Akira Tsukagawa is a global investment and open-innovation professional with more than three decades of experience across venture capital, principal investment, investment banking, corporate innovation, and startup development.
His career includes McCann-Erickson Hakuhodo, Nomura/JAFCO Investment Asia, Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, and SBI Holdings. At Deutsche Bank, he worked on the financing of SoftBank's acquisition of Vodafone Japan. At SBI Holdings, he established the group's platform in India and formed a US$75 million Early-Stage Digital Incubation Fund, whose investments grew to approximately five times the original invested capital by maturity.
As Founder and CEO of Open Innovation Partners, he connects Japan with innovation ecosystems in India, Asia, Silicon Valley, and other international markets. He has supported open-innovation initiatives for major Japanese corporations, including OMRON and SOMPO Holding, while helping startups raise capital, commercialize technologies, enter Japan, and build partnerships with corporations, universities, medical institutions, investors, and government bodies.
At GTF, he works to convert international dialogue into concrete partnerships, investment, technology collaboration, and talent exchange between Japan and developing economies.
Tsukagawa holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, is a CFA charterholder, and completed executive education in Open Innovation, Venture Capital, Data Science, and Analytics at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.