Board Member
Taihei Shii
Chief Executive Officer
Taihei Shii is the founder and the CEO at Startbahn. Prior to Startbahn, he has served as an Adjunct Professor in Tokyo University of the Arts. Taihei is a contemporary artist, with works focusing on art of the information age and have been exhibited in various galleries and museums. Taihei formulated the original idea of Startbahn and filed patents for the royalty fee system in Japan and US back in 2006. Startbahn as an organization was then later founded during his graduate school years in 2014. More recently, Tahei became the CEO of Tokyo Art Beat in 2020 when the NPO relaunched as a new company. In addition to these activities, Taihei also serves as a research fellow at Interspace Research Center, Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo, and a director of Eastern Culture Foundation from 2022. Taihei holds BA in oil painting from the Tama Art University and MS in interdisciplinary information studies from the University of Tokyo.
Tomohiro Nakamura
Chief Technology Officer
After full-stack engineer experiences at Goldman Sachs and at Electronic Arts, Tomohiro has founded Wekids Inc. He has also been CTO at AnyPay Inc. and managed payment and ICO/STO services. After being CTO in a Blockchain SaaS startup, catabira Inc., he joined Startbahn, Inc. in March 2020 as CTO. Holds B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from Waseda University and have a significant research experience in Web and Machine Learning. He likes web3.0 philosophy and going to music festivals.
Keisuke Ota
Chief Operation Officer
Completed the Department of Architecture Graduate School of Engineering the University of Tokyo. Established museums and brand shops as architects at Herzog & de Meuron. In 2015, He turned into a management strategy consultant at Bain & Company. Engaged in management support for major companies at Tokyo and Dubai branch offices. Participated in Startbahn in 2019.
Alisa Watanabe
Chief Revenue Officer
Born in 1990, grew up in the neighbor of Ohara Museum of Art in Okayama, my favorite art museum of all time. B.A. in International Liberal Studies at Waseda Univerisity. Studied Film and minored in Aesthetics. Join Mitsubishi Corporation in 2013 and worked mainly for logistics business. Also had experience in working in Russia. Joined Startbahn from April 2021.
Ryutaro Katayama
Outside Director
He holds BA in Economics and MA in Sociology from Keio University in Tokyo and MBA from Harvard Business School. After successfully revived several well-known but distressed companies as a CEO or a turnaround architect, he served as the President of Giuliani Partners Japan and Japan office of Christie's, the oldest and the largest auction house in the world. He is also a founding member of Whiz Partners, a leading venture capital firm. He has sat on the numerous boards of prominent companies and an art foundation. Through the various positions above, he got engaged in approximately 100 M&A deals. He loves both visual and performing arts as well as golf and tennis.
Yayoi Shionoiri
Outside Director
Yayoi Shionoiri serves as Executive Director to the Estate of Chris Burden and the Studio of Nancy Rubins, where she is responsible for stewarding Burden's art historical legacy and promoting Rubins' artistic practice. She also serves as U.S. Alliance Partner to City Lights Law, a Japanese law firm that represents creators, innovators, and artists. As a published specialist on art law, she is respected for her application of intellectual property law to art issues. In the past, Yayoi has served as General Counsel and Head of Asia Strategy to Artsy, Associate General Counsel of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and Legal Advisor to Takashi Murakami. She has degrees from Harvard University, Cornell Law School and Columbia University. ( Photo by © Munemasa Takahashi ) Instagram: @yayoi_shionoiri
Hiro Okahashi
Outside Director
Experience of policy planning related to venture company promotion and industry-academia collaboration at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. After managing multiple venture companies, engaged in investment development and management support for domestic and overseas venture companies at major financial institution VCs. Founded Miyako Capital (Kyoto University official VC) in 2013 and became a representative director partner. Furthermore, he energetically invests in and manages innovative start-up companies based on advanced technology and business models. Graduated from Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo Columbia University Master of Business Administration (MBA) Researcher, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University Member of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "University-based Venture Study Group"
Tomotaka Goji
Outside Director
Tomotaka (“Tommy”) Goji is the Co-founder, Managing Partner, CEO, President & Representative Director of The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners Co. Ltd. (known as “UTEC”), and Vice Chairman of Japan Venture Capital Association (JVCA). Since the inception of The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Co. Ltd. in April 2004, he has raised and managed five funds totaling approximately JPY 85 billion (USD 800 million), built the team, and guided investments, value-up and exits of UTEC portfolio companies. These UTEC funds are established on the premise of the Japanese law called “The Limited Partnership Act for Investment” that he authored to enact in 1998 at the then Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI, now known as METI: the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) and became the foundation for Japanese VC funds thereafter.
