Our Team
INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL
AI Director and Investment Principal
TARO MIZUNO
- PROFILE
- CAREER
Taro Mizuno joined UTEC as a Venture Partner in April 2025 and was appointed AI Director and Investment Principal in June 2026. He leads AI adoption and application at UTEC and supports portfolio companies in applying AI and strengthening operations and governance. At Tride, a UTEC Fund VI portfolio company, he served as Interim CEO, overseeing its incorporation and the establishment of its management structure. Prior to joining UTEC, he established the corporate management framework at OriCiro Genomics, a UTEC Fund IV portfolio company, and later led its corporate management function. Following Moderna’s acquisition of OriCiro, he supported post-merger integration for the acquired business, oversaw digital systems for CMC/Technical Development, and served as the local project manager for the establishment of a new site. He also led the APAC workstream for Moderna’s global rollout of ChatGPT Enterprise and drove the use of AI across CMC/Technical Development, Quality, R&D, and Regulatory Compliance functions, including regulatory affairs.
Taro Mizuno’s academic background is in physics. He was awarded an MEng by Nara Institute of Science and Technology, where he specialized in semiconductor technology and neuroscience and conducted research on CMOS devices for in vivo functional brain imaging. He was subsequently awarded an MSc in Crisis and Disaster Management by the University of Portsmouth and completed the International Development Professional Training Program at GRIPS. He began his professional career as a consultant and researcher at a think tank affiliated with a major Japanese financial group. He subsequently joined OriCiro Genomics; following its acquisition by Moderna, he joined Moderna, and later UTEC.