Mikihiro Yasuda, partner in the strategic investment office of Japan-based mobile and online services group DeNA, said he had left to set up a fund focused on artificial intelligence (AI) startups.
He had been in charge of DeNA’s investment in US market since April 2014 after a year in San Francisco, California, as a senior director.
Of his 38 investments in early stage startups in automotive, transportation, healthcare, AI, and virtual and augment reality, a handful have made exits, including DeNA’s sale of Pinshape, a Canada-based marketplace for 3D printing designs, to software developer and equipment manufacturer Formlabs for an undisclosed sum.
Picture: Mikihiro Yasuda from LinkedIn