Hideaki Wakabayashi has taken on the position of investment and venturing manager at Hitachi Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Japan-based conglomerate Hitachi.
Wakabayashi began at Hitachi in 2019 as a manager of innovation and business development with startups. He became the manager and team leader of green innovation and business development with startups.
He spent 12 years at IBM, where he held positions such as solution architect, associate IT specialist and technical sales specialist. Wakabayashi was also an MBA consultant at The World Health Organization and a business development facilitator at Impulse, Maxwell Centre.
Hitachi Ventures was founded in 2019. The firm invests in startups focusing on the environment, healthcare and the future of social business in Europe, Israel and North America. The unit has 28 companies in its portfolio including Taranis, Sophia Genetics and ThinkIQ.