Atsushi Taira

Atsushi Taira
大蘿 淳司
Born (1963-04-26) April 26, 1963 (age 61)
NationalityJapanese
Alma materWaseda University
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, investor

Atsushi Taira (大蘿淳司, born April 26, 1963) is a Japanese entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded The Edgeof, an ecosystem builder and venture capital entity, with Taizo Son, the youngest brother of SoftBank magnate Masayoshi Son. He is also the managing director of Mistletoe Singapore, a global startup ecosystem builder focused on the Asia–Pacific region that is also active in supporting entrepreneurs and innovators that aim to solve current social problems.[1][2]

Biography

Atsushi Taira is from present-day Shūnan, Yamaguchi Prefecture. He started a research-oriented software development company while he was still a student at Waseda University, and he himself also participated as a programmer. After graduation, he joined Arthur Andersen (present-day Accenture) where he engaged in consulting work. He was also a brand manager for Coca-Cola Japan, and the brand CEO of Richemont Japan Limited. In 2000, he joined DealTime.com (acquired by EBay) as co-chairman during the launch of its Japanese subsidiary.[3]

In 2003, he became the first general manager for marketing at Yahoo! Japan. In this capacity, he appeared on variety programs for Fuji Television, wherein he gave commentary on Yahoo! search rankings and keywords. In 2008, he became the chairman of Myspace Japan.[4] As social networking services experienced a boom in Japan with the arrival of Facebook and the rapid growth of the Japanese social networking service Mixi, Myspace Japan was supportive in expanding the Japanese music market globally.[5]

In 2010 he became involved in the development of SoftBank's social network and music streaming service. In 2011 he became a director of Bharti SoftBank Holdings, a joint venture between SoftBank and Bharti Enterprises, whose flagship company Bharti Airtel is one of the largest mobile network operators globally.[6] This joint venture invested in the instant messaging application Hike Messenger,[7][8] which became the youngest startup in India to reach unicorn status with a value of $1.4 billion.[9] In 2012 he became the Managing Executive Director and Head of the Global Business Strategy Department of SoftBank Mobile, where he was involved in the expansion of its mobile business in the United States and Southeast Asia.[10]

In 2016 he became involved with Mistletoe, a Japanese entrepreneurial ecosystem builder led by Taizo Son, and in 2017 he became the managing director of Mistletoe Singapore.[11] In 2023, he and Son co-founded The Edgeof, an ecosystem builder and venture capital entity with the aim of creating a support environment for startups that envision solving current social problems.[12] In April 2023 The Edgeof and SoftBank announced that an agreement was reached wherein The Edgeof would acquire SoftBank Ventures Asia, a wholly-owned SoftBank subsidiary, to establish a pan-Asian ecosystem for pioneering startups.[13]

References

  1. ^ "The Edgeof to Acquire SoftBank Ventures Asia to Establish Pan-Asian Ecosystem for Pioneering Startups". SoftBank Group Corp. 2023-04-12. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  2. ^ "シンガポールで開催中の「ECHELON Asia Summit」1日目——ディープテック、イシュードリブンなスタートアップに光を当てる動きが顕著に – BRIDGE（ブリッジ）テクノロジー＆スタートアップ情報". thebridge.jp (in Japanese). 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  3. ^ "「MySpaceは情報を作るためのソーシャルメディア」、マイスペース大蘿社長". enterprise.watch.impress.co.jp. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  4. ^ "ヤフーマーケティング本部長の大蘿氏が退社、1月1日付けでマイスペース社長に就任". CNET Japan (in Japanese). 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  5. ^ "英語とSNSを活用した、海外コミュニケーションセミナー開催！". プレスリリース・ニュースリリース配信シェアNo.1｜PR TIMES (in Japanese). 2011-08-31. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  6. ^ "Bharti Enterprises and SoftBank Announce Mobile Internet Joint Venture". SoftBank Group Corp. 2011-10-20. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  7. ^ Russell, Jon (2013-04-25). "Hike Raises $7 Million to Take on WhatsApp in India". TNW | In. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  8. ^ Shu, Catherine (2014-04-02). "Indian Mobile Messaging App Hike Raises $14M In New Funding From BSB". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  9. ^ Russell, Jon (2016-08-16). "India's WhatsApp rival Hike raises $175M led by Tencent at a $1.4B valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  10. ^ "役員人事について". ソフトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  11. ^ 日経ビジネス電子版 (15 January 2020). "「常識」を捨て、最強のチームを結成せよ". 日経ビジネス電子版 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  12. ^ "Taizo Son to acquire Softbank Ventures Asia, aiming to build regional startup ecosystem". BRIDGE（ブリッジ）|「起業家と投資家を繋ぐ」テクノロジー＆スタートアップ関連の話題をお届けするブログメディア. 2023-04-13. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  13. ^ "The Edgeof to Acquire SoftBank Ventures Asia to Establish Pan-Asian Ecosystem for Pioneering Startups". SoftBank Group Corp. 2023-04-12. Retrieved 2024-03-19.