Directors
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President and Representative Director
Shin Shibata
CTO and Director
Shiro Suzuki
CFO and Director
Kazuharu Watanabe
- After graduated from Hitotsubashi University in 1998, he joined Nissho Iwai Corporation (now as Sojitz Corporation). Then entered the IT investment industry by joining ITX Corporation in 2001 and was responsible for the acquisition of Net Protections, Inc. (Former Net Protections). Soon afterward, he was dispatched to Net Protections, Inc. to build the first zero-risk Buy Now Pay Later service in Japan- NP Atobarai- from scratch. In 2017, he received Entrepreneur Of The Year special prize. He is currently the Executive Committee Chairman of Japan BNPL Association.
- After graduated from the Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1996, he joined Kozo Keikaku Engineering, Inc.. Until he joined TechMatrix Corporation later, he had been engaging with mathematical researching work such as computer systems simulation and financial calculations. In 2002, he participated in the launch project of NP Atobarai in Net Protections, Inc. (Former Net Protections). After that, he assisted in new ventures and overseas business development. Currently, he is committed to promoting the development of data science centered on CreditTech.
- Certified Public Accountant. He joined Asahi & Co. (current KPMG AZSA LLC) and engaged in auditing listed companies and supporting IPOs. After that, he worked at consulting division at New York office of Arthur Andersen and then he was involved in starting up Asahi Arthur Andersen Ltd., a consulting company in Japan with over 600 employees. He served as Management Strategy Group Leader for DISCO Corporation and Director of SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd. prior to joining Net Protections Holdings, Inc in July 2020.
Outside Director
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Outside Director
Ryoji Nagai
Outside Director
Kumi Fujisawa
Outside Director
Yuichi Ejiri
- He started his career at Ricoh Leasing Company, Ltd. in 1990 after graduating from Meiji University with a major in law. After working in financing, services for the nursing care industry, and corporate planning, he took charge of payment services. He was appointed as a director of Net Protections Holdings, Inc. in 2019.
- After working for investment trusts companies in Japan and abroad, she established Japan's first investment trust fund evaluation company in 1995. Then in 1999, she sold the company to Standard & Poor's, one of the major credit rating companies in the world and participated in the establishment of SophiaBank in 2000. In 2007, she was selected as a "Young Global Leader" by the World Economic Forum and visited more than 40 countries around the world. In addition to her public service as a member of deliberative committees of various government ministries and as a public interest board member of the Japan Securities Dealers Association, she also served as a board member of NPOs that address global issues and as an outside director of listed companies such as Shizuoka FG. In April 2022, she was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Institute for Social and Economic Research, an independent think tank of the NEC Group.
- Graduated from the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology and holds a masters degree in philosophy, cosmology and consciousness from the California Institute of Integral Studies. He has started new businesses in Asia and has managed local subsidiaries at Sumitomo Corporation, Sony Corporation, and Rakuten, Inc. Since returning to Japan in 2016, he has engaged in management advisory services for human resource development. He is currently the CEO of Axela Partners Inc. and Yokitomo Inc.
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Outside Director and Member of the Audit and Supervisory Committee
大野 直志
Outside Director and Member of the Audit and Supervisory Committee
Yusuke Ichikawa
Outside Director and Member of the Audit and Supervisory Committee
Yuki Sato
- He started his career at the Development Bank of Japan Inc. (former Japan Development Bank). After working in the international department, Kansai branch, human resources department, project finance department, corporate finance department 2, and the Research Institute of Capital Formation, he was transferred to KDDI Corporation's global business division in April, 2012. After serving as a full-time auditor at KDDI Engineering Corporation and au Jibun Bank Corporation, he has been a director, a member of the audit committee and an auditor of Net Protections, Inc. since January, 2023. Master of Science in Engineering Management from MIT.
