Naoki is a Venture Partner at IQ Capital, where he focuses on deep tech and frontier technologies, building bridges between Europe and Japan/Asia to help founders scale globally. He brings over a decade of venture capital experience, having previously been a Partner and Europe Division Head at Global Brain, where he led European and global investments across AI, cloud, cybersecurity, fintech, insurtech, and frontier technologies, building a portfolio of more than 50 startups across the UK, Europe, Israel, Japan, Asia, and the US. He also served as a board director or observer for more than 20 startups.

Prior to joining IQ Capital, he invested in and supported founders at companies including Healx, Plum, Cognigy, Secret Double Octopus, Idein, Noxtua, Hoxton Farms, Loom Systems, and kompany.

Earlier in his career, Naoki spent a decade at Sony, including at PlayStation in the US, where he worked as a researcher and engineering manager on AI/ML, big data, and the launch of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Network. He holds an MSc in Computer Science from the Tokyo Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Cambridge.