Masahiro Suzuki

Head of Strategic Partnerships and Alliances

2024 - Current

PanasonicWELL (aka Yohana) is a new venture and business incubator from Panasonic, committed to innovating new services and technologies to improve the lives of modern families.

Partner, Officer, Head of Operations

2022 - 2023

* Led a strategy overhaul project and secured $400mil funding from Toyota Motor Corp. * Built and managed a team dedicated to business development initiatives between startups and Toyota companies. * Increased company-wide productivity by optimizing operations and implementing new systems including startup deal flow database, deal management processes, and CRM.

Partner, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Director of Business Development

2015 - 2022

* Started company as a founding member responsible for strategic partnerships with corporate investors, designed variety of strategic value-add products and pricing models while managing 17 large corporate investor accounts. * Guided portfolio startups through complex business development exercises and helped to win strategic partnerships including paid PoC projects, joint R&Ds, and direct equity investments from large incumbent companies. * Led fundraising from then-current investors and secured ~$120mil re-up commitments to subsequent funds. * Educated, trained, and nurtured logistics provider Ryder System Inc. (NYSE: R) throughout innovation initiatives. Helped to organize own $50mil corporate venture capital arm called RyderVentures. * Contributed to entire investment process: market research, investment thesis formation, deal sourcing, due diligence, deal term negotiation, investment memo drafting, and portfolio monitoring.

MSx / Sloan Fellow

2014 - 2015

The MSx / Sloan Fellows program is a one-year, full-time master's degree program for experienced leaders.

Director / Project Manager, Corporate Planning

2011 - 2014

* Reporting directly to Board and senior leadership team, analyzed and evaluated joint venture projects and M&A opportunities, negotiated terms, and executed CEO’s new growth strategies of R&D budget allocation. * Led a cross-functional team and negotiated with Waymo (then Google-X) about autonomous driving technology. * Contributed to a multifaceted cross-licensing agreement between BMW and Toyota.

Manager, Business Development

2005 - 2011

Associate, Sales

2001 - 2005