About
Masa Yamato invests in startups across mobility, climate/sustainability, and industrial innovation and automation. Before TransLink Capital, he served as a Senior Advisor to Toyota Ventures from its 2017 inception, helping establish the firm and raise its funds, and led the investment in Blackmore Sensors (later acquired by Aurora). He was also a Senior Advisor to Toyota Research Institute and previously worked in automotive R&D, production, HR, and corporate strategy at Toyota. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a Master of Engineering Management from Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering, an M.S. in Chemistry from Osaka University, and a B.S. from Michigan State University.
Invests in
Advanced ManufacturingClimate TechMobility & TransportationRobotics
Experience
- Translink CapitalSenior Principalcurrent2021 — presentPalo Alto, California, United States
- Parallel DomainInvestorcurrent2026 — presentSan Francisco, CA
- Next Bharat VenturesAdvisory Board Membercurrent2024 — presentBengaluru, Karnataka, India
- EmpowerlyBoard Observercurrent2024 — presentSan Francisco, California, United States
- MatterBoard Observercurrent2024 — presentAhmedabad, Gujarat, India
- CapturaBoard Observercurrent2024 — presentPasadena, California, United States
- SonatusBoard Membercurrent2023 — presentSunnyvale, California, United States
- REGENTBoard Observercurrent2022 — presentNorth Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States
- MilesBoard Observercurrent2022 — presentRedwood City, California, United States
- Full HarvestInvestorcurrent2022 — presentSan Francisco, California, United States
- Toyota Research InstituteSenior Advisor2020 — 2021San Francisco Bay Area
- Toyota Research InstituteBusiness Development Manager2016 — 2020San Francisco Bay Area
- Toyota VenturesSenior Advisor2020 — 2021San Francisco Bay Area
- Toyota VenturesBusiness Development Manager2017 — 2020San Francisco Bay Area
- Realtime Robotics, Inc.Investor2017 — 2021Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Blackmore Sensors and Analytics, Inc.Investor2017 — 2019Bozeman, Montana, United States
- Toyota Motor North America, Inc.Corporate Manager2015 — 2016mountain view, ca
- Toyota Motor CorporationProject Manager2015Toyota-city
- Toyota Motor CorporationGroup Manager2014 — 2015Toyota-city, Japan
- Toyota Motor CorporationProject Manager2013Toyota-city, Japan
Education
- Northwestern University - Kellogg School of ManagementMMM, Business and Engineering2009 — 2011
- The University of OsakaMaster of Science, Chemistry1997 — 2000
- Michigan State UniversityBS, Chemistry1993 — 1997
Skills & more
R&D12Cross-functional Team Leadership8Management Consulting8Strategy13Leadership17
From Masa's professional profile.
Same school
Also attended Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management521
Jenny LeeSenior Managing Partner at Granite AsiaAndy FligelSenior Managing Director at Intel CapitalDavid Clark GuillermoInvestments at Impact America FundGiuseppe DonvitoPartner at P101 VenturesAntonio TurroniOperating Advisor at P101 VenturesJon TurowVenture Partner at Madrona Venture Group
+ 515 more
Also attended The University of Osaka9
Shinobu SuzukiScientific Advisor at RDiscoveryZheng XuVenture Partner at TSVCRon SalpeterVenture Partner at IL VenturesTomoya YamashikiVenture Partner, Investment at Monozukuri VenturesKen SobajimaVenture Partner at MS&AD VenturesTsuyoshi OkunoInvestor at MC Healthcare Ventures
+ 3 more
Also attended Michigan State University72
Sumant MandalCo-Founder & Managing Partner at March Capital PartnersSteve HoltzmanBio Advisor at Amplify PartnersKevin NovakFounder at Rackhouse Venture Management LpTamara SteffensManaging Director at Thomson Reuters VenturesKevin MorningstarGeneral Partner at Rockies Venture Adviser, LlcTyler AmesEntrepreneur-In-Residence at The Innovation Space
+ 66 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Parallel Domain3
Also worked at Sonatus1
Also worked at Miles2
Also worked at Full Harvest7
Heidi PatelManaging Partner at Rethink ImpactShishir SinhaExecutive Director at Rabo Corporate VenturingPaul StraubCo-Founder, Managing Director at Wireframe VenturesRussell SproleFounder and Managing Partner at Virta VenturesSharon VosmekManaging Director at AstiaJoyo WijayaAngel at Astia
+ 1 more
Investments
Led
Blackmore Sensors
Per the firm's website.
Colleagues at TransLink Capital
Ashley Kim
Sr. Associate at TransLink Capital
Brendan Walsh
Partner at TransLink Capital
Brian Tomogane
Platform Manager at TransLink Capital
Chris You
Sr. Associate at TransLink Capital
Daeki Lee
Investor at TransLink Capital
Darren Huang
Venture Partner at TransLink Capital
Eric Hsia
Managing Director at TransLink Capital
Etone Sun
Associate at TransLink Capital