Masaru (Mas) Sakamoto

Masaru (Mas) Sakamoto is an Operating Partner at Benhamou Global Ventures (BGV), a venture capital firm focused on enterprise technology startups.1 Here are some key details about his background and experience:

Professional Experience

Sakamoto has been with BGV since 2018, bringing over 36 years of experience in various business roles.12 His areas of expertise include:

• General management
• Sales
• Strategic planning
• Business development
• Corporate venture capital
• Early stage investments and incubation

He has a particular focus on business between the United States and Japan.2

Prior Roles

Before joining BGV, Sakamoto held several executive positions at NEC Corporation, both in Japan and the US.2 Some of his notable achievements include:

• Creating and managing one of the first Japanese incubators in Silicon Valley, which became a Harvard Business School case study
• Serving as Group Vice President of the Solutions Business Group
• Working as Vice President of Corporate Planning & Marketing

Board Positions and Advisory Roles

Sakamoto has served on numerous boards and advisory positions, including:

• Board member for The Enterprise Network (a NASA-funded incubator)
• Board member for The Open Group (a UNIX standardization entity)
• Board member for Vidient Systems and Niteo Partners
• Advisory roles for various startups and Japanese companies
• Mentor at business incubators in both the US and Japan

Education

• Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics from Keio University in Japan
• MBA from Harvard Business School

Current Activities

As an Operating Partner at BGV, Sakamoto is involved in the firm's investments in Enterprise 4.0 startups.1 He also serves as an advisor to several Japanese companies and has been a guest lecturer at universities including Kyoto University, Aoyama Gakuin University, UC Berkeley, and NYU.1

Personal

After spending 24 years in Silicon Valley, Sakamoto currently resides in Southern California, where he focuses on identifying new startup opportunities in the region.1 He is also known to be an avid tennis player.1