Don’t Wait - Dioseve CEO Kazuma Kishida’s advice for Japanese founders
On September 3, Pangaea Ventures and Hakuhodo DY Holdings hosted Bridging Worlds, a side event at the TECHNIUM Global Conference in Shibuya, Tokyo. About 100 corporate partners, investors and founders came for a panel with Pangaea Partner Janelle Goulard and Kazuma Kishida, CEO of Dioseve, and moderated by Renita Kalhorn.
The panel followed opening remarks by Hiroyuki Miyai, Head of Industrial Architecture Office at Hakuhodo DY Holdings and Pangaea Partner Andrew Haughian.
It was an insightful bilingual conversation between two individuals who share a passion for hard tech.
For those who couldn’t make it, here’s some of the top takeaways from Kishida san.
A hepatitis C diagnosis shaped how he thinks about pharma
Kishida was diagnosed with hepatitis C in high school. Back then, the standard treatment cured fewer than half of patients and came with rough side effects. Years later, a new drug cured him completely, no side effects. That's the moment he says he understood what pharmaceuticals can actually do for a patient's life. It's an understanding he carried into starting Dioseve.
He found his co-founder through mission, not technical fit
A venture capital connection introduced Kishida to Dr. Hamazaki. What clicked wasn’t shared scientific expertise, but rather a shared mission. The partnership behind Dioseve grew from there.
The science came first. The regulatory advantage came later.
Dioseve's core technology, DIOS-101, uses stem cells to grow support cells that help mature a patient's egg outside the body before it's used in IVF. The stem cells never touch the patient; the whole process happens in the lab. Kishida built the science before he understood its regulatory implications, that working on the egg outside the patient rather than inside her changes the approval path.
Go global early
Kishida's advice to Japan's hard tech founders: don't wait. Hard tech doesn't need cultural translation the way consumer products do, so build for global scale from day one instead of starting domestic and expanding later.
Judge pilots on what they build
His message to the corporates in the room: treat proof-of-concept work with startups as long-term IP-building, not a pass/fail test. A single short-term result doesn't tell you whether a collaboration is worth continuing.
The panel followed opening remarks by Hiroyuki MIYAI, Ph.D., Head of Industrial Architecture Office at Hakuhodo DY Holdings and Pangaea Partner Andrew Haughian.
A big thanks to all who helped make the event a success including Kandai Yamashita Hakuhodo Open Incubation HAKUHODO KEY3 Hiroyuki MIYAI, Ph.D. Ryo Kikuchi Makiko Kato Takumi Sano Sou Miyake, PhD; and to all those who attended, as well as those who attended Andrew and Janelle's TECHNIUM Global Conference panels.