Lifetime Ventures is a pre-seed/seed-focused venture capital firm based in Yokohama/Okinawa, investing in talent for lifetime innovation. Established in 2017, Lifetime Ventures has invested in >30 startups to date, including UUUO, a B2B platform creating a new distribution and resource management model for the fisheries industry, and Rehab for Japan, a leading age-tech for an elderly-friendly society.

The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) is a cross-disciplinary graduate school offering a five-year Ph.D. program in science. OIST was founded in 2011 by the Government of Japan to contribute to science and technology worldwide, attract leading researchers from Japan and abroad to conduct high-quality research, advance the development of a world-class research hub, and nucleate a knowledge cluster that will catalyze technology transfer and industrial innovation in Okinawa, Japan.

Ryosuke Kimura

General Partner at Lifetime Ventures

Ryosuke is the Founding General Partner at Lifetime Ventures. Prior to Lifetime, Ryosuke worked for Incubate Fund, a leading seed VC in Japan, where he was involved in supporting more than 40 startups. He has extensive management consulting experience (PwC and KPMG), particularly in the infrastructure and healthcare industry.

He is a J-Startup recommendation committee member of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and a judge for the Japan Healthcare Business Contest (JHeC) 2018-2022 of METI.

Koshu Kunii

General Partner at Lifetime Ventures

Koshu is a General Partner at Lifetime Ventures. Prior to Lifetime, he worked for financial institutions and international organizations, including IFC (World Bank Group), where he invested in fintech startups in emerging markets globally. A Japanese native raised in four countries, he has worked in Switzerland, the U.S., Mexico, and France.

He holds a master's in international economics and finance from Johns Hopkins University SAIS.

Gil Granot-Mayer

Executive Vice President of Technology Development and Innovation at OIST

Gil is the Executive Vice President for Technology Development and Innovation at OIST. Prior to joining OIST in 2021, Gil served as the CEO of Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd., the technology transfer arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science (one of the leading technology transfer and commercializing organizations in the world). Gil co-chaired ITTN (the Israeli Tech-Transfer Organization) and served on the Academia-Industry Committee of the Israel National Council of Research & Development. Gil is a member of 8400 - The Heath Network, a non-for-profit organization aiming at boosting the heath-tech industry in Israel. In addition to his activities, Gil is advising governments and various for-profit and non-for-profit organizations globally on various technology transfer and business development issues. Gil holds an MBA and L.L.B. degrees from Tel Aviv University.

Julie-Anne Lucchetti

Coordinator for Corporate Development at OIST

Julie-Anne is the Coordinator for Corporate Development of the Technology Development and Innovation Center at OIST. Julie-Anne is developing and implementing new strategic industry engagement programs to foster international innovation at OIST and in the surrounding community. Prior to joining OIST, Julie-Anne worked as a corporate lawyer (qualified in England & Wales) at global law firm Squire Patton Boggs, where her practice covered a wide spectrum of corporate matters, including international Private Equity/Venture Capital and M&A transactions as well as Equity Capital Market work. A native of France, Julie-Anne has studied and worked in France, Sweden, Slovakia, the UK, and Russia prior to relocating to Okinawa, Japan in 2020.