About
Dennis has a 15-year track record working across corporate innovation and technology venturing in Silicon Valley and beyond. Dennis currently serves as Managing Partner and is part of the founding team at Zeon Ventures, a corporate venture capital firm investing across sustainability, energy transition, augmented intelligence and human health. Prior to joining Zeon, Dennis was at Honda for close to a decade spearheading the company's corporate venturing and strategic alliance activities. While at Honda, Dennis co-founded Honda Xcelerator an open innovation and corporate venturing unit that generated 40+ startup collaborations, numerous strategic investments, one acquisition by Honda, and a solid pipeline of commercial deployments in consumer mobility products. Before joining Honda, Dennis worked at DEFTA Partners, a boutique venture capital firm, building bridges between technology upstarts in Silicon Valley and multinational corporations in Asia. Earlier in his career, Dennis spent ei…
Experience
Investment Director
Zeon Ventures · Menlo Park, CA
Zeon Ventures invests in early stage startups developing technologies to make life on earth more sustainable, healthy and prosperous for all. Zeon Ventures portfolio companies include: Aether Fuels, AM Batteries, Amogy, Chemify, CENS Materials, Coreshell, Glyphic Bio, Inkbit, Mitra Chem, Syzygy Plasmonics, Solestial, TypeOne Energy, Verdagy, Vivtex, and Visolis. Zeon Ventures is the venture capital arm of Zeon Corporation.
Senior Managing Director, Corporate Venturing and Open Innovation
Honda Xcelerator Ventures · Mountain View, California
* Led global team to source and execute equity investments, strategic partnerships, and M&A transactions in collaboration with Honda corporate headquarters and regional business units. Representative deals included minority investments in Helm AI , Modal, SES, and SoundHound. * Directed the global operation of Honda Xcelerator, an open innovation program to facilitate collaboration with early-stage startups and Honda business units. * Supported internal venture-building and incubation activities.
Managing Director, Strategic Venture Partnerships (Honda Innnovations)
Honda Innovations (Honda R&D Innovations, Inc.) · Mountain View, California
Honda Innovations drives transformative collaboration within all areas of Honda by partnering with innovators of all shapes and sizes from startups to global brands to create cutting edge products and services. Honda Innovations is based in Silicon Valley and operates globally. * Spearheaded Honda's open innovation initiatives and strategic alliances with early stage startups, venture capital firms, and technology innovators in tech hubs globally. * Established and scaled globally distributed team to identify and evaluate emerging technology partners that align with Honda objectives for strategic partnerships, investments, and pilots/POCs. * Set strategic direction for Honda Xcelerator, an open innovation program to facilitate collaboration between early stage startups and Honda product teams.
Strategic Alliance Liaison (Honda Silicon Valley Lab)
Honda Innovations · Mountain View, California
Honda Silicon Valley Lab (HSVL) is the open innovation arm for Honda's global R&D operations. HSVL serves as the catalyst to accelerate Honda’s global information technology (IT) research and development (R&D). * Identified innovative startups for strategic investment and partnership opportunities. * Managed all aspects of the partnership cycle: due diligence, alignment, negotiation of agreements, and transfer to product group. * Formulated and executed open innovation initiatives and established Honda Xcelerator to drive collaboration with external innovators. * Built and maintained win-win relationships between Honda and a variety of corporate ecosystem partners.
Associate
Defta Partners · San Francisco
DEFTA Partners is a boutique venture capital firm that invests in and nurtures early-stage IT start-up companies in the U.S., Japan, and emerging markets. * Supported fund management, operations and investor reporting for 3 early stage VC funds. * Conducted research and due diligence to identify potential investment opportunities. * Performed market research and helped to support firm's portfolio companies in the US and Japan. * Assisted Group Chairman and Director with business development and fundraising projects.
Graduate Research Fellow
Kumamoto Gakuen University (Japan) · Kumamoto, Japan / Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Conducted research on IT driven social innovation initiatives in S.E. Asia. • Led impact study on Better Factories in Cambodia, publishing policy recommendations. • Completed M.A. in development economics at Kumamoto Gakuen University. • Developed skills in field surveys, research, and policy analysis.
Administration and Finance Officer
UNESCO · Nagoya, Aichi, Japan / Paris, France
Consultant position for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to establish and operate the United Nations Pavilion at EXPO 2005. • Served as a liaison between UNESCO HQ and local staff, corporate sponsors, and Expo officials. • Co-managed 50 local staff and volunteers and helped to produce over 30 successful public events. • Negotiated agreements and maintained relationships with vendors. • Maintained accounts and payroll for the United Nations Pavilion at EXPO 2005 Aichi.
Corporate Actions Team
Citi · Tokyo, Japan
NikkoCititrust is a subsidiary of Citigroup established in Japan to provide trustee and custodial services to a broad range of institutional investors, including pension fund and investment trust managers. • Supported major project to reorganize and restructure Operations Department • Led project to design and implement MIS reporting system for Global Transaction Services • Served on Corporate Actions Team
Education
Kumamoto Gakuen University
M.A., Development Economics
Stetson University
B.B.A., Finance
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