TDK Ventures

Ankur Saxena is a corporate investor specializing in AI and infrastructure, leading a thick-edge AI/next-generation compute thesis, sits on EdgeCortix's board, and was a 2023 Global Corporate Venturing Emerging Leader.

Ravi Jain, Investment Director expanding India hardware and deep‑tech, bridges a Japan‑headquartered firm and India's ecosystem, bringing engineering and operating experience to drive technical space and launch theses with targets.

David Delfassy is an aerospace engineer-turned-VC based in London who leads a dedicated decarbonization fund, bridging European deeptech with a Japan-headquartered corporate venture platform, and sits on Rodatherm Energy's board.

Henry Huang, Ph.D., combines deep technical research expertise and a dual corporate venture background, evaluating compute, connectivity, and semiconductor technologies while frequently publishing detailed first-person theses on system architecture.

Siddharth Mehta, India‑based investment director, focuses on deep‑tech mobility, agritech and climate, links Indian universities to global tech, and uses hands‑on, user‑centred operational analysis with end users like horticulture farmers.

Anu Rajan is a management consultant with a background in mechanical engineering and experience in the automotive and energy sectors. At TDK Ventures she focuses on working with startups at the intersection of mobility and clean energy. She grew up in Mumbai.

Artem Khobnya is an Efficiency and AI Intern at TDK Ventures, where he develops AI-driven tools and systems to optimize processes and workflows. He holds an MEng and a PhD in Materials Science and Electrochemistry from Imperial College London.

Bhakti Goratela is a Financial Analyst at TDK Ventures, where she supports portfolio companies with their financial objectives. She previously worked as a Renewable Energy Associate at JP Morgan Chase, managing and evaluating energy portfolios. She holds an MS in Finance from the University of Illinois Chicago and is a Chartered Accountant certified by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

Bill Graves is General Counsel at TDK Ventures, where he handles legal matters including compliance, investments, and fund formation, and supports portfolio companies with legal strategy, training, and service-provider introductions. He previously spent over 20 years advising early-stage businesses and venture capital groups, including 17-plus years as Managing Partner at M&H LLP in Menlo Park practicing corporate law focused on governance, venture capital, and M&A, and earlier worked as a corporate securities attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He holds a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado.

Candice Chou supports TDK Ventures' investment work in connectivity and computing, concentrating on AI hardware infrastructure. She previously spent five years at Boston Consulting Group in Taipei, advising semiconductor and electronics clients on portfolio strategy, AI hardware investment, and compound semiconductor assessments, and earlier interned in early-stage venture capital and at a tech startup CEO's office. She is an MBA candidate at Harvard Business School (Class of 2027) and holds a dual bachelor's degree in Finance and Business Administration from National Chengchi University in Taiwan.

Catherine Tea is an MBA candidate at Harvard Business School. She previously spent five years as a robotics engineer at Dow Chemical in Houston, Texas, where she worked on sourcing, piloting, and implementing robotics solutions for inspecting and maintaining industrial assets and process equipment, and contributed to Dow's robotics roadmap. She holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

Dante Zakhidov is an Investment Analyst at TDK Ventures who focuses on advanced materials for semiconductor, photonic, quantum, and energy technologies. He previously worked as an application engineer at Sila Nanotechnologies developing and scaling battery materials, and before that served in the Office of the CTO at Applied Materials on technical strategy for photonic and quantum markets. He holds a Bachelor's in Chemistry from Rice University and a Doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University, and is a published author with 14 papers and a patent.

Handan Özgöcen is an Investment Analyst at TDK Ventures focused on deep tech that spans hardware and software. Before joining the firm, she delivered enterprise transformation programs at Accenture for industrial clients and later built AI-native platforms and agents for businesses, with earlier roles at Siemens, Siemens Energy, and Bosch. She holds a Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering and a Master's in Mechanical Engineering and Management from the Technical University of Munich.

Jeanette Hill is Executive Assistant to the President at TDK Ventures, with over 20 years of experience providing executive support to business leaders. She has previously worked at companies including Databricks, Palo Alto Networks, Veritas, GE, and VMware.

Joan Benasa is a Human Resources Analyst at TDK Ventures, where she works across Human Resources, Finance/Accounting, and Administration. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a Human Resource Management concentration from San Jose State University, and previously worked at TDK before joining TDK Ventures.

Jonas Höning joined TDK Ventures from the M&A team at TDK Electronics in Munich, where he worked on evaluating strategic acquisitions after joining TDK in 2023. He completed the EU TCDP T130 leadership development program and holds a degree in Management & Technology from the Technical University of Munich.

Luca Zheng has 17 years of experience in semiconductor product marketing, working on commercializing hardware and software systems from incubation to mass market, with a focus on Edge AI, Fabless IC Design (UWB/BLE/SOC), and Industrial IoT. He leads product strategy at TDK SensEI, overseeing the roadmap for industrial sensing platforms that integrate Edge AI and on-premise SLM/agents for predictive maintenance. He holds a joint master's degree in Micro and Nanotechnologies for Integrated Systems from EPFL, Politecnico di Torino, and Ecole Polytechnique de Grenoble.