Hisayori Kataoka
Outside Auditor
Completed his BA in Economics in Keio University. Started his career at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC as a certified public accountant and became a partner in 2002. Over 30 years in his career, auditing and consulting of companies preparing for IPO were his specialties and simultaneously, he worked as a director of the Chiba office and the Yokohama office. Also, he experienced committee operations as a member of the scope of consolidation advisory committee and investment limited partnership committee at The Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants. After leaving Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC in 2020, he became a venture partner at the University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners Co., Ltd.
Tasuku Mizuno
Outside Auditor
Attorney at City Lights Law Office in Tokyo. His profession covers IP Law, Entertainment Law, Art Law, Internet Law, Information Law and so forth. He is also the representative director of “Arts and Law”, and is the co-director of “Creative Commons Japan (currently Commonsphere).” He serves as the senior researcher of KEIO University Research Institute at SFC (Legal Design Lab), and also is the judge of “GOOD DESIGN AWARD,” a member of “Fab Commons” (FabLab Japan), and quite active in Open Source projects, Sharing culture, new copyright definition for digital contents or digital fabrication.
Advisors
Miwa Taguchi
Senior Advisor
Born in 1967. Graduated from the Department of Social Work, Graduate School of Sociology, Meiji Gakuin University. Around 2013, she succeeded to the management of her father's art collection, Taguchi Art Collection. Taguchi has visited numerous exhibitions, art festivals, and art fairs in Japan and abroad to enhance the collection. In 2019, she established the Arts Plus Institute of Contemporary Art, a general incorporated association, and has conducted seminars and other activities to bridge the information gap between Japan and the rest of the world regarding contemporary art. [ Arts Plus Institute for Contemporary Art ] https://www.facebook.com/artsplus2019/
Kodai Kimura
Legal Advisor
Attorney admitted in Japan, New York & Washington D.C. (Partner at Kobayashi & Yugeta Law Office). In the field of Art Law , Mr. Kimura advises artists, art galleries, art related start-ups, museums, curators, art consultants, collectors, public art consulting firms, art media and various companies involved in art projects, and has contributed articles to reputable media such as Bijutsutecho and Forbes JAPAN.
Kensuke Ito
Blockchain Researcher
Graduated from Department of Economics, School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University. Graduated from Socio-Information and Communication Studies Course, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo. Being interested in modern art market, he is studying about an incentive design to decentralize the managing activities for intellectual property. He has been participated in Startbahn before the establishment.
Development Dept.
Sadegh Nobari
Development Dept. Blockchain Engineer
Sadegh is a computer scientist whose passion is to find potential improvements for a business/problem. His expertise is in creating feasible, efficient, scalable and maintainable solutions, and has more than 15 years of experience in the field, including serving as a Research Scientist at Rakuten. PS. he holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore. Algorithm is his hobby.
Chris Hatch
Development Dept. Blockchain Engineer
Chris has built software across a diverse range of industries spanning renewable energy, education, human rights, telecommunications, health and finance, working in the regions of Asia, Europe and Australia. Focusing on blockchain for the last 5 years he has developed smart contract protocols, DApps, open source tools and libraries for the Ethereum and Stellar networks and launched a fiat gateway in Australia. Chris is excited to see blockchain technology changing the world and to continue contributing to that change.
Wataru Shinohara
Development Dept. Blockchain Engineer
After working in several companies as a backend developer, he joined DMM.com, where he worked on building a big data infrastructure, improving computational resource efficiency, continuous delivery, and deployment. He has continued his research and development on blockchain and is interested in sustainable social system design.
