Announcement of Change in RTHD Singapore Representative

RTHD Singapore Pte. Ltd. (a 100% subsidiary of Real Tech Holdings Co., Ltd., hereinafter referred to as “RTHD Singapore”) is pleased to announce that the Former Director and CEO, Louis Christian Murayama, resigned effective January 31, 2024, and Shoko Suzuki has been appointed as the new Director and CEO from February 1, 2024.

Former Managing Director and CEO’s Comment (Louis Christian Murayama):

I, Louis Christian Murayama, hereby announce my resignation as the Director and CEO of RTHD Singapore, passing on the role to Director Shoko Suzuki.

Since 2020, Realtech has been investing in ventures specializing in solving deep issues in Southeast Asia and has now established itself as a leading deep-tech investor in the region. Achievements in the past year include acquiring a fund management license from the Singapore government and joint investments with the Philippine government, setting the stage for the launch of our second fund.

This leadership change is a decision to strengthen the management of RTHD Singapore further.

The new CEO, Shoko Suzuki, has extensive experience and a proven track record as an investor and venture entrepreneur, making her the ideal person to lead Realtech into its next phase. Directors Daiki Kumamoto, Yukihiro Maru, and Akitaka Wilhelm Fujii will continue to drive RTHD Singapore forward alongside Suzuki.

I will continue to support venture entrepreneurs in fundraising and strategy formulation as a freelancer, contributing to the development of the deep-tech ecosystem and the resolution of deep issues.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude for your support thus far and kindly ask for your continued support under the new leadership.

New Managing Director and CEO’s Comment (Shoko Suzuki):

Southeast Asia has seen substantial venture capital inflows over the past decade, but the history of deep-tech investment in this region is still new. While a significant amount of government funding is being put into various research fields, we are yet to see many of them getting commercialized.

On the other hand, the scale of environmental and societal challenges in Southeast Asia, such as energy transition, decarbonisation, agri-food, healthcare availability and quality, rapid urbanization and under-developed infrastructure, etc. is immense. And these issues cannot be addressed by digitisation and business model innovation alone, but require science and engineering-led deep tech solutions.

Having worked with various startups and scaleups as an investor or CFO, also founded an alternative energy venture myself in the past, I believe the deep tech in Southeast Asia is entering into the most exciting phase. Navigating through this budding period requires flexible steering and the ability to think while running, but we will leverage on the deep tech ecosystem Real Tech and its group companies have been building over the years in Japan and Southeast Asia and are committed to create significant social impact at scale and at speed.

I am grateful to Louis for establishing our foundation in Singapore and look forward to further advancements with the new team.

New Appointee’s Profile

Shoko Suzuki
RTHD Singapore Pte. Ltd.
Managing Director and CEO
Joined RTHD Singapore in 2023 as Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer overseeing fund strategy, establishment of growth acceleration ecosystem, performance management, and fundraising.
Prior to joining Real Tech, worked at a US-based fund and managed over $1bn in biotech / healthcare investments based in Los Angeles then London. After consulting at IFC in development finance across Africa, Middle East and Asia, co-founded a renewable energy venture, scaled and exited, and moved to Singapore to engage in venture investment and venture building as CFO. Most recently, worked as Chief Transformation Officer at a FTSE 100 multinational company in charge of innovation, intrapreneurship, ESG strategy and execution.
BA in General Systems Studies from university of Tokyo, MBA from INSEAD, Master in Corporate Finance from SDA Bocconi

New Management Structure from February 1, 2024

Director and CEO: Shoko Suzuki
Director: Yukihiro Maru
Director: Akitaka Wilhelm Fujii
Director: Daiki Kumamoto

About Real Tech Singapore

Company Name: RTHD Singapore Pte Ltd
Incorporated: February 2022
Directors: Rui Murayama Christian, Akitaka Wilhelm Fujii,Yukihiro Maru, Daiki Kumamoto
Business: Investment and development of research-based startups

About Real Tech Holdings

Real Tech Holdings Co., Ltd. is committed to addressing societal challenges through the investment and nurturing of deep tech startups with innovative technologies (Real Tech). Our venture capital fund, “Real Tech Fund,” was established by Akihiko Nagata, CEO of Euglena Co., Ltd., who has a proven track record of successfully guiding deep tech startups, and Yukihiro Maru, CEO of Leave a Nest Co., Ltd., who possesses extensive experience in supporting deep tech startups from their early stages. We work closely with governments, companies, and municipalities both domestically and internationally, providing hands-on support to enhance the value of deep tech startups. With over 20 billion JPY in managed assets, Real Tech Fund has invested in over 90 startups in Japan and globally. In 2021, it established the first impact investment fund in Japan focused on the deep tech sector.Website: https://www.realtech.holdings