Maggie Holland is a Financial Analyst at TDK Ventures, where she supports the finance and investment teams with accounting, financial diligence, analysis, and valuation work across the investment lifecycle. She previously worked as a Senior Financial Analyst at Meta, managing budgets and building data models and analytics tools. She graduated from New York University.

Marc Bouchet is Chief of Staff at Amperesand, a company focused on power access infrastructure for AI and electrification applications.

Maryanne Liu is an Investment Analyst at TDK Ventures with a background in business analytics and venture capital. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Analytics from George Washington University and began her career as an Investment Analyst at Pegasus Tech Ventures. Her prior experience includes roles at PwC's Financial Services Group, Industrials Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley, and early-stage application software investing at Battery Ventures.

Nicolas Sauvage personally founded and evolved from Managing Director to President of a global corporate venture platform at TDK Corporation, emphasizing decision-quality hiring with multi-step tests of thinking under uncertainty.

Patrícia Correia is a Team Assistant at TDK Ventures, where she provides administrative and project management support and manages operations at the Boston office. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science with a minor in Psychology from Bridgewater State University and a Master's degree in Project Management from Boston University.

Qianran (Katherine) He is a Senior Investment Associate at TDK Ventures, a $500M AUM firm investing in fundamental sciences and cleantech. She holds a Ph.D. in materials science and previously worked as a battery engineer before transitioning to energy and climate venture capital. He is founder and community leader of BatteryStreet.org and co-founder of BatteryBits.com.

Raphel Finelli is the Marketing Principal at TDK Ventures, where he advises portfolio companies on developing their marketing programs. Before joining the firm, he held roles at technology companies including Telenav, Huawei Technologies, Veritas Technologies LLC, and Magellan GPS/MiTAC Digital Corporation, focusing on PR, corporate communications, crisis communications, social media, and PR agency management. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from Santa Clara University.

Robert Porter is the CFO and Financial Principal at TDK Ventures. He has more than 25 years of accounting and finance experience across industries including manufacturing, banking, gaming, retail, and venture capital, with responsibilities spanning IT, internal and external audit, compliance, benefits, system implementations, financial analysis and reporting, and inventory and fixed asset management. In his role he helps entrepreneurs and portfolio companies access non-dilutive financing, credit lines, SBIR and other government grants, and finance-related support.

Shraya Sapru is a chemical engineer (B.Tech., NITK Surathkal) with over six years of experience spanning consulting, technical sales, and strategic communications, now working at TDK Ventures. She was previously a Senior Consultant at Samagra, India's governance consulting firm, where she led an education program with the Government of Haryana across 6,000+ public schools and launched the Sushasan governance podcast. Earlier, she held a techno-commercial role at ExxonMobil, managing clients in the plastics packaging ecosystem and developing agricultural film solutions and go-to-market strategy.

Starry Wang is a communications associate at TDK Ventures, having joined in 2022 as the second fellow in the firm's fellowship program. She focuses on building networks that align with the firm's portfolio companies and strategic goals, and supports TDK Ventures events such as Energy Week, DX Week, and 100X. Before this role she spent about 20 years at TDK in the manufacturing industry, holding positions including Head of Logistics, Head of Supply Chain, and Head of Strategic Planning, and holds a Master's Degree in Finance from Nankai University in China.

Syboney Caballero is a Team Assistant at TDK Ventures, supporting day-to-day operations, office management, and event execution. She has a background in hospitality and operations and coordinates work across international offices. She is a graduate of San Jose State University.

Taira Mashimo is a software and electrical engineer focused on sensor-driven applications and edge AI systems, with work spanning motion data processing, gesture recognition, and human–computer interfaces. He previously worked on battery management at TDK and EV battery control systems at Nissan. At TDK Ventures, he supports investment efforts in robotics and physical AI.

Tina Tosukhowong is a cleantech investor with nearly 20 years' operating experience in batteries, offering a practitioner's perspective on manufacturability and supply chains; she champions sodium‑ion and authors engineering‑roadmap theses.

Valentin Antoine is an Investment Analyst at TDK Ventures, where he works with founders in robotics and advanced manufacturing. Before joining the firm, he was an Investment Analyst at Safran's venture capital arm in Paris covering aerospace and defense startups, and later worked on Tesla's Supercharger team designing and overseeing station installations. He holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and an MS in Engineering from CentraleSupélec, with prior research in piezoelectric MEMS energy harvesting and lithium-ion battery health.

Vasan Churchill SC is an Investment Analyst at TDK Ventures, where he focuses on digital transformation and the industrial sector. He previously co-founded a robotic additive manufacturing software company, leading business development, and earlier worked as a senior scientist at RISE in Sweden and at GE Global Research in India across wind and aviation domains. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware and has two granted patents in wind turbine blades.