate Management Group

Director / Tech Talent

Kia is an expert in web design/development. A member of the Vue.js Core Team, actively developing Vue.js related software and driving the community. At GB, he provides a wide range of technical support for the portfolio companies.

Kikuko Iwama

Investment Group

Director

Prior to joining GB, Kikuko worked at Nissan Motor Corporation, Start-up and was an engineer within the energy sector in Asia and South America. At Nissan Motor Corporation, Kikuko was responsible for connected car service design for the global market, mobility service partnership, and startup sourcing for China Market. She also experienced in a startup in China as a co-founder.

Koichiro Suzuki

Corporate Management Group

Director / Tech Talent

Koichiro is a specialist in system software development, IT infrastructure design/management, IoT, and VR. He brings a broad range of technical skills from his work at tech venture responsible for product customer support.

Komugi Matsui

Corporate Management Group

Director / PR Talent

Komugi is responsible for PR/Marketing for GB and startup companies. Built her career start at Sony Marketing and global mobile companies and experienced in PR and cohesive marketing.

Kotona Inaida

Fund Management Group

Associate

Kotona is responsible for the fund management and administration. Prior to joining GB, she worked at a public-listed company, and has experience in the accounting affairs of digital marketing and EC depertments.

KyungHun Lee

Investment Group

Director / South Korea Office

Prior to joining GB, Lee worked for a global startup as CSO and managed the AI robot business development. He started his career as a consultant at Nomura Research Institute and then moved to Boston Consulting Group.

Mana Takabayashi

Fund Management Group

Principal

Before joining GB, Mana worked for a consulting firm and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). While at the consulting firm, she was in charge of BPR projects for the Japanese manufacturing industry. At JICA, she supported overseas business development for Japanese SMEs within different industries, which are developing their business in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, etc.

Marika Tazaki

Investment Group

Principal

Prior to joining GB, Marika worked at P&G as Finance Group Manager. She has various experiences among Value Chain – starting from Head Quarter Strategy/Financial Planning to Production Plant On-site Cost Management and Field Sales's Go-to-Market Strategy Development. She holds USCPA license in Washington State.

Masao Yamada

Investment Group

Director

He joined Global Brain after Mitsubishi Corporation and Bridgestone Corporation. He has been engaged in Private Equity Investment (Buyout and Venture), M&A Advisory, Corporate Planning, New Business Development Planning, etc.

Masaya Kawakami

Investment Group

Director

Prior to joining GB, Masaya worked for Rakuten and ofo. At Rakuten he held positions in UX design and product management of many services. At ofo, Masaya led business strategy and KPI visualization for APAC countries.

Megumi Asatsuma

Corporate Management Group

Principal

Megumi joined GB after working in back-office operations at a dispensing pharmacy, an enterprise corporation, and a startup. At GB, she is in charge of general affairs and accounting of GB’s portfolio companies.

Miku Yoshio

Investment Group

Director

Prior to joining GB, Miku worked at Accenture, and Boston Consulting Group. At Accenture, she was a consultant for the public sector. At BCG, she supported enterprises in new business development, open-innovation strategy, and business alliance. She has also worked in a real estate developer.

Mitsuaki Nishino

Corporate Management Group

Director / Legal

Prior to joining GB, Mitsuaki worked for a legal office in Tokyo as an associate attorney and a Japanese game company as the legal manager. At the game company, he provided legal services in the fields of the game, entertainment, VR and corporate.

Mizue Kinoshita

Fund Management Group

Senior Associate

Prior to joining GB, Mizue worked for an advertising and publishing company as an accounting. She is responsible for improving efficiency of accounting tasks for GB’s portfolio companies and GB group.

Nagisa Shigetomi

Investment Group

Principal

Before joining GB, Nagisa worked for JR Kyushu and Eirene University. At Eirene University, she was involved with management as co-founder, placing importance on social impact. She translated the Business Model Canvas booklet into Japanese and released it as Creative Commons. She has experience in supporting to create a new business using Design Thinking.

Rampalli Karthik

Investment Group

Principal

Karthik came to Japan on the prestigious MEXT Scholarship program and received a degree in Computer Science from Tokyo Institute of Technology. He has worked with accelerators in Japan, where he helped foreign startups with Japan market expansion. He has also assisted VC funds in Japan in expanding their portfolio to foreign markets. Karthik participated & organized hackathons and worked with some data science startups, and is currently involved in Technology x SDGs projects with esteemed organizations like the UN & WEF.