- After working for the Industrial Bank of Japan, Limited, he joined Advantage Partners, Inc. in 2003. He was involved in M&A, business investment and PMI for over 20 years. He incorporated M&A as a main strategy at Oishes Co., Ltd. and Nihon Meika Souhonpo Co., Ltd. to design a corporate entity that integrates and operates multiple brands. Also at Advantage Partners, he led industry initiatives related to IT, B2B services, and healthcare, and accumulated industry knowledge. He has also served on the board of directors of Material Group Inc., SPIRAL Inc. and other companies in the same industry.
- Graduated from the Faculty of Law of Hitotsubashi University and the University of Southern California Gould Law School (LL.M.). She is qualified as a Japanese lawyer and New York State attorney. Once worked at a global law firm's Tokyo office. Then she holds the position of Partner of SO & SATO Law Offices since January 2019. Providing advice regarding investment, M&A, financial regulation, and legislation for various startups, she is also the External Director of listed companies.
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Outside Director and Member of the Audit and Supervisory Committee
石井 隆一
- After working for Bridgestone Corporation, he joined Sony Group Corporation in 2000, where he was mainly engaged in IT and digital business. After his assignment to Sony Corporation of America, he became CEO of So-net Taiwan in 2008, President and Representative Director of So-net Inc. (now Sony Network Communications Inc.) in 2014, and President and Representative Director of SMN Corporation, a digital marketing company using AI in 2017. He has become Outside Director of ARC System Works Co, LTD. and established Quantum Leaps Growth Initiative Corporation, a success-based corporate value enhancement support company, and was appointed President and Representative Director in 2023.
Executive Officers
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Executive Officers
Shun Akiyama
Executive Officers
Takashi Yamashita
- After graduated from Keio University, as the first recruitment of the graduates, he entered a talent business startup which had just founded for two years at the time. After assisting in the development of new businesses and establishment of the Kansai branch, joined Net Protections personnel planning team in 2009, as he was determined to "train leaders of the next generation." He worked as the general manager of sales group in 2013. He assisted in introducing payment services to large manufacturers such as apparel, skin care products, and health foods, which increased the turnover of many e-commerce companies. In 2017, he became the managing director. And in the following year, he proposed the innovative personnel assessment program "Natura", abolishing managerial positions. Currently, he engages in both Human Resources & General Affairs Group and Business Development Group.
- After graduating from the Faculty of Economics, Keio University in 1999, he was engaged in R&D in the telecommunications industry, and then he was in charge of supervising development units including in-house service development and launching offshore development as a director of a subsidiary of a digital advertising company. He joined Net Protections, Inc. in 2015. He was responsible for organizational development of the IT department and improvement of NP Atobarai services, and now he is promoting strategies in the areas of personnel and labor management, general affairs, legal affairs, and corporate governance.
External Partner
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Corporate Advisor
Yuzo Arita
Technical Advisor
Yuki Takezawa
- He started his career at Avex, Inc. in 2005. After working in the music production division, he was in charge of the R&D section in the group strategy office, and later served as chief producer of the new business planning group and the digital creative group. In 2018, he established a fintech company within the group and became its president. In 2020, he became independent and founded Thalia Corporation, which provides consulting and marketing support for new business development and content development, and FAVOLIST5 Corporation, which develops and provides a next-generation entertainment platform. He serves as representative director.
- He started his career at Yahoo Japan Corporation in 2014 and engaged in overall improvement activities and quality improvement while being in charge of Android application maintenance and development. He wrote a technical book, and joined Istyle, Inc. in 2015. In 2018, he became CTO, responsible for management, design of application architecture, and design of analytical infrastructure related to big data, stream processing, etc. He is currently Engineering Manager and Principal Engineer at STAR FESTIVAL, INC and mainly responsible for data infrastructure development using Go and Scala, improvement and restructuring of infrastructure areas, management and product development support and data strategy. He is also involved in scalable application development, stream processing, support for reactive systems and microservice architectures, and support for implementing domain-driven design.
