Session Speakers

Ajibike JimohIsopa Consulting Limited
Impact Investment Program Manager

■ Career

Ajibike Jimoh is an Impact Investment Program Manager with a proven track record in scaling innovation through access to funding for start-ups across sectors like health, agriculture, fintech, logistics, edtech and cleantech. She has successfully led large-scale initiatives in partnership with global organizations such as JICA, develoPPP Ventures, GIZ, VC4A, UNFPA, and NITDA, helping businesses access over €1 million in funding and form strategic partnerships. She is passionate about catalyzing change and fostering growth in Africa.

Arisa EmaTokyo College, The University of Tokyo
Associate Professor

■ Career

Arisa Ema is an Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo and Visiting Researcher at RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project in Japan. She is a researcher in Science and Technology Studies (STS), and her primary interest is to investigate the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence by organizing an interdisciplinary research group. She is a board member of the Japan Deep Learning Association (JDLA). She is also a member of the Council for Social Principles of Human-centric AI, The Cabinet Office, which released “Social Principles of Human-Centric AI” in 2019, and also a member of the Japanese government's AI Strategy Council launched in May 2023. She is also a member of the Tokyo AI Strategy Council. Internationally, she is an expert member of the working group on the Future of Work, GPAI (Global Partnership on AI). She obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo and previously held a position as Assistant Professor at the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University.

Ashley GroshBreakthrough Energy
Vice President

■ Career

Ashley has spent the entirety of her nearly two-decade career working at the intersection of finance and climate innovation. Prior to joining Breakthrough Energy as a Vice President to lead the Breakthrough Energy Fellows program, she spent 15 years at Wells Fargo as a thought leader working across several business units, supporting overall ESG, Cleantech Commercial Banking, and Sustainable Finance strategies. At Wells she pioneered a $100 million impact fund the Innovation Incubator (IN2), focused on speeding up the path to market for early-stage clean technologies. IN2 program’s 72 portfolio companies have gone on to raise $2.3B in follow on funding from external sources.

Today, Ashley leads the BE Discovery and Fellows efforts, continuing to immerse herself among the clean tech ecosystem - working alongside capital partners, entrepreneurs, universities, incubators and national labs. This early-stage, global, effort focuses on funding pre venture stages of innovation, to fill critical scientific gaps where the discovery of new solutions can lead to significant impacts in the hardest to abate sectors. Grosh earned a B.A. degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, as a student athlete on the CU NCAA Division One women’s soccer team.

Audrey TangGovernment of Taiwan
Cyber Ambassador-at-large and 1st Digital Minister (2016-2024)

■ Career

Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Cyber Ambassador-at-large and 1st Digital Minister (2016-2024), is celebrated for her pioneering efforts in digital democracy. Named one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People in AI” in 2023, Tang was instrumental in shaping Taiwan’s internationally acclaimed COVID-19 response and in safeguarding the 2024 presidential and legislative elections from foreign cyber interference.

Tang is now focused on broadening her vision of Plurality — technology for collaborative diversity — to inspire global audiences.

Caroline WinnettBerkeley SkyDeck
Executive Director

■ Career

Caroline is Executive Director of Berkeley SkyDeck, UC Berkeley's startup accelerator and incubator. Berkeley SkyDeck is recognized as one of the world's leading startup accelerators. Caroline launched the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, a $90 million VC fund investing in SkyDeck startups that shares half of fund profits with UC Berkeley. Caroline co-founded the pioneer company in the neuromarketing industry, NeuroFocus, which was acquired by Nielsen. Before her career in startups, Caroline was a professional concert violinist. Caroline received her MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Christophe JurczakQuantonation
Managing Partner

■ Career

Christophe Jurczak, who obtained his PhD in quantum physics under the supervision of ‘22 Nobel Laureate A. Aspect, has held roles in government, energy and defense, before joining Silicon Valley pioneer QC Ware. Since 2018, Christophe is founder and managing partner of Quantonation, the first VC firm dedicated to quantum technologies, and the largest early-stage investor in the sector with 32 portfolio companies worldwide and 211m€ AUM. Christophe sits on the boards of several startups and scale-ups as well as not for profits, playing a key role in shaping the future of quantum technology.

Hiroki KogaOishii Farm Corporation
Co-Founder & CEO

■ Career

Hiroki Koga is the co-founder & CEO of Oishii, the world’s largest indoor vertical strawberry farm. As a vertical farming industry expert with a decade of experience in the field, he leads the innovative company that is transforming the way we grow food today. Prior to co-founding Oishii in 2016, Koga worked as a consultant, where he focused on the pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology before spearheading the firm’s entry into agriculture technology consulting. Koga earned his MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated with a B.S. in economics from Keio University.

