SUPPORT

HR SUPPORT

HR Team Support

UTEC has established a team specializing in HR support, making us one of the first venture capital funds to do so in Japan.
The team provides hiring and team building support based on the know-how and experience from numerous past investments in
Science/Technology Startups and execution of IPOs and M&A both in Japan and abroad.

TEAM CONCEPT

HR Team Concept

The HR team provides support to portfolio companies at all stages (from seed to later stage)
through the formation of the management team and organization that can compete globally.

OUTLINE

Support Overview

HR team will provide support through HR professionals who have a thorough knowledge of
HR issues and solutions of all stages of Science/Technology Startups. HR support can begin even before incorporation and
contribute to the formation of a management/leadership team.

FEATURES

Features of HR Support

In addition to basic HR function support, UTEC HR also provides special support as below:

  • SUPPORT 01

    Introduce management professionals from SOC,
    UTEC Startup Opportunity Club
    which is a community for selected professionals.

  • SUPPORT 02

    Support based on HR data and
    extensive experience in IPOs and M&A
    both in Japan and abroad

  • SUPPORT 03

    Support global recruitment and
    organization development of overseas subsidiaries

  • SUPPORT 04

    Support the establishment of management team
    and leadership development

SOC

Startup Opportunity Club

The Startup Opportunity Club (SOC) is UTEC's unique community that brings cutting-edge scientists and management professionals together to form management teams for portfolio companies and accelerate their growth. In order to strongly support scientists and entrepreneurs, we match them with professional managers who are capable of becoming co-founders or CxOs. (Available for part time discussion partners as well as full time entry)

Characteristics of SOC members

Characteristics of SOC members
[ MISSION ]
Those who share UTEC's mission to "create a new industry to solve the global issues of humankind through the recycling of capital, talent, and wisdom based on Science/Technology". Those who are considering participating in the management of a Science/Technology Startup or starting a business in the future.
[ SKILLS ]
Those who have the potential / achievements to compete on a global scale. Serial entrepreneurs, CxOs of listed companies, experienced startup exits, professional firms, etc. Some of them are UTEC alumni who have experienced IPO, M&A, etc. at our portfolio companies in the past.
[ REFERENCES ]
The community is managed by UTEC's own criteria, with referrals as the primary channel.
UTEC's in-depth understanding of the portfolio companies enables us to introduce management personnel with high fit and reliability. SOC members are followed up with on a regular basis.

Cases

Since our inception back in 2004, more than 100 management professionals
have joined portfolio companies.

CEO Positions
CEO Positions
[ Cases ]
[ Cases ]
  • Mr. Kiichi Kubota, Co-founder and ex-CEO of PeptiDream, Inc.
    (ex-President and representative director at SRL Co., Ltd.)
    READ INTERVIEW
  • Mr. Hiroaki Ohta PhD., ex-CEO of ACSL Ltd.
    (ex-Mckinsey & Company, Inc. Former assistant professor at Kyoto University, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
    READ INTERVIEW
  • Mr. Kiichi Kubota, Co-founder and ex-CEO of PeptiDream, Inc.
    (ex-President and representative director at SRL Co., Ltd.)
  • Mr. Hiroaki Ohta PhD., ex-CEO of ACSL Ltd.
    (ex-Mckinsey & Company, Inc. Former assistant professor at Kyoto University, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
CxO Positions
CxO Positions
[ Cases ]
[ Cases ]
  • Mr. Tomohiro Somehara, Former CFO of Neural Pocket, Inc.
    (ex-auditing company, securities firm, UTEC Venture Partner)
    READ INTERVIEW
  • Mr. Yuki Ueta, Chief Strategic Officer/Chief Financial Officer, WASSHA Inc.
    (ex-Executive Director at an electric power start-up, trading company)
    READ INTERVIEW
  • Mr. Teppei Sekiguchi, Chief Operating Officer, BionicM Inc.
    (ex-P&G International Operations Pte. Ltd.)
    READ INTERVIEW
  • Mr. Tomohiro Somehara, Former CFO of Neural Pocket, Inc.
    (ex-auditing company, securities firm, UTEC Venture Partner)
  • Mr. Yuki Ueta, Chief Strategic Officer/Chief Financial Officer, WASSHA Inc.
    (ex-Executive Director at an electric power start-up, trading company)
  • Mr. Teppei Sekiguchi, Chief Operating Officer, BionicM Inc.
    (ex-P&G International Operations Pte. Ltd.)
Other Management Positions
Other Management Positions
[ Cases ]
[ Cases ]
  • Fyusion, Inc. General Manager, JAPAN
  • SWAT Mobility Pte. Ltd. Country Head, JAPAN
  • Fyusion, Inc. General Manager, JAPAN
  • SWAT Mobility Pte. Ltd. Country Head, JAPAN

TEAM MEMBER

HR Team

Experienced members with expertise in human resources,
business and finance will support our portfolio companies both in Japan and abroad.

  • Maiko Iinuma

    Maiko Iinuma

    Maiko joined UTEC in September 2021. She is in charge of supporting holistic HR activities including organization development, recruiting of management talents mainly for IT portfolios. After working as a system engineer and software marketing manager at IBM, Maiko joined an executive search firm, where she engaged in leadership management for both Japanese and multinational companies. Previously, Maiko was working for an IT start-up. She joined as the first person in the back office, eventually becoming a recruiting manager for both business and engineer positions.

  • Hirofumi Oki

    Hirofumi Oki

    After joining UTEC in 2018, Hirofumi has been in charge of managing organization development of our portfolio companies,and leads UTEC HR Team. His support includes the recruitment of founders, formation of management teams, recruitment branding, and organization strategy building for IPO. He also provides support for team building at all stages and at pre-incorporation. He has succeeded in recruiting over 70 management professionals in the past 3 years by matching cutting-edge scientists with management professionals. In addition, he is also responsible for operating UTEC unique invitation-only community, UTEC SOC (Startup Opportunity Club) . He is in charge of HR of UTEC. Previous to UTEC, Hirofumi was engaged in leading and launching a recruitment consultant team for biotech ventures at a British executive firm.

  • Masafumi Asakura

    Masafumi Asakura

    As CEO of a staffing firm in Singapore, Masafumi has managed a multinational workforce from Ireland, Spain, India, Myanmar, the Philippines and Malaysia. Then Masafumi became the COO of a series A machine learning x 3D printer startup in Tokyo, where he also served as Chief Product Officer, Executive Officer of Corporate Planning Department, and Executive Officer of Overseas Business Development Department. He has managed multinational teams in Germany, Sweden, the US, and China. He led the IoT promotion lab with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and M&A for a company listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. At Recruit (formerly Recruit Career), he a recruiter in the information system department, corporate planning department, and global planning department. Masafumi is currently engaged in supporting startups in Japan and overseas, including in the Bay Area.

  • Yugo Nakashima

    Yugo Nakashima

    Yugo joined UTEC from October 2020. He is in charge of managing the HR strategy of the portfolio companies, and mainly supports recruiting activities based on his experience of working with over 300 startups. Before joining UTEC, Yugo was involved in the assembly of a business team for a startup that applies machine learning to recruitment services. Yugo is proficient in the Python / GAS / R languages and their application to statistical analysis and automation. His authored works are "A book on the basics of IT engineering for human resources personnel" and "Data Analysis in Business Development"