Masazumi (“Masa”) Ishii Managing Director

Masa Ishii is founder and Managing Director of AZCA, Inc. and Managing Director with Noventi Ventures.

AZCA (www.azcainc.com) is a professional services firm founded in 1985, specializing in corporate development for high technology ventures. To date,AZCA has assisted numerous companies in North America in building business in Japan and other parts of Asia through various forms of corporate strategic alliance. Many of AZCA’s clients are emerging companies in the areas of hightechnology including electronics, information technology, environmental technology, and life sciences, among others.

Noventi (www.noventivc.com) was founded in 2002 to manage early-stage technology venture capital investment funds. Noventi’s second fund, launched in 2006, targets the greentech space. Noventi sees this as a large application domain with an expanding pool of innovative technology entrepreneurs applying their product and business skills to alternative energy sources and to innovative energy and environmental applications. To date, Noventi has invested in early stage companies in the biodiesel, thin film PV, lighting control, and small wind areas.

Masa has over 25 years of experience as a professional in international business and high technology. He has been an active venture investor in emerging technology companies during the past 15 years. Formerly, Masa worked at McKinsey & Company, Inc. and at IBM Japan.

Masa serves on the board and the advisory board of several multinational companies. He is a frequent speaker and writer on issues involving international business development in the high technology industry, and is a well-recognized member of the Pacific Rim business infrastructure. He is also a visiting professor at Shizuoka University in Japan (www.eng.shizuoka.ac.jp) and a Senior Executive Advisor to PARC (Palo Alto research Center, www.parc.com).

Masa holds a Bachelor of Engineering in mathematical engineering and instrumentation physics from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Science in computer science from Stanford University.