Hironori KamezawaMitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.
President & Group CEO

■ Career

Since joining the company in 1986, Hironori “Hiro” Kamezawa has been a pioneer in financial services and a leader in crisis management, in a career marked by groundbreaking roles.

Early in his career, Hiro spearheaded the field of derivative trading and Asset-Liability-Management at the Bank, and equity secondary business at Securities. Since 2004, Hiro has developed the Bank’s credit portfolio management business, and later navigated MUFG through the global financial crisis, the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the introduction of negative interest rates, while serving as General Manager.

In 2014, he was appointed Deputy CEO of the Americas, based in New York, also assuming the region’s role of Chief Risk Officer and leading seminal risk-management enhancement projects. In 2016, Hiro returned to Tokyo to serve as Chief Data Officer; and later as Global Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Transformation Officer, driving the transformation of existing businesses, processes, and culture of MUFG.

Hiro earned a master’s degree in mathematics, from the Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Tokyo in 1986.

Jerry OCHEZowasel
CEO

■ Career

Jerry OCHE is a Nigerian entrepreneur, economist, and agricultural technologist.　He is a second-time founder and CEO of Zowasel, an agricultural company leverages data science, technology, and nature-based solutions to enhance smallholder farmers' productivity, sustainability, and profitability across the value chain. Please visit https://wikitia.com/wiki/Jerry_OCHE to learn more.

Zowasel primarily works with big corporates and smallholder farmers across supply chains.

Jerry mentors across Founder Institute, AFD Social Inclusive BootCamp, and the Nigeria Climate Innovation Center.

jiwon bangmoty
CEO

■ Career

Bachelor's in Automotive Engineering, Kookmin University (Minor in Electronics Engineering)
LG Scholarship Student (Industry-Academia Program)
Master's in Automotive Engineering, Motor Control Laboratory, Kookmin University
Former Engineer, Vehicle Motor Development Team, LG
Current CEO and Founder of Moty

Joanna DrakeMagnify Ventures
Founder & Managing Partner

■ Career

Joanna Drake has built and invested in next-generation technology companies from Silicon Valley for over 20 years. She was the Co-Founding COO of Current TV, then COO of DeNA West, before becoming a venture capitalist. As GP of Core Ventures Group, Joanna oversees global category leaders in fintech, big data and cybersecurity. As Founding Managing Partner of Magnify Ventures, she is pioneering a new category of venture startups bringing technology innovation to the $6 Trillion Care Economy, from pregnancy through to end of life.

Kathy MatsuiMPower Partners Fund L.P.
General Partner

■ Career

Kathy is a founding General Partner of MPower Partners, Japan’s first ESG-integrated global venture capital fund. She is the former Vice Chair of Goldman Sachs Japan and Chief Japan Equity Strategist. Her groundbreaking ʻWomenomicsʼ research spurred the Japanese government to promote gender diversity, and she has advised corporations on governance and diversity best practices. She has an MA from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and an AB from Harvard.

Katsuhiko HibinoTokyo University of the Arts
President

■ Career

Born in Gifu Prefecture in 1958. He began his career as an artist in the early 1980s while studying at Tokyo University of the Arts, and his expansion of the realm of expression that combines social media and artistic activities has attracted a lot of attention. Since then, he has participated in the Sydney Biennale and the Venice Biennale, and has held solo and group exhibitions and engaged in a wide range of activities across fields both in Japan and abroad. He also continues to promote workshops and art projects that take advantage of the characteristics of local places. He is currently the director of the Gifu Prefectural Museum of Art and the Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto, and has been engaged in education and research at his alma mater, Tokyo University of the Arts, since 1995, and has served as the president since 2022. He has launched the Art Future Research Center, pursues further possibilities for art in the modern world, and actively collaborates with companies and local governments, continuing to research and practice "art is the power to live."

Lisa LambertQuantum Industry Canada (QIC)
Chief Executive Officer

■ Career

Lisa Lambert is CEO of Quantum Industry Canada (QIC), the country's industry-led quantum technology consortium. She leads QIC's mission to transform Canada's quantum capabilities into global business success and national prosperity. A recognized leader in innovation strategy, Lisa champions collaborative approaches to addressing complex challenges. Her career spans pioneering initiatives at the intersection of science, technology, and society, where she has successfully united diverse stakeholders to drive transformative change.

Masayoshi TerabeDeloitte Tohmatsu Consulting LLC
Chief of Quantum Technology

■ Career

He has worked as a quantum project leader for an automotive manufacturer and a trading and investment company. He led numerous world-first demonstrations and the largest number of overseas startup investments in the quantum field in Japan, and has a broad global network.
He also serves as an advisor to venture capital, overseas quantum startups and the chairman of the national quantum project. He has served as a visiting associate professor at Tohoku University.

