Joichi Ito

President of the Chiba Institute of Technology. Co-Founder of Digital Garage and the Neurodiversity School in Tokyo.

📍 Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States🔄 Updated September 2026💼 53 investments📅 31 years investing🗓 Last invested Oct 2024𝕏 @upgrade_to_unlock
VC🌍 United States50+ investments
53
Total investments
6
Early stage
2
Mid stage
4
Late stage
31y
Years active

Portfolio

21 investments · sorted by recency
All investments
Early stage
Mid stage
Late stage
Board Member
Oct 2024
Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) is a Special Administrative Region in Bhutan, envisioned by His Majesty King Jigme. It is an innovative urban development project that integrates economic growth with mindfulness, holistic living, and sustainability. GMC’s strategic position at the crossroads of major economic regions, including South Asia, ASEAN, and China, combined with Bhutan’s commitment to sustainable development, rich cultural heritage, and strong governance, positions the City as a global leader in mindful and sustainable urban growth.
Board Member
Jun 2023
Dev is a technology solves the sustainability issues of valuable activities. Dev tokens are mined by "the power of the activity" and monetize the communities. Anyone can help revitalize the communities by staking and earn staking rewards on their own. Dev is the first financial service to help someone in their own interest. Whitepaper : github.com/dev-protocol/protocol/blob/master/docs/WHITEPAPER.md
Board Member, Animoca Brands KK
Oct 2022
About Animoca Brands Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (ACN: 122 921 813) is a Web3 leader that leverages tokenization and blockchain to deliver digital property rights to consumers, helping to establish the open metaverse and its associated network effects. It has received broad industry and market recognition including Fortune Crypto 40, Top 50 Blockchain Game Companies 2025, Financial Times’ High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific, and Deloitte Tech Fast. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on: Link3: https://link3.to/animocabrands Twitter: https://twitter.com/animocabrands Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/animocabrands Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/animocabrands TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@animocabrands_
Board Member
Jan 2019
Lever for Change, a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, helps donors to find and fund solutions to the world’s greatest challenges, ranging from racial and gender equity to economic development and climate change. Building on the success of the MacArthur Foundation’s $100 million competition, 100&Change, Lever for Change customizes and manages open and transparent competitions for donors. In addition, we match donors with nonprofits and social enterprises in our Bold Solutions Network whose solutions to significant social challenges were highly ranked after rigorous evaluation in one of our competitions. Currently, Lever for Change is managing nine competitions, ranging in size from $10-to-100 million, awarding $295 million to grant recipients and strengthening dozens of top organizations. For more information, visit www.leverforchange.org.
Board Member
Mar 2015
Founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1899, MIT Technology Review is a digitally oriented independent media company whose analysis, features, reviews, interviews, and live events explain the commercial, social, and political impact of new technologies. MIT Technology Review readers are curious technology enthusiasts—a global audience of business and thought leaders, innovators and early adopters, entrepreneurs and investors. Every day, we provide an authoritative filter for the flood of information about technology. We are the first to report on a broad range of new technologies, informing our audiences about how important breakthroughs will impact their careers and their lives. Get our journalism: http://technologyreview.com/newsletters.
Board Member
Jan 2014
Mezzanine™ is our flagship product for innovative workplaces. Mezzanine is next-generation visual collaboration technology for the enterprise which amplifies sales presentations, boosts multi-location and remote team work and makes meetings more productive. This new means of sharing information and collaborating is so extraordinary we coined a new term for it: Infopresence. It goes beyond telepresence and it is only available with Mezzanine. https://vimeo.com/466686479 Among those using our technologies are IBM, Accenture, Boeing, CBRE, Blackrock, NASA, PwC, and JLL. Oblong is a Cisco Solutions Plus partner and Mezzanine is also available to purchase on the Cisco GPL. We believe the era of one human, one mouse, one screen, one machine is giving way to what’s next: a fully shared and unified experience among multiple users, devices, screens, and locations, via a groundbreaking spatial interface. This is what Oblong builds. It's why we're here.
Board Member
Jun 2013
Sony’s purpose is simple. We aim to fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology. We want to be responsible for getting hearts racing, stirring ambition, and putting a smile on the faces of our customers. That challenge, combined with our spirit of innovation, motivates us to create groundbreaking technology, entertainment, and services for people worldwide. Our history as a global brand has been built around employees that all have a passion for touching peoples​ lives, and pride in pushing beyond the status quo to produce truly extraordinary results. We’re uniquely positioned because we operate in many different industries - from movies and music to video games and electronics. And, with offices around the globe, we benefit from a global workforce that learns and grows together through mutual respect. If youre ready to join a diverse team at an innovation-led company with the power to change lives, then we encourage you to read up on the different Sony group companies and check out our Life page. Then, get in touch, and together, let’s make the world say wow.
Board Member
Jun 2012
The New York Times has been fulfilling its mission to “seek the truth and help people understand the world” for nearly 170 years by delivering world-class journalism. More recently, this mission has been augmented by a deep investment in digital subscriptions and products. All of this has culminated in nearly seven million subscribers using The New York Times to read news, enjoy games, try recipes, and listen to podcasts. As The New York Times seeks to become “ a world class digital media business ” we are expanding our investment in engineering.
