Hiro Tamura

Founder & CEO

Wathos

New York, NY, USA

Robert Suss

Pictet Wealth Management

Bruce Taub

The Principal Post

Hiro Tamura’s Biography

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Hiro Tamura is a highly regarded founder, board member and tech investor, with over two decades of experience investing in and advising high-growth private technology companies.

In 2022, Hiro founded investment firm, Wathos, where he also serves as Chief Executive Officer. Wathos specializes in advisory services and investments in pre-IPO, high-growth technology companies.

Hiro has served in numerous executive roles throughout his career. At venture capital firm, Atomico, Hiro served as General Partner and led the firm’s investment strategy, negotiations, acquisitions and internal processes. Prior to Atomico, he co-founded and served as CIO of SP&W, a Tokyo-based principal investment and financial advisory firm. Concurrently, Hiro founded Triple Junction, a technology consultancy firm. As CEO of Triple Junction, he advised leading technology companies on global strategic initiatives. Notably, Hiro was integral in developing strategies that helped Skype grow its business in Japan and the Asia Pacific region.

Hiro’s early career included time as Director at IRG Ltd., a Pan-Asian... Hiro Tamura is a highly regarded founder, board member and tech investor, with over two decades of experience investing in and advising high-growth private technology companies.

In 2022, Hiro founded investment firm, Wathos, where he also serves as Chief Executive Officer. Wathos specializes in advisory services and investments in pre-IPO, high-growth technology companies.

Hiro has served in numerous executive roles throughout his career. At venture capital firm, Atomico, Hiro served as General Partner and led the firm’s investment strategy, negotiations, acquisitions and internal processes. Prior to Atomico, he co-founded and served as CIO of SP&W, a Tokyo-based principal investment and financial advisory firm. Concurrently, Hiro founded Triple Junction, a technology consultancy firm. As CEO of Triple Junction, he advised leading technology companies on global strategic initiatives. Notably, Hiro was integral in developing strategies that helped Skype grow its business in Japan and the Asia Pacific region.

Hiro’s early career included time as Director at IRG Ltd., a Pan-Asian investment bank focused on investments in the technology, media, and telecommunications space. Prior to IRG, Hiro worked in worked in International Equity Research Sales at Lehman Brothers in New York. Notably, during his time at Lehman, he was involved in the sale of Pacific Internet, the first Asian Internet company to list on NASDAQ.

Hiro has served as a board member for many of his firms’ investments globally, offering his expertise in the technology sector and on global strategic growth initiatives. Notable companies include MasterClass, Gympass, Compass, Clutter, MessageBird, Framer, SmartNews, Quid and more. Hiro currently serves as a board member for Endeavor, a nonprofit whose mission is to build thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging and underserved markets around the globe.

Hiro earned a BA in Economics & International Studies from Northwestern University. more less

Hiro Tamura’s Background

Wathos

Founder & CEO

2022 - Present

New York, NY, USA

Wathos is an advisory services and investment firm specializing in pre-IPO technology companies.

Atomico

General Partner

2007 - 2022

London, UK

Atomico is a European Venture Capital firm headquartered in London, with offices in Paris and Stockholm.

SP&W Co.

Co-Founder & Managing Director

2004 - 2008

Tokyo, JP

SP&W Co. was a financial services and advisory firm. It specialized in alternative and special-situation financing opportunities in Japan.

Triple Junction Co.

Founder & CEO

2004 - 2008

Tokyo, JP

Triple Junction Co. was a technology consulting firm focused on market entry of global companies into Japan / APAC. Key clients included Skype, eBay, eHarmony and Joost.

IRG Ltd.

Director

2000 - 2004

Tokyo, JP

IRG Ltd. was the first pan-Asian technology, media and telecom-focused investment platform, with offices in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and Seoul.

Lehman Brothers

Associate

1996 - 2000

New York, NY, USA

Lehman Brothers was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. The firm Primarily did business in investment banking, equity, fixed-income research, investment management, private equity and private banking.

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Board Positions

Endeavor

Board of Directors

Jan 2017 - Present

New York, NY, USA

Endeavor is the leading global community of, by, and for high-impact entrepreneurs. Its mission is to build thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging and underserved markets around the world.

Previous Board Positions

Aiven

Board Observer

2021 - 2022

Helsinki, FI

Aiven offers a fully managed, open source cloud data platform that enables customers to drive business results from open source data technologies that trigger true transformations on a global scale.

Infarm

Board of Directors

2019 - 2022

Berlin, DE

Infarm's advanced farming system decouples food production from negative impacts on the planet's ecosystems and sets a foundation for a more sustainable, efficient and environmentally friendly food system.

Scoutbee

Board of Directors

2019 - 2022

Berlin, DE

Scoutbee’s market-leading supplier intelligence & discovery platform empowers procurement professionals to enhance their master data, make better sourcing decisions, and find and onboard new suppliers across the world.

Streetbees

Board of Directors

2019 - 2022

London, UK

Streetbees helps clients address their strategic objectives, and through its platform, helps clients uncover the most authentic customer insights.

Framer

Board of Directors

2018 - 2022

Amsterdam, NL

Framer is a website building platform that helps individuals design and publish websites, offering easy-to-use interactive design tools.

Clutter

Board of Directors

2017 - 2022

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Clutter is a one-stop-shop for all moving and storage needs. Its state-of-the-art technology enables allows it to provide the most affordable, flexible and reliable service nationally. Hiro Tamura sat on their Board for five years.

MessageBird

Board of Directors

2017 - 2022

Amsterdam, NL

MessageBird is an omnichannel automation platform offering application software and APIs to automate and personalize every touchpoint with customers across SMS, Voice and Whatsapp.

Gympass

Board of Directors

2015 - 2022

New York, NY, USA

Gympass is a complete corporate wellbeing platform that ignites every journey toward wellness, while making that journey more engaging and accessible.

Smartnews

Board Observer

2015 - 2019

Tokyo, JP

SmartNews helps individuals find quality news sources that offer reliability while filtering out the media bubble.

Quid

Board of Directors

2012 - 2019

San Francisco, CA, USA

Quid's platform uses advanced artificial intelligence to process billions of indexed resources across all forms of structured and unstructured data, empowering brand, agency, and consulting services customers to make smart, data-driven decisions accurately, quickly and efficiently.

Gengo

Board Member

2012 - 2019

Tokyo, JP

Gengo's intuitive translation platform allows companies of any size to order cost-efficient translations from professional translators. Hiro Tamura previously served on the Board of Directors.

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Previous Advisory Roles

Skype

Senior Advisor

2005 - 2008

London, UK

Skype is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls.

Hiro Tamura’s Education

Northwestern University

BA | Economics & International Studies

1992 - 1996

Hiro Tamura

Founder & CEO

Wathos

New York, NY, USA

Hiro Tamura’s Biography

Hiro Tamura’s Background

Board Positions

Previous Board Positions

Previous Advisory Roles

Hiro Tamura’s Education

Company

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