Yamaha Motor Ventures

Keita Nakanishi is the CEO of Yamaha Motor Ventures and serves on its Board of Directors and Investment Committee. He spent over 25 years at Yamaha Motor, most recently as Senior General Manager of the Automotive Development Section within the Technical Research & Development Center, with a focus on automotive engine systems, propulsion, and alternative fuels. At the firm he acts as a link between startups and Yamaha's business units and R&D divisions.

George Kellerman is President, Asia Pacific at Phoenix Tailings, where he focuses on rare earth supply chain development. He has experience in strategy, operations, business development, and market expansion in the United States and Asia, with fluency in Japanese.

Dan Barth is a Principal at Yamaha Motor Ventures, where he sources and leads investment activities. He previously helped establish the corporate venture arm of Delta Dental of California, leading early- and mid-stage investments and partnerships, and worked on late-stage venture financings at Robertson Stephens after starting his career at investment bank Roth Capital Partners. He holds a degree in Economics from DePauw University.

Rebecca Woodcock is a former founder and long-time investor in health technology with nine years of investment experience and five years of board service. She previously served as Investment Principal at Yamaha Motors Ventures and Venture Partner at 500 Startups, where she led over 40 health tech investments across digital health, insurance, care delivery, and therapeutics. Woodcock founded CakeHealth, which exited in 2015 after raising venture capital to develop healthcare expense tracking tools, and has mentored approximately 1,000 entrepreneurs globally on fundraising and go-to-market strategy.

Ryan McCrackan is a Principal at Yamaha Motor Ventures, where he identifies and evaluates investment opportunities in emerging technology startups, focusing on digital healthcare and wellness. He previously served as Senior Manager of Corporate Development at Carbon Health, leading its M&A strategy, and worked in investment banking at Cain Brothers and Prairie Capital Advisors, as well as analyst roles at CB3 Financial Group and Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. He holds a BS in Business from Miami University (Ohio) and an MS in Finance from DePaul University, and is a CFA Charterholder.

Yuta Ando is a principal robotics engineer at Yamaha Motor Ventures, where he works on connecting business units with startups and provides engineering support to portfolio companies. He previously worked as a senior software engineer in Yamaha Motor's robotics division, focusing on collaborative robot development.

Anish Patel is a Partner at Yamaha Motor Ventures, serving as Chief Investment Officer and Chief Operating Officer. He was previously General Partner at Blue Victor Capital, a mobility-focused venture fund, Senior Investment Director at SAIC Capital, and Investment Manager at General Motors Ventures. He holds degrees in Finance and Economics from Michigan State University.

Junko Van Norman is Chief of Staff at Yamaha Motor Ventures, supporting the firm's leadership team. She first joined in July 2019 as an Executive Administrator and rejoined in March 2022, bringing administrative and operational experience from supporting executives at retail and high-tech companies as well as government officials. She studied fine art at Waubonsee Community College and graphic art at Cal State East Bay, and completed apprenticeship training in the makeup/wig and costume departments at San Francisco Opera.

Senior mechanical engineer at Yamaha Motor Ventures providing engineering support to portfolio companies. Previously worked at Yamaha Motor as a scooter body design engineer and earlier as a CAE engineer supporting structural design. Holds a master's in mechanical system engineering from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.

Qing Wang is Chief Financial Officer at Yamaha Motor Ventures. She previously served as Corporate Controller at Movella Inc. and as Controller at Legacy Venture, and began her career as an auditor at Ernst & Young working with financial services clients. She is a certified public accountant and holds an MS in Accounting/MBA from Northeastern University.

Ray Abbiatici is a Senior Associate at Yamaha Motor Ventures, where he identifies and evaluates investment opportunities in emerging technology startups. He previously worked as an Investment Associate at BASF Venture Capital, assessing deals in clean energy, membrane technologies, mining, and AI/ML for materials discovery and industrial optimization, and earlier served as a licensed professional engineer and design manager on heavy infrastructure projects in the Northeast. He holds a BS in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Bucknell University and an MS in Structural/Earthquake Engineering from UCLA.

Sarah Luchini joined Yamaha Motor Ventures in early 2023 as an Executive Assistant to Anish. She previously held Executive Assistant roles at General Mills and Men's Wearhouse, and began her career in event planning, accumulating over seven years of experience as an Executive Assistant. She holds a degree from California State University, Chico.

Yuzhen Chen is a senior data scientist at Yamaha Motor Ventures, where she provides AI/ML support to portfolio companies. Before this role, she spent seven years at Yamaha Group focused on data analysis across the company's global operations. She holds BS and MS degrees in Power Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology.