Our Team
INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL
Associate
REON HIRUMA
- PROFILE
- CAREER
Reon invests in seed and early-stage science and technology companies, with a particular interest in healthcare, industrial technology, and technologies that bear on national and allied security.
He came to venture capital from the operating side. In 2018, as an undergraduate, he co-founded Potentialist Global, Inc. and led it as CEO, taking more than 20 US and European technology companies into Japan and the wider Asia-Pacific across healthcare, automotive, manufacturing, and defense.
He also runs JDTI, a community for Japan's defense technology sector, where founders, researchers, and policymakers work through what startups can contribute to national security.
He came to venture capital from the operating side. In 2018, as an undergraduate, he co-founded Potentialist Global, Inc. and led it as CEO, taking more than 20 US and European technology companies into Japan and the wider Asia-Pacific across healthcare, automotive, manufacturing, and defense.
He also runs JDTI, a community for Japan's defense technology sector, where founders, researchers, and policymakers work through what startups can contribute to national security.
Reon co-founded Potentialist Global, Inc. in 2018 while an undergraduate and led it as CEO, building the firm around Asia-Pacific market entry for US technology companies. From 2023 to 2024 he was Chief of Staff and then Head of Business Development at Need, Inc., a Venrock-backed oncology company, opening markets across Asia and Europe. He joined UTEC in March 2026. Born to Dutch and Japanese parents and raised in Tokyo, he speaks Japanese, English, French, and Dutch. He holds a BA in Political Science and Economics from Waseda University.