Read the full interview transcript (1,201 words)
All right, here we go. So today we are very lucky to know Masato, an investor from Japan. I'm happy to introduce him. So hey, Masato, could you please briefly introduce yourself to the audience or to the people who want to know? Hello, Lawrence. I'm Masato, working at the Delight Ventures in Japan. Delight Ventures is founded by the founder of DeNA, one of the largest internet conglomerate in Japan. And I'm especially working on the project we call DelightX, where we find the entrepreneur in Japan or the entrepreneur who speaks Japanese who wants to start up their AI startup in the Bay Area. That's awesome. So can you also briefly talk about the fund you're working for, how you come up with this idea to do this venture studio or this VC, and what's your goal and kind of where you get started? Yeah. So in Japan, startup ecosystem is a kind of different from that of global, and also it's isolated. So we don't see, say, too many unicorns or decacorns out of Japanese startup ecosystem, unfortunately. And one of the things that we want to try is that we want to see and support more Japanese founders challenging in the global market and also be ambitious to get all the world's market because it's typically targeting the Japanese market, which apparently is smaller than the global market. So we want to find the ambitious Japanese startups and also brave Japanese entrepreneurs who get out from the very comfortable and peaceful Japanese living and economical environment. That's awesome. Yeah. And in order to make it happen, one of the things that we specifically support is that to push the people who start in the Bay Area from the scratch. Of course, the other way is to build it first in Japan and come to the Bay Area. And we also will be happy to see that too. But we want to support more founders who want to start from the scratch in the Bay Area. That's great. Can you also talk about how many portfolio you have invested, what the current kind of batch looking for, and also your average check size and those information? Yes. So program-wise, we support the founders before they even found the company with financial support with $60,000 US. And they will come to the Bay Area and found the company, I mean, delivery-based company here. And once they found the company, we will get the equity from there. But that's kind of the way it works. And we currently have nine founders in the cohort two that started their day from this April. And their demo day will be on the end of August. End of August. That's awesome. Yeah, I would love to join. And also, I will bring more investors who joined the demo day. Can you also talk about the first batch? Like, what does that look like? Yeah. The first batch started last year, June. And their demo day was actually at the end of March this year. Yeah. And someone, so for example, we had like a full duplex audio data gathering startup where they let the people provide the conversational kind of data, conversational audio data. So they match people to people and they speak online for like 20 minutes or so. And their data become an asset for the AI training. And people are willing to provide that data by providing that kind of a platform. They are gathering the full duplex high-quality data for the model training. And their data was at the third place of the audio or full duplex audio following Google and Nvidia. So their data was requested a lot from the model companies. Also, that's so cool. So other than the VC background, can you also talk about your own background? Like, how you become an investor, like the career journey before you become an investor? Yeah. So I was about DeNA a little bit, but I was working at DeNA for like a very long time. And when I was, you know, DeNA is like a big company, but they also like to startup. I mean, the new business within the company. And one of the activities, through the activity, I met a lot of founders there too. I was inspired so much with the founders. I noticed that I really love founders. And so investing is the VC or say, you know, investing business is very close to the founders for sure. And I can support them in my way. And so I feel that I can work a lot with the founders in this business. So I finally, you know, quit DeNA and joined Delight Ventures to do more of this kind of a founder support business. That's awesome. So what's on top of your mind right now? Like, are you actively raising the fund or are you calling out for more kind of founders, like Japanese founders who are, who want to build AI in the US or overseas to create the tech company? Like what's most important, like you want to call out for the audience here? Yeah, very interesting, you know, both sides, but I'll be happy to have more and more uncovered Japanese talented people who might be thinking about going global or, you know, starting up in the Bay Area. But since they don't see a role model around them, it's not easy to find one. So, but I want to encourage them to, you know, join us or just jump into the Bay Area ecosystem, startup ecosystem right away. And also I will be happy to meet people who is passionate about supporting or who really wants to see more Japanese entrepreneurs here in the Bay Area and support them somehow. And I would like to connect those two parties. And that will be the, one of the great way for the Japanese people to contribute to the world. That's awesome. So I know Masato, you're currently in the Valley, in the San Francisco city, and you will travel often between Japan and the US, especially in the Bay Area. And also, do you like, how, like how could people reach out to you? Well, whatever. I'm on LinkedIn or maybe LinkedIn is easy. Or yeah, if you're a founder, actually we are starting the application, what is it, opening, starting the application process of DelightX cohort 3 from actually today. So if you, you know, search DelightX and find our site, you can apply to the program. And I will be seeing you from that for sure. Also, will you also open for any virtual or in-person coffee chat while you are in the, in the Valley? Maybe like people are interested in talking to you, they can come to you too. Awesome. Yeah. If you have, you know, if you have a time and you can't tap me, I'm more than happy to be connected to you. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah. Thanks, Masato, for, for your time about this interview. Like I wish more people can come to you and build a meaningful connection. Thank you. Thank you, Lawrence.