Rika Arai

Corporate Management Group

Director / HR Talent

Prior to joining GB, Rika worked in corporate sales at a business company. She has also worked in human resources as a recruiter. Later, she worked for a recruitment agency in Singapore. She was responsible for recruiting CFO and COO for startups, members for business development, and consultants for major enterprise compani

Rina Obi

Investment Group

Principal

Rina joined GB to focus on international investments. Prior to joining, she was at Henkel’s HQ in Germany in the global digital transformation office. Before that, she led GTM strategy at a Silicon Valley startup in the UK. She also worked at Google in Tokyo and London on marketing and growth.

Riichiro Kimura

Investment Group

Principal
US NY Office

Prior to joining GB, Riichiro worked for BASF where he held positions in R&D and strategic raw material sourcing in Germany and the US. As a chemist, Riichiro managed R&D projects for clean technology development. As part of Center of Excellence team within procurement, he was responsible for raw material procurement and strategic projects.

Ryosuke Kogure

Corporate Management Group

Principal / Tech Talent

Prior to joining GB, Ryosuke worked at software corporation that develops ERP software. Previously he developed the service about evaluation and onboarding procedures.

Ryozo Yamamoto

Investment Group

Director

Ryozo mainly takes charge of hardware startups in various areas, from investment to product and business development. Prior to GB, Ryozo worked for Honda as an engineer of engine control systems at Honda Racing F1 Team in England as his first career. After Honda, he worked for Dream Incubator and Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting as a consultant of strategy planning and execution support for Japanese technology enterprises.

Sachiko Sakamoto

Investment Group

Director

Before joining GB, she built her career in marketing and business development for the telecommunication & content services at NTT DOCOMO and Rakuten, where contributing to the growth of Rakuten Mobile as Head of Service Strategy Dept.

Sayaka Yoshino

Corporate Management Group

Senior Associate

Sayaka is responsible for GB’s general administration and accounting. Prior to joining GB, Sayaka was a receptionist at an esthetic salon.

Shien Nakayama

Investment Group

Principal

Shien joined GB to focus on Fintech and Chinese startups investment. Before joining GB, Shien worked at Shinsei Bank, KPMG and Teradata. He has 10year+ experience in strategic planning, investment, consultation for the FinTech sector and the Chinese financial market.

Shin Yamada

Fund Management Group

Associate

Prior to joining GB, Shin worked as sales at an infrastructure-related company and as an accountant at an educational corporation. At an infrastructure-related company, he was mainly in charge of fee management for large contracts, and at an educational corporation, he was in charge of monthly accounts and payroll processing. Currently, he is responsible for fund management operations.

Shingo Otaki

Investment Group

Director

Prior to joining GB, Shingo worked for NTT DOCOMO where he gained experiences in agency sales, content and services business, and investment activities in the Silicon Valley branch of  NTT DOCOMO Ventures.

Sho Ikeda

Investment Group

Director
Indonesia Office Representative

Sho built his career in corporate finance and consulting at Mizuho Bank and Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting. He supported his client’s new business development and current operation improvement from the viewpoint of finance/strategy in Japan and South East Asia (Indonesia). He holds USCPA license in Washington State.

Sho Ohtani

Investment Group

Principal

Prior to joining GB, Sho worked at Central Research Laboratories at NEC Corporation as a researcher, an IT startup as a CTO. He wrote papers and patents at NEC while engaged in collaborative research projects with manufacturers and overseas universities. At the IT startup, he led new business development related to AI/IoT.

Shohei Hayashi

Investment Group

Director

Before joining GB, Shohei worked for Japan International Cooperation Agency and Deloitte Consulting, where he gained experiences in emerging market investment and M&A consulting. He started his career as a trader at JPMorgan.

Shohei Hirota

Investment Group

Director / Patent & Trademark Attorney

Shohei joined GB after working for Mitsubishi Electric Cooperation, where he handled patent operations in the fields of semiconductor, artificial intelligence, satellite positioning as an in-house patent attorney.

Shohei Ichimiya

Investment Group

Director / US Office

Prior to joining GB, Shohei worked for Sony Corporation where he held positions in engineering and corporate development. As an engineer, Shohei managed production systems for the PlayStation Network. As part of the corporate development team, he executed tech related M&A and startup investments.

Shohei Takaoka

Corporate Management Group

Director

Shohei was a founding member of several tech startups. He was managing BizDev, back office, and financing. At GB, Shohei is responsible for BizDev support, such as connecting startups with enterprize companies to make alliances.

Takahiro Mizuno

Corporate Management Group

Director / Chief Compliance Officer

Takahiro manages legal and due diligence across the GB's global operation and also helps portfolio companies with the strategic legal and IP issues. Prior to joining GB, he served as an in-house lawyer at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and an associate at a legal office.

