As AI continues to reshape industries, 2025 presents a rare window of opportunity for innovators and entrepreneurs. This seminar explores how startups can harness AI to build impactful, future-ready ventures while avoiding common pitfalls.
Seminar speaker Tim Romero, Partner at JERA Ventures, Founder and Host of popular startup podcast: Disrupting Japan, shares his views on leveraging the application of AI in new startups based on years of experience in the field and knowledge of the startup ecosystem, especially here in Japan.
Reiji Yamanaka, Managing Director of KIBOW Impact Investment Fund – GLOBIS Venture lecturer and Kelvin Song, GLOBIS business director – GLOBIS AI/Technovate lecturer will be joining after Tim’s presentation for a panel discussion and dialogue prior to fielding Q&A from the audience.
Join us to gain actionable insights into:
Whether you’re considering launching your own AI startup or supporting one, this seminar will provide practical tools, expert perspectives, and a roadmap to success in this transformative field.
Who Should Attend:
Aspiring founders, early-stage startup teams, technologists, investors, and anyone curious about building sustainable AI businesses in 2025 and beyond.
You’ll also have the chance to join a vibrant startup community, connect with like-minded individuals, and build relationships that inspire and support your entrepreneurial journey.
Please join us in-person at our Tokyo GLOBIS campus if you are in the area to take advantage of the networking session after the event. Our speakers will be available for discussions and you’ll have a chance to network with other passionate members of this community.
Notes about this interactive hybrid event
This event will be held live online and on campus. Upon registration, all registrants will receive a Zoom link and directions to the event. Registrants can choose to join either online or on-campus freely.
– If you are joining online: Please try to have earphones, a microphone and/or a webcam ready
– If you are joining on-campus: Directions to the event will be included in the email.
Please arrive at the event location at least 10 minutes before the seminar begins.
Tim Romero is a Partner at JERA Ventures and host of the Disrupting Japan podcast. Tim is deeply involved in Japan’s startup community as an investor, founder, author and educator, and he has founded several startups in Japan over the past 30 years. Tim has also taught entrepreneurship and corporate innovation at New York University’s Tokyo campus, led Google for Startups Japan, and worked with TEPCO and other Japanese enterprises on startup investment and innovation strategy.
Disrupting Japan Podcast: https://www.disruptingjapan.com/ Detailed bio: https://www.disruptingjapan.com/tim/
Reiji Yamanaka is managing director of KIBOW Impact Investment Fund for social impact startups. He also manages the G-STARTUP Fund, G-GROWTH Fund, and G-CHALLENGE Fund to expand the GLOBIS entrepreneurial ecosystem. As a GLOBIS University faculty member, he teaches entrepreneurship and venture-related courses at GLOBIS.
Prior to GLOBIS, Reiji started his career at Canon, gained experience in business development at two healthcare startups, and worked for GLOBIS Capital Partners as a venture capitalist.
Reiji holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School along with a BA in Economics from Hitotsubashi University.
Kelvin is the program director of English MBA programs at GLOBIS University, where he oversees and manages the English MBA programs. He is also a member of the University’s executive committee. As a faculty member, he teaches courses in technology and analytics. He is the lead faculty for the course, AI and Data Science.
Prior to joining GLOBIS, Kelvin spent more than 8 years at Toshiba Corporation, a Japanese conglomerate. He started his career as a software engineer and was the lead engineer for Toshiba PC’s flagship image-enhancement technology, Resolution+. Kelvin was also a key member of the team that developed 3D multimedia solutions, including the world’s first glassless 3D laptop, the Qosmio F750. After completing his MBA online, he moved into product planning and marketing as a product manager for Toshiba’s Canvio brand of storage products.
Kelvin holds a first-class honours bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Nanyang Technological University and an MBA from IE Business School, where he was awarded a place on the Dean’s List.