Murat AktihanogluRemarkable Ventures Climate
Managing Partner

■ Career

Murat Aktihanoglu is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Remarkable Ventures, Remarkable Ventures Climate and ERA. A venture capitalist since 2011, Murat has invested in over 350 early-stage tech and climate companies with a combined market cap of $10+ billion. He previously founded Centrl and the nonprofit Entrepreneurs Roundtable, fostering New York's startup community through monthly investor meetings. Murat co-authored Location-Aware Applications in 2011 and has held engineering roles at Sony and Silicon Graphics. He holds an M.S. in Computer Science from Bilkent University.

Nao FuwaJapan International Cooperation Agency
Expert on Startup Ecosystem

■ Career

Nao FUWA launched and leads activities related to the enhancement of African startup ecosystems at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). As a JICA Expert for Innovation, Competition and Incubation, he supports the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation and the National Center of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (under the Nigerian government) to enhance regional startup ecosystems in Nigeria, and also organized the JICA NINJA Business Plan Competition in response to COVID 19 across 19 countries in Africa. He began his career in the capital markets division of an investment bank, then as a managing director of a tech start-up, before moving to Uganda as a husband to join JICA in Uganda and Ethiopia. He holds a M.A. in Financial Mathematics from Boston University.

Ren ItoSakana AI
Co-Founder COO

■ Career

Ren Ito is the Co-Founder and COO of Sakana AI, a Tokyo-based R&D company on a quest to create a new kind of foundational AI model based on nature-inspired intelligence. Sakana AI has become Japan’s fastest unicorn after one year in business, backed by Nvidia and a broad spectrum of Japanese enterprises.

Prior to Sakana, Ren took the lead on the global expansion of Mercari, Japan's first unicorn start-up as CEO of Mercari Europe, as well as successfully orchestrated its IPO of $6bn in 2018. Before tech, Ren spent 15 years as a Japanese diplomat where he worked on the security alliance with the US, negotiated a free trade agreement with the EU, and represented Japan at the World Bank board. Ren is Senior Fellow at NYU Law School.

Ren received his LLM (NYU 2004) and LLB (University of Tokyo 2001) and is admitted to practice law in New York. Ren also holds his MA (Stanford University 2005).

Serena LimThe Ascott Limited
Chief Growth Officer

■ Career

Serena Lim is Chief Growth Officer at The Ascott Limited (Ascott), leading its global business development team to steer and manage the company’s growth in management and franchise contracts globally. Supporting the group’s development ambitions through an asset light strategy to deliver strong recurring fee income, Serena and her team drives continued opportunities to extend Ascott’s geographic reach across key growth markets.

She joined Ascott in January 2023 and brings over two decades of experience in hotel development, strategic planning and feasibility.

Simone SeveriniAmazon Web Services (AWS)
General Manager, Quantum Technologies

■ Career

Simone leads the Quantum Technologies program at AWS, where he launched Amazon Braket, the first cloud service to integrate quantum processors, and helped establish the AWS Centers for Quantum Computing (with Caltech) and Quantum Networking (with Harvard). As a UCL Professor of Physics of Information, he initiated collaborations with Google, Lockheed Martin, and Siemens. He co-founded pioneering quantum startups like Cambridge Quantum (now Quantinuum) and PhaseCraft and has advised research organizations and major venture capital firms globally.

Siu Rui QuekCarousell Group
Co-founder and CEO

■ Career

Siu Rui is responsible for setting the overall strategy and direction for Carousell Group. Since the launch of Carousell in August 2012 together with co-founders Marcus Tan and Lucas Ngoo, Siu Rui has been deeply involved in product strategy, international expansion and growth. He is passionate about technology and its ability to make a meaningful impact at scale globally. This has been a driving force behind Siu Rui’s commitment to building a product-focused company, focused on Carousell’s mission to make secondhand the first choice for everyone.

Stephy DengAdofaer
CEO

■ Career

Stephy Deng is the founder and CEO of Adofaer, a next-gen toy platform that helps companies transform concepts into collectibles through AI innovation.

Takahiro AnnoManagement Machine, Inc.
CEO

■ Career

AI engineer, entrepreneur, and science fiction writer: After graduating from Kaisei High School, he went on to study at the University of Tokyo. He graduated from the laboratory of Prof. Yutaka MATSUO, who serves as chair of the Cabinet Office's AI Strategy Council.
After working at the Boston Consulting Group, he founded AI chatbot company BEDORE Inc. (now PKSHA Communication) and Legal-tech company MNTSQ Inc. (co-founded the latter), and is involved in transforming social systems through digital technology.
A Mitou Super Creator, a young talent with exceptional abilities in the software-related fields selected by IPA: Member of the Digital Agency's Digital Legislation Working Group. Member of the Science Fiction Writers of Japan.
In 2024, he ran for Tokyo governor on a platform of realizing digital democracy, and became an advisor to the GovTech Tokyo General Incorporated Foundation, where he practices two-way communication using AI.

