Our Team
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The DENSO CVC team is comprised of seasoned professionals with years of experience in the investment community and automotive industry. We are located in the heart of Silicon Valley, just minutes away from the San Jose Airport.
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Tony Cannestra
Director of Corporate Ventures
LinkedIn ProfileCombining his love of cars and more than 20 years of venture capital experience, Tony Cannestra is the Director of Corporate Ventures for DENSO International America (DIAM). Since early 2014, he has led DENSO's Corporate Venture Capital team, and oversees all of DENSO's efforts to identify, invest in and work with startup companies.
Read MoreCombining his love of cars and more than 20 years of venture capital experience, Tony Cannestra is the Director of Corporate Ventures for DENSO International America (DIAM). Since early 2014, he has led DENSO's Corporate Venture Capital team, and oversees all of DENSO's efforts to identify, invest in and work with startup companies.
During his tenure at DENSO, Tony has made 20 startup investments and led a team that completed an acquisition of a startup company. He currently serves as a Board Director for Blaize, Canatu, Dellfer, MetaWave and Quadric, all of which are DENSO portfolio companies. Tony also serves as a Board Observer for several of the startup companies in which DENSO has invested and he continues to assist with DENSO's startup M&A efforts.
Within DENSO's active areas of investment, Tony has focused particularly on computer vision technologies such as advanced radar and LiDAR, next generation semiconductor technologies, micromobility and automotive cybersecurity. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events. He also enjoys judging business plan competitions and is passionate about helping the next generation of entrepreneurs to be successful in the transportation industry.
Prior to joining DENSO, Tony worked as an Independent Consultant helping large Asian corporations with startup technology discovery in Silicon Valley. He also served as Executive Vice President of Ignite Group, a venture capital company based in Silicon Valley.
Tony received a BA in International Economics from the University of California at Berkeley. He also earned an MBA, with a Certificate in Management of Technology, from the University of California at Berkeley. In his free time, Tony enjoys playing golf, bicycle riding (road or mountain), reading, listening to music and watching sports.
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Donna Taylor
Investment Manager, Corporate Ventures
LinkedIn ProfileDonna Taylor is an Investment Manager, Corporate Ventures at DENSO. She is responsible for identifying and investing in startups with cutting-edge technologies that will transform the automotive, mobility and transport industries. While Donna assesses startups on a worldwide basis, she is particularly focused on the EU.
Read MoreDonna Taylor is an Investment Manager, Corporate Ventures at DENSO. She is responsible for identifying and investing in startups with cutting-edge technologies that will transform the automotive, mobility and transport industries. While Donna assesses startups on a worldwide basis, she is particularly focused on the EU.
Donna has extensive international experience, especially in Europe. At IBM she was a Corporate Development & Strategy Manager and led the business case development, due diligence efforts, and negotiations related to the sale of the HDD division to Hitachi. At Capgemini she was the GDPR Specialist tasked with helping global companies become GDPR-compliant. At Gartner and IDC she led an international team of analysts, focusing on emerging technologies. At Ford Motor Company she led the efforts to develop a parts wholesaling business in emerging markets.
She holds a BS degree and MBA in International Finance and International Management and a JD in International Corporate Law.
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Zhe Huang
Investment Manager of Corporate Ventures
LinkedIn ProfileZhe Huang’s primary responsibility is to identify and invest in startup companies working on technologies that are of strategic interest to DENSO’s sustainable growth. He is also leading the company’s investment network expansion in global startup ecosystems.
Read MoreZhe Huang’s primary responsibility is to identify and invest in startup companies working on technologies that are of strategic interest to DENSO’s sustainable growth. He is also leading the company’s investment network expansion in global startup ecosystems.
Before joining DENSO in 2007, Zhe was the technical leader and one of the founding members of DENSO North America’s Electrification Strategy Team. He holds five technical patents to date. He is an advisory board member of Anderson Institute of Wayne State University and advisor of several early-stage startups. He has been invited to judge multiple startup pitch events hosted by innovation leaders, such as Techstars, SAE and PlanetM. He also serves as a Michigan Mobility Grants reviewer.
Zhe has a BS in Automotive Engineering from South China University of Technology and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. After gaining working and leadership experience in DENSO, he went on to earn an MBA degree from Ross School of Business at University of Michigan.
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Akihito Tanahashi
Senior Coordinator, Silicon Valley Innovation Center
LinkedIn ProfileWith an expertise in intellectual property at DENSO for 15 years, Akihito Tanahashi newly joined the CVC team as a Senior Coordinator of Silicon Valley Innovation Center at DENSO International America, Inc. He is responsible for managing DENSO’s portfolio and expanding partnerships with startups worldwide.
Read MoreWith an expertise in intellectual property at DENSO for 15 years, Akihito Tanahashi newly joined the CVC team as a Senior Coordinator of Silicon Valley Innovation Center at DENSO International America, Inc. He is responsible for managing DENSO’s portfolio and expanding partnerships with startups worldwide.
In 2008, Akihito started his career as an intellectual property professional at DENSO CORPORATION. In 2014, he moved to Detroit to join DENSO International America, Inc. Also, as a trainee, he experienced American patent practice at Harness Dickey, one of the largest patent law firms in the United States.
Returning to Japan after 18 months in the US, he was appointed to a position at DENSO headquarters as a project assistant manager of technology planning for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). In 2019, he joined a project as a manager to launch a new company J-QuAD DYNAMICS, Inc. which was jointly established by DENSO, AISIN, ADVICS and JTEKT to develop an automated driving software.
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Yasuyuki Naito
Research Specialist, Corporate Ventures
LinkedIn ProfileYasuyuki Naito is Research Specialist, Corporate Ventures at DENSO. He is responsible for introducing startups with technologies to business sectors to DENSO and supports the teams with his long and varied experience with the organization.
Read MoreYasuyuki Naito is Research Specialist, Corporate Ventures at DENSO. He is responsible for introducing startups with technologies to business sectors to DENSO and supports the teams with his long and varied experience with the organization.
Since joining in Denso in 2008, he has been in charge of business planning in the Powertrain and Electronics business units and market research in the corporate planning division. He also spent one year as an associate in a Japanese venture capital company.
He holds a BS degree and MBA from Globis University in Japan.
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Yoshito Iwata
Executive Coordinator, Silicon Valley Innovation Center
LinkedIn ProfileYoshito Iwata is Executive Coordinator of Silicon Valley Innovation Center at DENSO International America. He is responsible for building and accelerating DENSO's alliance strategies through partnerships with external companies.
Read MoreYoshito Iwata is an Executive Coordinator of Silicon Valley Innovation Center at DENSO International America. He is responsible for building and accelerating DENSO's alliance strategies through partnerships with external companies. Previously, he was Manager of Global Strategy Department at DENSO Corporation, our headquarters in Japan, where he focused on developing company-wide investment structures and processes, as well as planning and executing investment strategies including M&A.
His career with DENSO is long. He joined in 2002 and spent 11 years in business development of Intelligent Transport Systems and Information Communications. He then transferred to the Global Strategy Department and spent five years working on company-wide alliances. With a passion to contribute to the creation of a better future, he works to connect DENSO with affinity companies where we can draw up strategies together. He enjoys going to the great mountains and beautiful beaches of California with his wife and two sons on the weekend.
DENSO CVC Location
- Silicon Valley Innovation Center: DENSO International America, Inc.
- 101 Metro Drive, Suite 760
- San Jose, CA 95110
If you have any questions, contact us at team@DensoCVC.com.
