Ambassadors
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Ayuko Nakamura,
eiicon Co., Ltd.
Ayuko Nakamura,
President & CEO, eiicon Co., Ltd.
In 2015, founded and launched the service "eiicon" as a new business within the Persol Group. In April 2023, executed an MBO to establish eiicon Co., Ltd. independently. Operates "AUBA," Japan's largest open innovation platform with over 30,000 registered companies. In December 2023, co-founded XSprout Inc. as a joint venture with the Spiral Group and became a director. Author of The Rules for Successful Open Innovation (Cross Media Publishing, 2019).
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Antti Sonninen
Takeoff Tokyo
Antti Sonninen
Takeoff Tokyo Co-founder、CEO
A Finnish entrepreneur and CEO of Takeoff Tokyo. He spent his childhood in Finland and California and graduated from Aalto University with a major in Industrial Engineering. He later expanded the popular game Angry Birds into Japan and became the CEO of its Japan office. He is also known for his experience as COO of Beatrobo and as the founding CEO of Slush Tokyo, Japan's largest startup event. Passionate about fostering global entrepreneurship, he founded Takeoff Tokyo in 2023. The international pitch event Takeoff Tokyo supports startups with a global focus.
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Ayumi Fujimoto
Startup Ecosystem Association Japan
Ayumi Fujimoto
President, Startup Ecosystem Association Japan
After graduating from university, engaged in corporate sales at Career Design Center and Google. Founded at Will Work in 2016. Made a career change to PR/Marketing at Money Design and served as CMO at Plug and Play Japan, overseeing marketing and PR. In 2022, established the Startup Ecosystem Association and became its Representative Director. Also serves as a Tokyo Startup Strategy Fellow, Entrepreneurship Promotion Ambassador for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and an expert member of the Startup and Investment Working Group for the Cabinet Office's Regulatory Reform Promotion Council.
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Go Fujita
MTG Ventures Co., Ltd.
Go Fujita
CEO, MTG Ventures Co., Ltd.
Born in 1974 in Akita Prefecture. Graduated from Meiji University with a degree in Business Administration. Joined Japan Joint Finance Co., Ltd. (now JAFCO Group Co., Ltd.) in 1997, where he engaged in investments from seed to later stages, served as a director at various portfolio companies, and managed fund raising, focusing on fields such as autonomous driving and AI.In 2018, he became the CEO of MTG Ventures Co., Ltd. As the corporate venture capital arm of the MTG Group, he invests in startups that aim to realize "VITAL LIFE," leveraging insights gained from interactions with over 6,000 entrepreneurs. In 2022, he established the "Central Japan Seed Fund," a seed-focused fund aimed at solving regional issues.
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Makoto Ao
CEO, LEO Co., Ltd.
Makoto Ao
CEO, LEO Co., Ltd. | Planning and Operations Producer, Nagono Campus | Professor, School of Entrepreneurship, Musashino University
After working as a software development engineer, she became the first female executive at a tech company in 2012, where she established an internal venture and engaged in business spin-offs and startup support through industry-government-academia collaboration. In 2016, she co-founded ExaIntelligence (now ExaWizards Inc.), an AI venture originating from Kansai, and served as Director and COO before founding LEO Co., Ltd. as her second entrepreneurial venture. She is the producer of "Nagono Campus," an incubation facility in a former elementary school near Nagoya Station designed to create the next 100 years. Alongside being the navigator for ZIP-FM's "Startup [N]," she serves as a professor at the School of Entrepreneurship at Musashino University, a visiting associate professor for industry-academia-government collaboration at Nagoya University, and a member of the Nagoya City Board of Education. Since 2022, she has also been a mentor for the Central Japan Seed Fund.
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Naotaka Nishiyama
Tech Japan Co., Ltd.
Naotaka Nishiyama
CEO, Tech Japan Co., Ltd.
After obtaining his U.S. Certified Public Accountant qualification, he worked at Deloitte Tohmatsu Group, supporting the growth of venture companies. As the General Producer of Morning Pitch, he planned and managed numerous startup events both domestically and internationally. Subsequently, as the Asia Regional Director, he established an Indian team and facilitated many Japan-India business collaborations. In 2019, he founded Tech Japan and independently partnered with the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), India's premier science and technology educational institutions, to develop and operate the only recruiting platform used within the campus. He promotes human resource exchange between Japan and India, serving as the chair of the "Working Group on Hiring Indian Talent in Japan," operated with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Indian Embassy.
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Marcus Brauchli
Blue Ocean
Marcus Brauchli
Blue Ocean Chairman
Marcus Brauchli served as the Executive Editor of The Washington Post from September 2008 to December 2012 and worked for 24 years as the top editor at The Wall Street Journal, where he was a correspondent and editor in Asia, Europe, and the United States.
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Motoko Imada
Mediagene Inc.
Motoko Imada
CEO and Co-Founder of
After working in editing, publishing, and overseas copyright negotiations for books and magazines in the publishing industry, Motoko helped launch the Japanese edition of WIRED in 1994 and served as its business manager. She then established her own business and founded the online media company Mediagene Inc. (formerly INFOBAHN Group Inc.) in 1998 and founded the digital agency INFOBAHN Inc. in 2015 through an incorporation-type company split. She has been a facilitator at the Keizai Doyukai's (Japan Association of Corporate Executives) social gatherings since 2022. In 2023, she co-founded TNL Mediagene and became COO and president. In 2024, she was appointed as an external director of NOK Corporation.
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NIKO WOISCHNIK
Tech Open Air
NIKO WOISCHNIK
Tech Open Air CEO
Dedicated to developing Berlin's technology and startup ecosystem and connecting it with the world. Niko founded TechBerlin, the city's first English-language blog on technology and startups, as a side project while working in venture capital, sparking his interest in serving the tech ecosystem and enhancing entrepreneurship. He later founded Ahoy! Berlin, which was recently acquired by Knotel. Additionally, he founded Tech Open Air (TOA), a technology festival, and Openers, a communications agency for technology companies.
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Takahiro Makino
Miraiproject Corporation
Takahiro Makino
CEO,Miraiproject Corporation
Born and raised in Nagoya, and a graduate of Nagoya University. After working at Dentsu International Information Services and Microsoft, he gained experience in managing investment funds and business consulting at Inspire. As a director at Ateam, he witnessed several startups grow into companies listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Currently, through Mirai Project, he contributes to his local community by engaging in nursing and caregiving businesses and supporting startups. He also serves as a director of Eye Crystal, a startup from Nagoya University, and as a visiting professor at Nagoya University.
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Yuki Aoyama
Splink Co., Ltd
Yuki Aoyama
CEO of Splink Co., Ltd
CEO of Splink Co., Ltd. He joined Keyence Corporation as a new graduate, becoming the youngest and most awarded top salesperson in the company's history. He was involved in business development in North America and the establishment of local subsidiaries in Latin America. Inspired by his family's battle with a neurological disease, he decided to start his own company. After moving to Silicon Valley and serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR) at a venture capital firm, he founded Splink, a medical AI startup focusing on the neuro-neurological field, in 2017. He holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He also serves as a director of the Japan Intellectual Property Association and the AI Medical Device Council.