Directors
President and Representative Director
Shin Shibata
After graduated from Hitotsubashi University in 1998, he joined Nissho Iwai Corporation (now as Sojitz Corporation). Then entered the IT investment industry by joining ITX Corporation in 2001 and was responsible for the acquisition of Net Protections, Inc. (Former Net Protections). Soon afterward, he was dispatched to Net Protections, Inc. to build the first zero-risk Buy Now Pay Later service in Japan- NP Atobarai- from scratch. In 2017, he received Entrepreneur Of The Year special prize. He is currently the Executive Committee Chairman of Japan BNPL Association.
CTO and Director
Shiro Suzuki
After graduated from the Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1996, he joined Kozo Keikaku Engineering, Inc.. Until he joined TechMatrix Corporation later, he had been engaging with mathematical researching work such as computer systems simulation and financial calculations. In 2002, he participated in the launch project of NP Atobarai in Net Protections, Inc. (Former Net Protections). After that, he assisted in new ventures and overseas business development. Currently, he is committed to promoting the development of data science centered on CreditTech.
CFO and Director
Kazuharu Watanabe
Certified Public Accountant. He joined Asahi & Co. (current KPMG AZSA LLC) and engaged in auditing listed companies and supporting IPOs. After that, he worked at consulting division at New York office of Arthur Andersen and then he was involved in starting up Asahi Arthur Andersen Ltd., a consulting company in Japan with over 600 employees. He served as Management Strategy Group Leader for DISCO Corporation and Director of SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd. prior to joining Net Protections Holdings, Inc in July 2020.
Outside Director
Outside Director
Ryoji Nagai
He started his career at Ricoh Leasing Company, Ltd. in 1990 after graduating from Meiji University with a major in law. After working in financing, services for the nursing care industry, and corporate planning, he took charge of payment services. He was appointed as a director of Net Protections Holdings, Inc. in 2019.
Outside Director
Kumi Fujisawa
After working for investment trusts companies in Japan and abroad, she established Japan's first investment trust fund evaluation company in 1995. Then in 1999, she sold the company to Standard & Poor's, one of the major credit rating companies in the world and participated in the establishment of SophiaBank in 2000. In 2007, she was selected as a "Young Global Leader" by the World Economic Forum and visited more than 40 countries around the world. In addition to her public service as a member of deliberative committees of various government ministries and as a public interest board member of the Japan Securities Dealers Association, she also served as a board member of NPOs that address global issues and as an outside director of listed companies such as Shizuoka FG. In April 2022, she was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Institute for Social and Economic Research, an independent think tank of the NEC Group.
Outside Director
Yuichi Ejiri
Graduated from the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology and holds a masters degree in philosophy, cosmology and consciousness from the California Institute of Integral Studies. He has started new businesses in Asia and has managed local subsidiaries at Sumitomo Corporation, Sony Corporation, and Rakuten, Inc. Since returning to Japan in 2016, he has engaged in management advisory services for human resource development. He is currently the CEO of Axela Partners Inc. and Yokitomo Inc.
Outside Director and Member of the Audit and Supervisory Committee
大野 直志
He started his career at the Development Bank of Japan Inc. (former Japan Development Bank). After working in the international department, Kansai branch, human resources department, project finance department, corporate finance department 2, and the Research Institute of Capital Formation, he was transferred to KDDI Corporation's global business division in April, 2012. After serving as a full-time auditor at KDDI Engineering Corporation and au Jibun Bank Corporation, he has been a director, a member of the audit committee and an auditor of Net Protections, Inc. since January, 2023. Master of Science in Engineering Management from MIT.
