Ken Horne is an experienced healthcare investor, entrepreneur and executive with over two decades of professional success. He currently serves as the Managing Partner of AN Ventures, a Japan focused biotech fund. Previously he was the chairperson of RDiscovery, Remiges Ventures’ company creation entity. In this role, he has helped start and invest in Capacity Bio, Typewriter Therapeutics, and Viage Therapeutics as President or CEO. Previously as an entrepreneur, he co-founded or led Aline Aesthetics (acquired by Allergan), Symic Bio (acquired by Nordic Bio), and Teon Therapeutics. Before that, he was a founding member of TauTona Group, an early-stage life science venture capital fund backed by Stanford Management Company and other top LPs. He started his career working for The Foundry, a preeminent medtech incubator, and he was an early or founding employee at eValve (acquired by Abbott), Cierra (acquired by Terumo) and others.

Ken has a BS and MS degree from Stanford University in mechanical engineering, and as a Kauffman Fellow (Class 17) was the Jeff Timmons Leadership Awardee.

Ari Nowacek, M.D., Ph.D. is a Partner with ARCH Venture Partners as well as an Partner with ANV. Dr. Nowacek focuses on identifying and evaluating new life sciences technologies and is involved in company creation. He helped the form ROME Therapeutics, Walden Biosciences, HiberCell, Arbor Biosciences, and TFC Bio. He also serves as a board member or observer on Synchron, Basking Bio, and Ultivue.

Dr. Nowacek is a physician-scientist by training. He holds a B.S. in Biology and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Indiana-Bloomington where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He also holds an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and an M.B.A. from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He has 20 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of neuroscience, virology, antiretroviral therapeutic development, and immune oncology. He subsequently completed a medical residency in pathology and post-doctoral research at The University of Chicago and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Takashi Futami is an experienced healthcare investor, entrepreneur and executive. At ANV, Takashi leads the formation of startups based primarily on research emanating from research institutions.

Starting a career as a researcher at Astellas Pharma Inc., he led and managed more than 10 drug discovery projects, focusing on oncology and metabolic disorders. Takashi then, joined a corporate venture capital fund in Menlo Park/Cambridge and invested in startups including Potenza Therapeutics, which was acquired by Astellas, and Bicycle Therapeutics which IPOed on NASDAQ. He also managed collaborations with academic institutes, including the Dana-Farber Cancer institute, the Massachusetts General Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine and others.

In 2020, Takashi joined Fast Track Initiative in the key role of overseeing global investment and company creation from academic discoveries via the identification and evaluation of new life science technologies. He was co-founder of reverSASP Therapeutics and other incubating assets based on Japanese academic discoveries.

He is currently a Specially Appointed Professor at Tohoku University, Visiting Professor at Nagoya University and Okayama University, Fellow at Kyoto University, and Fellow at RIKEN. He also serves as a member of the Expert Council for the Global Startup Campus Initiative of the Cabinet Office.

Takashi’s goal is to transform innovations in academia, especially in Japan, into actual products that improve people’s lives and society.

Hashimoto brings extensive expertise in M&A and fundraising advisory as well as investments in startups, with a particular focus on the healthcare sector. Prior to joining ANV, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of CUC Inc., a healthcare startup, where he oversaw finance, corporate planning, financial management, investor relations, and other functions. During his tenure, he led the company’s IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, syndicated loan financing, and the execution of both domestic and international M&A transactions.

Prior to that, he spent over 14 years at Goldman Sachs Group, where he advised pharmaceutical, medical device, and consumer goods companies on M&A and financing transactions. In particular, he advised major domestic and international pharmaceutical companies on the acquisition of pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well as the divestiture and licensing of products and R&D pipelines.

Atsushi Shimada is an experienced life science/biotech investor, entrepreneur and patent attorney by training. At ANV, Atsushi focuses on identifying and evaluating new science and new technologies, developing business/IP strategy, and is involved in company creation.

Before ANV, he worked for the University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC) as a venture capitalist and was involved in the company creation of and/or served as a board member or observer at SOLA biosciences, OriCiro genomics (acquired by Moderna), United immunity, Red Arrow, PURMX and others.