Takeshi ChinoBinance Japan Inc.
General Manager for Japan

■ Career

Takeshi Chino joined Binance as General Manager for Japan in July 2022, and he has been working collaboratively with regulators, policymakers, and industry leaders since then. His focus will be to develop business opportunities for Binance and grow the firm’s operations in Japan in a responsible and compliant manner to build a sustainable web3 ecosystem in Japan. In 2021, he served as the Vice Chairman of the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) and in 2023 he was a board member of the Japan Cryptocurrency Business Association (JCBA). Prior to joining Binance, Takeshi held senior roles as Managing Director and Head of Japan at Kraken Japan where he played an instrumental role in successfully obtaining Kraken’s JFSA registration. Prior to that, he held roles at PwC Japan, Tokyo Stock Exchange, and Japan Securities Clearing Corporation. He is a graduate of Keio University and the Said Business School, University of Oxford.

Taro ShimadaToshiba Corporation
Representative Director, Corporate Officer, President and CEO

■ Career

Taro Shimada started his career at ShinMaywa Industries, Ltd., and after working at Siemens K.K., he joined Toshiba in October 2018 as Corporate Digital Business Chief Strategy Officer.
In April 2019, he became Chief Digital Officer, responsible for Toshiba’s digital transformation and for strategic business creation and promotion. He was appointed CEO & Representative Director of Toshiba Data Corporation in February 2020, and President and CEO of Toshiba Digital Solutions Corporation in April 2020. In March 2022, Mr. Shimada was appointed to take the reins at Toshiba, as President & CEO.
In May 2022, he was appointed Chairman of Q-STAR (Quantum STrategic industry Alliance for Revolution), a consortium that promotes business creation with quantum technologies.

Teruo FujiiThe University of Tokyo
President

■ Career

Dr. Teruo Fujii is the 31st President of the University of Tokyo (UTokyo). Prior to taking the President’s office in April 2021, he was Executive Vice President in charge of finance and external relations for the university. He also served as the Director General of the Institute of Industrial Sciences (IIS) of the university from 2015 to 2018. He received his Ph.D. in engineering from UTokyo in 1993 and held research positions at IIS and RIKEN prior to becoming a professor of IIS in 2007.
Dr. Fujii was an advisor to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) from 2005 to 2007, co-director of LIMMS-CNRS/IIS, a joint research laboratory between CNRS of France, and IIS, from 2007 to 2014, and the President of the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society (CBMS) from 2017 to 2019. From March 2021 to February 2024, he held the position of an Executive Member (part-time) of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. Since 2019, he has served as the Chair of the Subdivision on Ocean Development of the Council for Science and Technology (MEXT).
Dr. Fujii’s research specializes in applied microfluidics systems and underwater technology.

Tomosaku SoharaNordicNinja VC
Managing Partner

■ Career

Managing Partner at NordicNinja VC. Over 10 years experience of international finance and investment especially mobility and energy related projects in Europe and Latin America region. In 2019 founded NordicNinja VC and has been leading several investments into early stage companies. Focus areas are ClimateTech, Deep Tech and so on. Superadvisory member of Nordic Asian Venture Alliance.

Toshiaki HigashiharaHitachi, Ltd.
Executive Chairman, Representative Executive Officer and Director

■ Career

As Executive Chairman of Hitachi, Ltd. after serving as Executive Chairman & CEO since 2021 and President & CEO since 2016, Higashihara leads a global organization of over 500 companies and approximately 270,000 employees.
Prior to his current position, Higashihara has held several executive leadership positions in Hitachi, including President of Hitachi Power Europe GmbH, President of Hitachi Plant Technologies, Ltd.
Higashihara holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Tokushima University and a Master of Science in Computer Science from Boston University.

Yutaka MatsuoDepartment of Technology Management and Strategy, Graduate School of Engineering / Artificial Engineering Research Center, The University of Tokyo
Professor

■ Career

Graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1997 and earned Ph.D. in Engineering in 2002. He has held research positions at AIST and served as visiting researcher at Stanford University. Since 2007, he has been an associate professor, and since 2019, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Engineering. His research specializes in AI, deep learning, and web mining. He has been the chair of JDLA since 2017, an outside director for SoftBank Group since 2019. Since 2021, an expert member of Council for achieving new capitalism and since 2023, the chair of AI strategy conference.

Session Speakers*In Alphabetical Order