Outside Director and Member of the Audit and Supervisory Committee
Yusuke Ichikawa
After working for the Industrial Bank of Japan, Limited, he joined Advantage Partners, Inc. in 2003. He was involved in M&A, business investment and PMI for over 20 years. He incorporated M&A as a main strategy at Oishes Co., Ltd. and Nihon Meika Souhonpo Co., Ltd. to design a corporate entity that integrates and operates multiple brands. Also at Advantage Partners, he led industry initiatives related to IT, B2B services, and healthcare, and accumulated industry knowledge. He has also served on the board of directors of Material Group Inc., SPIRAL Inc. and other companies in the same industry.
Outside Director and Member of the Audit and Supervisory Committee
Yuki Sato
Graduated from the Faculty of Law of Hitotsubashi University and the University of Southern California Gould Law School (LL.M.). She is qualified as a Japanese lawyer and New York State attorney. Once worked at a global law firm's Tokyo office. Then she holds the position of Partner of SO & SATO Law Offices since January 2019. Providing advice regarding investment, M&A, financial regulation, and legislation for various startups, she is also the External Director of listed companies.
Outside Director and Member of the Audit and Supervisory Committee
石井 隆一
After working for Bridgestone Corporation, he joined Sony Group Corporation in 2000, where he was mainly engaged in IT and digital business. After his assignment to Sony Corporation of America, he became CEO of So-net Taiwan in 2008, President and Representative Director of So-net Inc. (now Sony Network Communications Inc.) in 2014, and President and Representative Director of SMN Corporation, a digital marketing company using AI in 2017. He has become Outside Director of ARC System Works Co, LTD. and established Quantum Leaps Growth Initiative Corporation, a success-based corporate value enhancement support company, and was appointed President and Representative Director in 2023.
Executive Officers
Executive Officers
Shun Akiyama
After graduated from Keio University, as the first recruitment of the graduates, he entered a talent business startup which had just founded for two years at the time. After assisting in the development of new businesses and establishment of the Kansai branch, joined Net Protections personnel planning team in 2009, as he was determined to "train leaders of the next generation." He worked as the general manager of sales group in 2013. He assisted in introducing payment services to large manufacturers such as apparel, skin care products, and health foods, which increased the turnover of many e-commerce companies. In 2017, he became the managing director. And in the following year, he proposed the innovative personnel assessment program "Natura", abolishing managerial positions. Currently, he engages in both Human Resources & General Affairs Group and Business Development Group.
Executive Officers
Takashi Yamashita
After graduating from the Faculty of Economics, Keio University in 1999, he was engaged in R&D in the telecommunications industry, and then he was in charge of supervising development units including in-house service development and launching offshore development as a director of a subsidiary of a digital advertising company. He joined Net Protections, Inc. in 2015. He was responsible for organizational development of the IT department and improvement of NP Atobarai services, and now he is promoting strategies in the areas of personnel and labor management, general affairs, legal affairs, and corporate governance.
External Partner
Corporate Advisor
Yuzo Arita
He started his career at Avex, Inc. in 2005. After working in the music production division, he was in charge of the R&D section in the group strategy office, and later served as chief producer of the new business planning group and the digital creative group. In 2018, he established a fintech company within the group and became its president. In 2020, he became independent and founded Thalia Corporation, which provides consulting and marketing support for new business development and content development, and FAVOLIST5 Corporation, which develops and provides a next-generation entertainment platform. He serves as representative director.
Technical Advisor
Yuki Takezawa
He started his career at Yahoo Japan Corporation in 2014 and engaged in overall improvement activities and quality improvement while being in charge of Android application maintenance and development. He wrote a technical book, and joined Istyle, Inc. in 2015. In 2018, he became CTO, responsible for management, design of application architecture, and design of analytical infrastructure related to big data, stream processing, etc. He is currently Engineering Manager and Principal Engineer at STAR FESTIVAL, INC and mainly responsible for data infrastructure development using Go and Scala, improvement and restructuring of infrastructure areas, management and product development support and data strategy. He is also involved in scalable application development, stream processing, support for reactive systems and microservice architectures, and support for implementing domain-driven design.