Masa ISHII

After working at IBM Japan and McKinsey & Company, he founded AZCA, Inc., a management consulting company in Silicon Valley, California, in 1985 and became its representative director. He supports Japanese and American companies in developing new businesses in the high-tech field and develops global human resources.

While presiding over AZCA, Inc., he has also been active as a venture capitalist since 1987. He is currently focusing on supporting the establishment and operation of corporate venture capital to create new businesses for Japanese companies.

Until March 2019, he was a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Engineering, Shizuoka University and the Graduate School of Business, Waseda University, and is currently a visiting professor at Chubu University and an academic advisor at Toyo University.

He has served as chairman of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Northern California (2007) and a director of the Japan Society of Northern California. He is a member of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's University Start-Up Industry Creation Center Project (START) Promotion Committee and is also involved in NEDO's Research and Development Venture Support Program (STS) as a certified VC.

He has published papers in newspapers and magazines, and given numerous lectures at various Japanese and US conferences, universities, etc. He graduated from the Department of Mathematical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo, and obtained a Master's degree in Computer Science from Stanford University.