Ivo’s love of complex dynamical systems took him from foundational machine learning research to wondering how to establish and grow a value-driven tech venture. He is now obsessed with assembling the perfect team to deliver a long lasting impact to Braid’s clients and humanity at large.

Before Braid, he agreed to act as principal lecturer of AI2 (U. Cambridge) at the age of 25 and accepted the invitation to become the CTO of a self-driving car startup at the age of 29 to lead a team of around 60 engineers. He has an Erdős number of 5.

Guido has been always driven by the search for novel directions in his scientific career. He is attracted by the possibilities of interaction arising from the combination of the human creativity aspect of design and the rigour of hard sciences. He thinks that this combination will unlock a whole new realm of possibilities and change the future of design.

Previous to his work in industry, he was an academic researcher and has more than 15 years of experience as computational theoretical physicist working with some of the largest supercomputers in the world in a quest to better understand the early stages of our universe.

Paul joined Recruit Co., Ltd. in 1997 and co-led digital business building and corporate venture capital investing efforts. While there he was also a founding member of Medioport (an online golf reservation site) – subsequently sold to Rakuten in 2002.

He joined McKinsey & Company's Tokyo Office in 2002, was elected Partner in 2007 and Senior Partner in 2014. After leading McKinsey & Company's Asia Pacific Marketing & Sales Practice from 2011 to 2017 Paul was the Leader of McKinsey & Company's Consumer & Retail Practice and Managing Partner of QuantumBlack Japan from 2018 until February 2021.

Paul joined Incubate Fund as a General Partner in March 2021.

“Braid Technologies has the potential to fundamentally change the future of design across many diverse fields - I am excited to join the Board to support the Braid team on that journey.”

Akio Tanaka is Partner at the global venture capital firm Headline based out of the Asia office. His focus is Fintech, Consumer Internet, SaaS and Blockchain. He is also partner at Infinity Ventures Crypto, a leading seed stage crypto investor in Asia.

He was formerly the head of venture investment program for Adobe in Asia and was responsible for Adobe's corporate venture investment in Greater China, Japan, and India. Previous to Adobe, He held the position of CTO for Macromedia Japan working as part of the local management team as well as the position of Technology Advisor to the CEO.

“Braid's cutting-edge AI simulation technology is set to revolutionize advanced manufacturing industries, and I'm excited to join the Board to support their journey towards creating a more innovative future.”

Shri Dodani is a veteran executive in the deep tech and communications industries. He is currently the founder of GHOVC, a venture capital firm focused on investing in high growth deep tech companies in Japan.

Shri was the president & CEO at StrataLight (now part of Lumentum), VxTel, a software start-up (acquired by Intel). Shri was the vice president of Engineering and Operations, at Carrier Access Corp. (IPO: CACS and now part of Dell). He also served as an executive with major companies such as Nortel and Alcatel/Nokia. He has a B.S. in Physics and Math, M.S. in Computer Science and MS in Business Administration.

“In the emerging era of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), there is a pressing need for automated tools to improve engineering productivity to design innovative physical products, especially given the constraints of new materials and limited engineering expertise. We believe that Braid's approach to design automation, which integrates principles of physics, material sciences, computational mathematics, and constraint management, will be indispensable in this new landscape.”

Simon has 24 years of experience in financial markets culminating in a senior corporate finance role at Macquarie Capital. Previously he was with Deutsche Bank, where he held senior positions in investment banking in Asia Pacific, was the Head of Corporate Finance for Japan, and finally Co-Heading Corporate Finance for APAC.

Currently he dedicates his time to personal projects across real estate as well as angel investing in startups focusing primarily in the renewable energy and tech spaces in Asia, Australia and the UK.

“Since the initial stages, it was a very rewarding process iterating through the vision for Braid. I believe it could be a one in a million company and if I can help make that a reality, then it will probably be the highlight of my career.”

Yuki has a long term fascination with the startup world; he advised more than 30 startups and venture capital funds and invested in more than 50 startups, including some unicorns. Currently he is the Managing Director of the Techstars Japan Accelerator.

Previously, Yuki worked in the US, UK, Canada, UAE and Japan. He worked at Bain & Company as a management consultant and top global law firms such as Davis Polk as a lawyer. He was involved in more than 50 billion USD worth in corporate transactions and represented more than 100 clients around the world, from Fortune Global 500 companies to global private equity firms, from venture capitals to startups. He is a NY state attorney and a foreign registered lawyer (gaiben) in Japan.

“The revolutionary vision Braid is pursuing takes bravery, commitment and patience. I have full faith in the brilliant founders and amazing team of Braid to transform the $100 trillion manufacturing industries and beyond.“

As a laureate of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, Kazuyo Sejima redefined the concept of architecture by creating fluidity and continuity between a building and its surroundings and enabling a seamless landscape.

Kazuyo's functional and aesthetic architectural designs are a culmination of her assiduous pursuit to refine and explore numerous design possibilities and perspectives. The effortless intersection of functionality, ergonomics and aesthetics is an ideal shared by Braid, both regarding the final designs as well as in the design process itself. Together, we are committed to work towards a sustainable society through better design.

“I think interaction between people and artificial intelligence will create a new type of design process, and a different understanding of space, material and our environment.“

At the age of 19, Justin Waldron co-founded Zynga pioneering the era of online social games. Justin led Zynga's growth as the Senior Vice President of Product through the $1 billion IPO in 2011. He is currently on a similar mission as the president / co-founder of a unicorn gaming company in Japan.

As a seasoned entrepreneur, an avid angel investor and advisor to many successful startups, Justin can provide first hand insights on the journey of building an innovation focused startup. We hope to leverage his experience to guide Braid towards global expansion and scalability.

“Braid's artificial intelligence doesn't just design better products – it designs a better future.”

Throughout his 34-year career, André Andonian founded and led McKinsey & Company's Advanced Industries sector globally, was the Managing Partner of McKinsey Japan and Korea and was a long-term member of McKinsey’s Global Board of Directors. He advised clients in the advanced electronics, automotive, aerospace, high tech and biotech industries. He is currently an independent member of various boards including semiconductor giant Analog Devices and at the Health & Sports Sciences Department of the Technical University of Munich.

André's knowledge, expertise and experience will help guide Braid towards solving the right problems at the right time and propel us as a global leader in the future of advanced engineering design.

"Braid has the potential to revolutionize the design of future products and services by incorporating scientific, engineering, and human dimensions with the application of the latest AI technologies."