DEFTA Partners

Kyoko Watanabe is Managing Director at DEFTA Partners, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage technology and healthcare companies across the US, Japan, and Israel. With over 20 years of venture capital experience, she oversees fund operations and has worked with more than 50 portfolio companies, leveraging prior experience at Go Corporation and in Silicon Valley to advise portfolio companies on expansion into Japan. Watanabe serves on the boards of the San Francisco-Osaka sister city association and the Alliance Forum Foundation, a nonprofit focused on technology innovation in developing countries.

Elona Baum is a Managing Director at DEFTA Partners, where she leads the healthcare technologies fund focused on early-stage investments in therapeutic and digital health innovations. With over 20 years in drug development, she previously held leadership positions at Genentech and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, where she oversaw $1 billion in regenerative medicine investments and managed intellectual property and regulatory matters. She currently serves as a board director for multiple healthcare and biotechnology companies including Endogena, Abilitech, Aegle, BioEclipse, and Orig3n.

Masa Isono is a Principal at DEFTA PARTNERS with 16 years of experience in early-stage venture capital investment across information and communication technology and biotech startups in Silicon Valley, Israel, Japan, and Bangladesh. His work has spanned deal evaluation, structuring, negotiation, and business development, and he has served as interim CEO for portfolio companies, leading business planning, fundraising, and management recruiting in the US and Japan. He has also been involved in cross-border business development across the Pacific Rim, including projects in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.

Masahide Isono is a Principal at DEFTA PARTNERS with 16 years of venture capital investment experience focused on early-stage ICT and biotech companies across Silicon Valley, Israel, Japan, and Bangladesh. His background includes deal evaluation, structuring, negotiation, and portfolio company value creation, as well as interim CEO roles directing business expansion, fundraising, and management recruitment. He has extensive cross-geography business development experience in the Pacific Rim, including corporate partnerships and joint ventures involving Japanese, U.S., and Asian companies across multiple markets.