Toshiya Matsumoto
Development Dept. Blockchain Engineer
Graduated from Faculty of Economics, Keio University, and Diversity Management, University of Leeds. Started his career as a web engineer, he participated a project for rebuilding a web application for in-house system in a venture company. Having a vision to connect the art world and blockchain technology, he entered Startbahn. he prefers to go watching Kabuki and to take a lesson for Japanese dancing.
Sona Ko
Development Dept. Project Manager
Graduated from Department of Spanish Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. She studied history of modern and contemporary Western art while in Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. Having her roots in Korea, able to speak Japanese, English, Korean and Spanish. After being engaged in management for several projects such as developing a billions-yen-scale software at PwC consulting LLC, moving to personal group to be in charge of development for new businesses. In Startbahn, she manages the project for blockchain development. Enjoys Korean dancing since the age of 10.
Param Pon
Head of Quality Assurance
Param started as a freelance developer after his Computer science graduation in 2007 and evolved as Quality Assurance professional. For over 15 years, Param worked on various organizations and International Clients on various roles, mainly focuses on Building and maintaining the internal quality assurance tools, processes and teams for assuring and controlling the quality of large complex systems. He believes in concept of Quality by Design, which will result in returning consumers and continuous growth of the business.
Nguyen Hoang Anh
Development Dept. Senior Full Stack Engineer
Anh is Full Stack Engineer with experience of data warehouse, credit card payment, crypto trading platform, crypto payment, and telemedicine platform. After working for 9 years as a lecturer at HCMC University of Science, Anh worked for some startup companies in Japan. Anh joins Startbahn with the vision of contributing the art blockchain. Anh received his MS in Computer Science at HCMC University of Science, Vietnam.
Business Development Dept.
Yumiko Horiguchi
Business Development Dept. Customer Support / Operation
From Fukuoka, Japan. Graduated from Oil Painting Program, Faculty of Art, Aichi University of the Arts. After working at modern art gallery, entered Startbahn. Her favorite artists are Thomas Cyrill Demand and David Hockney.
Masataka Tanaka
Business Development Dept. Customer Support / Operation
Born in 1994, from Shimane. Graduated from Department of Photography, College of Art, Nihon University. After working as a university research assistant, worked as a photographer. He is also working on art production, received the Dean of the Arts Award for university graduation work and held a solo exhibition in 2018. Currently, as a photographer, he shoots portrait, bridal, and movie etc. He has participated in startbahn in 2019. Enjoys reading books.
Keigo Okuda
Business Development Dept.
Graduated from Keio University. Over 4 years of student life in London, European art has become familiar to him. In the university, he worked for an NPO who runs international internship for 3 years and sensed that observing the shift of the market is the essential. Under that understanding, he chose to work from April, 2021. Outside of work, he enjoys playing any ball game and studying other languages.
Ryunoshin Hori
Business Development Dept. Intern
Born in Hokkaido in 2000. Currently studying mechanical engineering at the University of Tokyo. He genuinely likes the concept of blockchain and web 3.0, where the value of the individual is becoming more important, and he wants to realize the web3.0. After working as an intern at a consulting firm for two years, he joined the business development department of Startbahn in February 2022. He is majoring in robotics at university, and is exploring the possibilities of robotics and blockchain. He likes Japanese rock and trainers.
Corporate Planning
Josephine Yamada
Corporate Planning
Specialises in regulatory strategy and new business promotion at the intersection of art and finance. Prior to joining Startbahn, she served as a core member of Deloitte Art & Finance Japan, assisting FSIs in developing collectibles wealth management services based on global leading practices. Holds B.A. LL.B and MSc Corporate Governance
Administrative Dept.
Michiyo Nozawa
Administrative Dept.
Born in Saitama Prefecture. After working in accounting and finance at an accounting firm and a listed company, she worked as a manager in the corporate planning group of an IT venture company and as a business administration manager of a pharmaceutical R&D venture company with subsidiaries in the United States and Taiwan. After working in accounting for many years, she joined Startbahn in 2021. Her hobby is to grow vegetables in a community farm. She is also interested in supporting shelter dogs, as her current dog is a shelter dog.