He also spent more than a decade working in the pharmaceutical industry at Takeda and Bayer. He was involved in more than 50 licensing deals and 2 M&A transactions (Amgen Japan and Nycomed) based in Tokyo/Chicago, developing a corporate strategy as well as representing Takeda in patent litigation at the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Atsushi has also given multiple lectures and seminars about Japan’s startup ecosystem for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Japan Patent Office, the LES, the National Cancer Center, Japan Venture Capital Associations, Attorney’s Associations and others. He received the IP Base Award from METI. Visiting Professor at Hiroshima and Nagasaki University.

Toshikazu Ban brings nearly 40 years of extensive experience in pharmaceutical and regenerative medicine R&D, business development, and corporate venture capital (CVC) investments, gained through leadership roles at Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Fujifilm Corporation.

At Fujifilm Corporation, Ban served as Corporate Vice President, overseeing the company’s pharmaceutical and regenerative medicine businesses. He held board positions at FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics, Century Therapeutics, Opsis Therapeutics, FUJIFILM Toyama Chemical, FUJIFILM Kyowa Kirin Biologics, Japan Tissue Engineering, and Perseus Proteomics. He also served as CEO of both Toyama Chemical and Fujifilm RI Pharmaceutical, where he led the integration of the two companies into FUJIFILM Toyama Chemical. His career highlights include launching biotech ventures in Japan and the U.S., and driving investment initiatives in the pharmaceuticals and regenerative medicine sectors.

During his 28 years at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, he led global business development and pharmaceutical R&D management in Japan, Europe and the U.S. As Senior Vice President and Global Head of Business Development, he played key role in Takeda’s licensing and M&A strategies.

Ban holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Medical Sciences from Kyoto University.

For nearly a decade, Mike Hickey has focused on helping companies build, scale, and manage their finance departments and operations. Most recently, Mike was Head of Finance at Alliance, a $50M investment adviser and crypto-focused start-up accelerator.

Prior to Alliance, Mike was CFO and Partner at Prime Movers Lab, a >$1B deep tech venture capital firm investing in scientific breakthroughs. As the first finance hire, Mike built the finance team, designed the compliance program, and implemented systems to scale its operations from $100M to over $1B in regulatory assets under management. As an operating partner, Mike worked closely with founders for all back-office and finance-related needs.

Mike also held Controller positions with 137 Ventures (SEC Registered Investment Advisor) and Versant Ventures (discovery engine and biotech venture capital firm), managing $1.3B and $3.5B portfolios, respectively.

Mike began his career at Rothstein Kass (acquired by KPMG) where he conducted audits in accordance with US GAAS on venture capital and hedge funds. Mike holds a BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting from San Francisco State University. Mike was VP of Beta Alpha Psi and President of ALPFA (Association of Latino Professionals For America).

With over 15 years of experience in research and development at a leading Japanese pharmaceutical company, Masaki Tanaka brings a wealth of scientific expertise and strategic insight to ANV. As part of his career, Masaki spent five years in the United States, where he deepened his understanding of the strategies and methods for integrating early-stage scientific findings into the drug discovery process.

As team leader, Masaki played a role in numerous projects across a wide range of therapeutic areas, including central nervous system, oncology, and immunology. His in-depth knowledge of diverse analytical platforms was instrumental in the development of innovative target identification and phenotypic analysis methods. These methods made substantial contributions to the advancement of drug candidates by enabling in-depth Mode of Action analysis and efficient drug candidate screening. The team’s innovative approach to research is evidenced by its multiple patent filings, publications, and presentations at scientific conferences.

After working on early-stage deal evaluation and scientific assessment of acquisition targets for a major pharma company, Masaki has been seconded to ANV, driven by a passion to translate groundbreaking Japanese early-stage science into treatments that improve patients worldwide. He is committed to leveraging his scientific expertise and industry experience to identify and invest in promising therapeutic candidates that address unmet medical needs.

Shiho Hirose, Ph.D. has a strong background in cancer immunotherapy research and drug discovery. As a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellow (DC2), she earned her Ph.D. in Life Science from Tokyo University. Her research elucidated the role of IL4I1 in immunotherapy resistance and CD8+ T cell infiltration in melanoma, paving the way for potential therapeutic strategies to combat immunotherapy-resistance.

