The rest of the 100 (in alphabetical order): Hiroyuki Okada, director, Innovations and Future Creation (Mirai)
Tokyo Institute of Technology has boosted its commercialisation efforts in recent years, in no small part by working with venture capital firm Innovations and Future Creation – a business also known as Mirai – run by representative director Hiroyuki Okada.
Okada is a Tokyo Tech alumnus who has worked previously in the nuclear power division of energy company Tepco.
The collaboration began in 2016 and resulted in the creation of the ¥3.34bn ($31m) Mirai Sozo 1 Fund later that year. The fund was designed primarily to invest in startups linked to Tokyo Tech, and among its earliest portfolio businesses were odour-sensor developer Aroma Bit, data analytics firm I’s Factory and stereoscopic imaging company 2501.
In April 2018, Optical Comb – a Tokyo Tech spinout specialising in optical frequency combs for high-speed shape measurement – raised $11.8m in series B capital from investors which included Mirai and public-private partnership Innovation Network Corporation of Japan.