Board Member
Jul 2009
frestyl is a web and mobile service entirely dedicated to live music that allows venues, clubs and promoters to bring more fans to their shows. frestyl’s web application allows music promoters and venues to quickly import their event calendar, push their shows automatically to Facebook & Twitter, and instantly create interactive event pages with videos, photos and music. To engage a larger audience, organizers pay to add special offers to their upcoming events and gather analytics about their customers. On a night out, fans use frestyl’s mobile app to discover last-minute recommendations for nearby music shows and unlock the exclusive specials when they arrive.
Board Member
Dec 2008
We do a lot, but at our core, we're in the business of keeping people connected and keeping the Internet open. We're made up of three companies: Tucows Domains, Ting, and Wavelo. As Tucows Domains, we help people find their place online as the world's largest domain name wholesaler and the second-largest domain registrar globally. As Ting Internet, we deliver high-speed fiber internet service to communities across the United States. We are modernizing city infrastructures and helping families and businesses alike access the power of the Internet. As Wavelo, We deliver simple software to #MakeTelecomABreeze. We build telecom billing and operations software for Mobile Virtual Network Operators and Fiber Internet Services. #JoinTheHerd at https://www.tucows.com/careers/ Investor info (NASDAQ: TCX, TSX: TC): https://www.tucows.com/investors/ [It's pronounced two-cows, btw.]
Board Member
Nov 2008
Machinima is the premier provider of digital content at the intersection of gamer entertainment and culture. Supercharged by parent company Warner Bros., we empower talent and fuel fan engagement across platforms. We create entertainment content for a community passionate about video games, animation, and endless forms of pop culture. With a focus on scripted, topical and gamer programming, and a talent network of top-tier influencers, Machinima reaches over 144M viewers each month. Machinima is a division of the Warner Bros. Digital Networks Group.
mid stageEntertainment
Board Member
Jul 2008
Board Member
Aug 2007
Sanrio Digital is a joint venture between Typhoon Games (HK) Ltd. and Sanrio Co. Ltd. Sanrio Digital is responsible for the expansion of Sanrio intellectual property assets into various digital and online media, leveraging an extensive library of original material that includes world-famous brands such as Hello Kitty, Badtz Maru, My Melody, and others. For more information please visit www.sanriodigital.com.
Board Member
Aug 2007
Outblaze develops and provides various digital media products and services including virtual community services, online transaction systems, web communication software, smartphone games and apps, social media applications, and more. The Outblaze network of partners, joint ventures, and subsidiary companies provide a full range of services and bring to digital life various powerful consumer brands. Outblaze operates a number of consumer-facing businesses, including smartphone games publishing, social network app development, and others. To find out more please visit our web site at www.outblaze.com.
Board Member
2007
Show all 21 investments ↓
Experience · 68 entries
All (68)
Investments (53)
Founder (6)
Board (52)
2024
Board Member
Oct 2024
Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) is a Special Administrative Region in Bhutan, envisioned by His Majesty King Jigme. It is an innovative urban development project that integrates economic growth with mindfulness, holistic living, and sustainability. GMC’s strategic position at the crossroads of major economic regions, including South Asia, ASEAN, and China, combined with Bhutan’s commitment to sustainable development, rich cultural heritage, and strong governance, positions the City as a global leader in mindful and sustainable urban growth.
Board Chair
Jul 2024
The Gelephu Investment and Development Corporation (GIDC) is a global investment company owned by the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a Special Administrative Region established in 2023 by His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck in the Kingdom of Bhutan.
2023
Board Member
Jun 2023
Dev is a technology solves the sustainability issues of valuable activities. Dev tokens are mined by "the power of the activity" and monetize the communities. Anyone can help revitalize the communities by staking and earn staking rewards on their own. Dev is the first financial service to help someone in their own interest. Whitepaper : github.com/dev-protocol/protocol/blob/master/docs/WHITEPAPER.md
2022
Board Member, Animoca Brands KK
Oct 2022
About Animoca Brands Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (ACN: 122 921 813) is a Web3 leader that leverages tokenization and blockchain to deliver digital property rights to consumers, helping to establish the open metaverse and its associated network effects. It has received broad industry and market recognition including Fortune Crypto 40, Top 50 Blockchain Game Companies 2025, Financial Times’ High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific, and Deloitte Tech Fast. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on: Link3: https://link3.to/animocabrands Twitter: https://twitter.com/animocabrands Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/animocabrands Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/animocabrands TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@animocabrands_
Associate Director, Health Data Architecture Center
Oct 2022
The founding philosophy of Fujita Health University is called DOKUSOUICHIRI reflecting the belief that we unlock the future by leveraging our creativity. FHU offers its community the freedom of imagination and opportunities in academic research and education. The university provides an ideal environment to health professionals and researchers looking to prepare for the complex issues of 21st century global health. FHU also supports disaster preparedness and response.
Show all 68 entries ↓
Investment activity
1995–2024 · 53 investments
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