Narimasa Makino

Narimasa Makino is the CEO of Monozukuri Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Kyoto, Japan, that actively bridges the Japanese and North American markets. He holds a PhD in Technology and Innovative Management with a focus on venture capital and entrepreneur finance from Doshisha University. Building on his prior experience managing specialized investment vehicles, Makino led the closing of the Monozukuri second fund in February 2021 to target early-stage hardware companies requiring specialized prototyping and mass production support. His recent investment activity includes backing maritime autonomous surface vehicle developer SeaSatellites Inc. with an initial capital allocation in late 2021, followed by subsequent funding alongside defense contractor L3Harris and the Techstars Space Accelerator. Makino currently focuses his efforts on providing capital and business development services to hard tech startups navigating the transition from prototype to commercial manufacturing.