During her graduate studies, she took a research fellowship at Harvard Medical School and received extensive research training in Dr. Duda’s group, specializing in tumor-microenvironment interactions. By collaborating with local startups, pharmaceutical companies, and physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital, she expanded her research network and gained insights for novel drug development. She cultivated her entrepreneurial mindset by participating university pitch events, developing the ability to translate scientific knowledge into practical applications, and immersing herself in life science ecosystem of Boston. After completing her Ph.D., she conducted research and development at Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. There, she contributed in identifying promising drug discovery themes and collaborating with external partners to advance these themes. She is currently a visiting researcher at the School of Medicine, Keio University, where she is engaged in translating academic research into practical applications.

Yumiko Nejo joined AN Ventures in January 2024 as Controller.

Prior to joining AN Ventures, Yumiko worked at Z Ventures Capital, the Corporate Venture Capital of LINE Yahoo Japan, as a Manager of Investment Management, where she was responsible for portfolio management of 6 funds (AUM 78 billion yen), FMV valuation, and various aspects of venture capital fund management, including strengthening internal governance, building and improving business processes. In addition, she was responsible for strengthening the governance of the firm and building and improving business processes. Yumiko also contributed significantly to the exit of the fund’s portfolio at the 2023 closing of YJ1, Yahoo’s first CVC, which was established in September 2012. Prior to this, Yumiko worked at Digital Garage’s CVC to ensure that the investment operation always worked efficiently and effectively.

Prior to that, Yumiko worked as a researcher in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley for about 7 years, where she primarily focused on providing advisory support to clients and their investors, as well as M&A research and assistance in closing deals. She also has extensive experience in middle office and front office support at a major foreign securities firm.

Paula Schultheiss is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. In her Ph.D. research under Dr. Lance Kam, she develops biomaterials to optimize immune cell production for subsequent use in cancer therapies.

Beyond her lab and computational experiences, Paula has continuously sought opportunities to engage in the entrepreneurial side of the life science field. She is the Director of Mentor & Expert Relations at the non-profit Nucleate, a student-run organization that empowers grad students to form new life science startups. Here, she leads a team of volunteers to expand and strengthen our network of established life science entrepreneurs, VCs, and biotech leaders in New York City and beyond. Paula is also currently a fellow at Columbia Tech Ventures, where she gains hands-on experience in tech commercialization and evaluation of the commercial potential of patents. In her previous role as Senior Associate Fellow at Orange Grove Bio, she identified growth opportunities in different clinical landscapes to support company creation, provide scientific context for the assumptions of financial models, and advise portfolio companies on preclinical drug development processes.

Paula holds a M.Eng. from UC Berkeley in Biomedical Engineering and a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Molecular Biotechnology from RWTH Aachen University.

Dr. Vicki Sato is a senior pharmaceutical executive, having served as President of Vertex Pharmaceuticals who currently serves as a Venture Partner at ARCH Venture Partners and as Chairperson of Vir Biotechnology and Denali Therapeutics. Dr. Sato advises multiple biotech and pharma firms and is currently a director of publicly listed companies Akouos and Allogene Therapeutics, having retired recently from the boards of Bristol Myers Squibb and BorgWarner. From 2006-2017, she was professor of management practice at Harvard Business School and professor of the practice, molecular and cell biology, on Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

As the former Dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, Dr. Paul Rothman oversaw both the School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Health System. A rheumatologist and molecular immunologist by training, he previously held senior positions at the University of Iowa and Columbia University. Dr. Rothman is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and the ASCI. He is a member of the Association of American Physicians and served as President in 2014. He is a director of Merck and Co., Labcorp, USC Health System, and the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Saudi Arabia.

Jiro Seguchi is a veteran investment banker who brings a different set of skills to his advisory role at ANV. He began his career at Bank of Tokyo (now MUFG) in corporate finance and capital markets, working both in Tokyo and New York. In 1999, he joined Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America), where he held several senior roles. These included serving as the president of Japan Operations, head of Asia-Pacific Global Corporate and Investment banking and co-president of the bank’s entire Asia-Pacific operations. After retiring from Bank of America at the end of 2023, he transitioned to a role as a senior advisor at Hillhouse, as well as ANV.

A physician-scientist who boasts an illustrious career, Dr. Hiromitsu Nakauchi’s innovative and impactful research ranges from pioneering single hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to groundbreaking interspecies organ generation. Previously he was a professor of stem cell therapy and a founding director of the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Tokyo. Since 2014, he has been a professor of genetics at Stanford University and also holds a cross-appointment as a distinguished professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University in Japan.