CEO | Co-founder

Yuki Shimahara, Ph.D.

Yuki Shimahara completed his doctoral studies in Life Sciences at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo. In 2014, he co-founded LPIXEL Inc., where he served as CEO, focusing on AI-based image analysis for the medical and drug discovery fields. In 2019, it obtained approval for a medical device program utilizing deep learning. Shimahara has served as an executive director of the Japan Medical Imaging and Radiological Systems Industries Association (JIRA), contributing to various administrative and regulatory reforms through recommendations to the Cabinet Office’s Regulatory Reform Promotion Council. He also worked on creating data processing guidelines under the Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant project (2021-2023). After resigning from the board of LPIXEL, he established Medical AI Promotion Institute, where he is currently working to promote the utilization of medical data under the Next-Generation Medical Infrastructure Law led by the Cabinet Office.

Director | Co-founder

Yuzo Kumakiri

Yuzo Kumakiri graduated from Kanagawa University with a degree in Management Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering in 2006. While still a student, he founded a venture and managed an IT business, which he later successfully exited. Following this, he became an angel investor and served as the CEO of KIJ corporation., an investment company. Driven by the belief that entrepreneurial experience combined with financial knowledge and investment can support the Japanese economy, he established the investment company to nurture Japanese ventures. His investment portfolio includes notable companies like GO Fund Inc. and Kinyu Joshi Inc., with a focus on financial fintech. Additionally, he has invested in multiple AI companies, supporting their IPOs. Currently, he continues to invest in seed and early-stage financial ventures, supporting the growth of approximately 40 companies.

Chairperson | Director

Mamoru Taniya

Mamoru Taniya is the Chairman of the Board at SDG Impact Japan and has a financial career spanning approximately 35 years. Over 20 years as an angel investor, he has supported numerous startups and NGO/NPO initiatives. He was Asia’s youngest Managing Director at Salomon Brothers, overseeing investment divisions in Japan and across Asia. He went on to establish Asuka Asset Management, an independent alternative investment firm, and co-founded private equity firm Mercuria with the Development Bank of Japan, and venture capital firm D4V with IDEO. Taniya has been involved in founding companies such as Lifenet Insurance, Money Design, and the blockchain business Resica. He also serves as chairman of MNES, a cloud service for medical imaging, R Project for regional revitalization, and Discover Japan magazine. Taniya conceived and founded UWC ISAK, Japan’s first international boarding school, as the leading representative. He is Vice Chair of Human Rights Watch Tokyo Committee and a trustee at the International House of Japan. Taniya graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo.

Director

Shohei Maekawa, MBA

Shohei Maekawa is the Co-CEO of SDG Impact Japan. He previously worked at the Boston Consulting Group, specializing in management and strategy consulting within the industrial goods and energy sectors, focusing on medium-term management strategies, corporate restructuring, post-merger integration, new business strategy, and digital transformation. Before that, he was involved in overseas business investments, such as M&A and joint ventures, and global trading in the food and chemical sectors at Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Maekawa also worked at EIRIS (now Moody’s ESG Solutions), a UK-based ESG investment assessment and research institution, where he focused on strategy development and client acquisition. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Keio University and an MBA from HEC Paris.