Takashi Kato

Investment Group

Director
US Office Representative

Takashi joined GB as an expert in B2C online sales/marketing and promotions. He built his career in Amazon, Microsoft and TripAdvisor, and currently works with portfolio companies on advertising/promotion strategies.

Takashi Moriguchi

Investment Group

Director

Prior to joining GB, Takashi worked for Kao and Deloitte consulting. He started his career as a biological researcher and was engaged in dermatology research in partnership with academic institutions. At Deloitte Consulting, he led a project to develop and implement a strategic plan for life science and healthcare companies.

Takemasa Matsuo

Investment Group

Principal

Prior to joining GB, Takemasa has built his career at Kirin Beer company as a product developer, was responsible for product control and productivity improvement. At Deloitte, he engaged in consulting building robust internal control for IPO.

Takuro Maeda

Corporate Management Group

Principal

Prior to joining GB, Takuro worked for Benesse, Ericsson and Richemont. At Ericsson, he was responsible for License delivery design and operation management for radio access network. At Richemont, he led DX projects and market analysis as a market analyst.

Tatsuya Matsumoto

Investment Group

Director
Singapore Office Representative

Prior to joining GB, Tatsuya worked for UBS, INCJ (Innovation Network Corporation of Japan) and NRI (Nomura Research Institute Singapore). At NRI, he provided consulting services for new business development in ASEAN. At INCJ, he focused on technology sector and was involved with investment in JOLED. At UBS, he engaged in M&A advisory and financing transactions.

Tetsui Okada

Investment Group

Principal

Prior to joining GB, Tetsui worked for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC and Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support Co., Ltd (DTVS). At DTVS, he led projects to plan new business strategy for startups and major enterprises.

Tetsuya Urimoto

Investment Group

Principal

Tetsuya joined Global Brain as a venture capitalist especially for technology and manufacturing companies. Before joining GB, he worked for Panasonic Corporation as a mechanical designer who deal with laptop and new business developer total nine years.

Tomoaki Ishikure

Investment Group

Director

Tomoaki built his career in new business development and corporate development including venture investment and M&A at Recruit Holdings.

Tomoko Minagawa

Investment Group

Director

Prior to joining GB, Tomoko built her career at IBM Japan, a management consulting firm, and a Tokyo-based AI startup. Through various consulting projects, she supported enterprise companies in cross border business development, open-innovation strategy and business alliance implementation. In the AI-startup, she was responsible for AI-based business development through partnerships with leading enterprises.

Yoko Toiyama

Fund Management Group

Director / Investor Relations

Yoko is partner in charge of Investor Relations to Limited Partners. Prior to joining GB, she served as investor relations for buy-out, secondaries, venture capital fund at Ant Capital Partners. She also participated in the establishment of Sony Bank at Sony.

Youichi Sakagawa

Investment Group

Principal

Prior to joining GB, Youichi worked for a Japanese medical device company. He was an engineer in charge of preclinical evaluation and new product development. He was also in charge of corporate management for R&D both domestic and overseas and project management in a business unit.

Yukari Nishiyama

Investment Group

Principal

Prior to joining GB, Yukari worked at Panasonic and PwC Strategy&. At Panasonic, she worked as a scientist specialized in biosensor and biomarker. At PwC Strategy&, as a management consultant, she supported clients in a wide range of industries such as healthcare, electronics and IT.

Yuki Matsuo

Investment Group

Principal

Yuki joined Global Brains from the TMT investment banking team at Nomura Securities. Involved in multiple projects regarding new business discovery, acquiring new customers in the TMT team where first assigned. Transferring to the IPO department. He has been involved in the listing preparation and offering operations ofboth domestic and global IPO projects for various companies.

Yusuke Suzuki

Investment Group

Director

Prior to joining GB, Yusuke worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and McKinsey & Company. He started his career as a French-speaking diplomat with 4 years’ experience in France, and managed relations with Africa and South Asia. At McKinsey, he led large-scale transformation programs and strategy, sales or procurement projects, both in BtoB and BtoC.

Atsushi Matsuda

Venture Partner

Prior to joining GB, Atsushi worked at ADWAYS Ventures and at Japanese AI startup as CFO. He has various knowledge about venture-investment, M&A, IPO processes and business alliances.

Naoki Sadakuni

Venture Partner

Naoki built his career at multiple companies in diverse industries including Yamaha Motor, McKinsey & Company, Google, Square, Pinterest. In his most recent career, he was the Japan Country Manager and Head of APAC at Pinterest.

Yoshinari Ito

Venture Partner

Prior to joining GB, Yoshinari worked for a security finance company and a startup company.At a startup company, he was responsible for consolidated annual budget planning, equity financing, IPO preparation, IR strategy, new business development, M&A, and startup investment.