WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.000 All right, here we go. So today we are very lucky to know Masato, an investor from Japan. 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:18.000 I'm happy to introduce him. So, hi Masato, could you please briefly introduce yourself to the audience or to the people who want to know? 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:24.000 Hi Lawrence, I'm Masato, working at Delight Ventures in Japan. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:30.000 Delight Ventures is founded by the founder of DeNA, one of the largest internet conglomerate in Japan. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:38.000 And I'm especially working on the project we call DelightX, where we find the entrepreneur in Japan, 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:44.000 or the entrepreneur who speaks Japanese, who wants to start up their AI startup in the Bay Area. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:50.000 That's awesome. So, can you also briefly talk about the fund you're working for, 00:00:50.000 --> 00:01:00.000 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? 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:10.000 Yeah, so in Japan, startup ecosystem is kind of different from that of global, and also it's isolated. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:18.000 So we don't see, say, too many unicorns or decacorns out of Japanese startup ecosystem, unfortunately. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:28.000 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. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:42.000 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. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:02:02.000 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. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:03.000 That's awesome. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:15.000 And in order to make it happen, one of the things that we specifically support is to push the people who start in the Bay Area from the scratch. 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:22.000 Of course, the other way is to build it first in Japan and come to the Bay Area, and we're really happy to see that too. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:31.000 But we want to support more founders who want to start from the scratch in the Bay Area. 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:32.000 That's great. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:44.000 Can you also talk about how many portfolios you have invested, what the current batch is looking for, and also your average check size and those information? 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:45.000 Yes. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:55.000 So program-wise, we support the founders before they even found the company with financial support, with 60K US dollars. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:02.000 And they will come to the Bay Area and found the company, a delivery-based company here. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:09.000 And once they found the company, we will get the equity from there. 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:12.000 But that's kind of the way it works. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:25.000 And we currently have nine founders in the Cohort 2 that started their day from this April, and their demo day will be at the end of August. 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:27.000 End of August. That's awesome. 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:28.000 Yeah. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:35.000 I would love to join, and also I will bring more investors to join the demo day. 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:36.000 Oh, that would be great. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:41.000 Can you also talk about the first batch, what that looks like? 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:42.000 Yeah. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:48.000 The first batch started last year, June, and their demo day was actually at the end of March this year. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:49.000 Wow. 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:50.000 Yeah. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:04:08.000 So for example, we had a full-text audio data gathering startup where they let the people provide the conversational audio data. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:18.000 So they match people to people and they speak online for like 20 minutes or so, and their data becomes an asset for the AI training. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:21.000 And people are willing to provide that data. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:29.000 By providing that kind of a platform, they are gathering the full-duplex high-quality data for the model training. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:37.000 And their data was at the third place of the audio or full-duplex audio following Google and NVIDIA. 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:41.000 So their data was requested a lot from the model companies. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:43.000 Awesome. That's so cool. 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:50.000 So other than the VC background, can you also talk about your own background? 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:52.000 How did you become an investor? 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:56.000 Like the career journey before you become an investor? 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:57.000 Yeah. 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:04.000 So I know about DeNA a little bit, but I was working at DeNA for a very long time. 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:13.000 DeNA is like a big company, but they also like to start up, I mean, the new business within the company. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:18.000 And through the activity, I met a lot of founders there too. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.000 I was inspired so much by the founders. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:25.000 I noticed that I really love founders. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:36.000 So investing business is very close to the founders for sure. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:39.000 And I can support them in my way. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:48.000 And so I feel that I can work a lot with the founders in this business. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:57.000 So I finally quit DeNA and joined Dynaventures to do more of this kind of founder support business. 00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:58.000 That's awesome. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:02.000 So what's on top of your mind right now? 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:17.000 Are you actively raising the fund or are you calling out for more Japanese founders who want to build AI in the US or overseas to create a tech company? 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:22.000 What's most important you want to call out for the audience here? 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.000 Yeah, very interesting. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:36.000 You're on both sides, but I'll be happy to have more and more uncovered Japanese talented people who might be thinking about going global or starting up in the Bay Area. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:43.000 But since they don't see a role model around them, it's not easy to find one. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:52.000 But I want to encourage them to join us or just jump into the Bay Area ecosystem right away. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:07:05.000 And also, I will be happy to meet people who are passionate about supporting or who really want to see more Japanese entrepreneurs here in the Bay Area and support them somehow. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:09.000 And I would like to connect those two parties. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:16.000 And that will be one of the great ways for the Japanese people to contribute to the world. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:17.000 That's awesome. 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:29.000 So I know, Masato, you're currently in the valley in San Francisco City, and you will travel often between Japan and the US, especially in the Bay Area. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:34.000 And also, how could people reach out to you? 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:39.000 Well, whatever. I'm on LinkedIn. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:41.000 Maybe LinkedIn is easy. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:55.000 Or if you're a founder, actually, we're starting the application process of DelightX Cohort 3 from actually today. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:08:03.000 So if you search DelightX and find our site, you can apply to the program. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:08.000 And I will be seeing you from that, for sure. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:16.000 Awesome. Will you also open for any virtual or in-person coffee chat while you are in the valley? 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:20.000 Maybe people are interested in talking to you, they can come to you too. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:21.000 Awesome. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:28.000 If you have a time and can't chat with me, I'm more than happy to be connected to you. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.000 Awesome. Thanks, Masato, for your time about this interview. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:40.000 I wish more people can come to you and build a meaningful connection. Thank you. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:41.000 Thank you, Lawrence.