Ryu (Dragon) Hirota

Director for SEA Markets at MUFG Innovation Partners Co., Ltd., a CVC arm of MUFG

📍 Singapore, Singapore🔄 Updated September 2026💼 12 investments📅 9 years investing🗓 Last invested Dec 2025
VC🌍 SingaporeInvested this year
12
Total investments
1
Early stage
8
Mid stage
3
Late stage
9y
Years active

Portfolio

12 investments · sorted by recency
All investments
Early stage
Mid stage
Late stage
Board Observer
Dec 2025
Your all-in-one investment app. We accompany your investment journey for a better financial future!
Board Observer
Aug 2025
With Indonesia’s highly robust payment ecosystem, OY! Indonesia aims to provide the most comprehensive, reliable and secure payment solution that is available for businesses of all sizes. Our platform offers products that include a variety of payment acceptance methods, fund transfer to more than 100 banks in Indonesia, as well as reconciliation for cash and digital payments. You can manage your business’ transaction flow, whether it is money in or money out, all in one dashboard. By 2021, OY! Indonesia has achieved a centaur status with one of the largest online and cash management networks in Indonesia, helping thousands of businesses accelerate their growth across the country. OY! Indonesia is licensed and supervised under Bank Indonesia and Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), in compliance with PCI DSS policies, as well as ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified.
Investor
Dec 2023
Founded in 2018, Qoala is an omnichannel insuretech company, with a purpose to democratize, empower and redefine insurance for customers. Qoala believes in order to redefine insurance, it takes all stakeholders to be involved. Hence, Qoala is committed to provide the upmost value to all of its stakeholders including insurance partners, customers and regulators. Today, backed by prominent investors, Qoala is operating in four countries in Southeast Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand - and moving closer towards our goal to make insurance accessible and affordable for all. Qoala is also: 1. Qoala App: a digital insurance marketplace that gives its users the peace of mind from unexpected financial risks 2. Qoala Plus: a digital solution that enables our Mitras to sell various insurance products 3. Qoala for Enterprise: a corporate insurance solution that enables our partners to save on average 25% on insurance cost structure and earn additional income stream with our state-of-the-art technology At Qoala, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce of highly talented and ambitious individuals, with a data-driven mindset. Join our growing community of product driven, tech enthusiasts and growth minded individuals with strong insurance and eye towards the needs of customers and other stakeholders, with varying experiences from leading insurance industry players, leading tech giants, management consulting and many more. Qoala is working with PT Mitra Jasa Pratama as an insurance broker that is registered and monitored by OJK with a registration number: KEP-7767/MD/1986. Copyright © 2021 Qoala.
mid stageInsurance
Board Observer
Sep 2023
AwanTunai is a point of sale financing solution aimed at digitizing Indonesia’s vast cash economy. AwanTunai builds digital distribution to thousands of micro-retail merchants who can then access working capital as well as accept payment from AwanTunai consumer credit. The financially inclusive startup also issues mobile-based consumer credit, serving the 100 million Indonesians unable to access banking products. This way, AwanTunai provides a holistic financing solution for micro-merchants. Working capital for grocery stores, motorcycle repair garages, electronic retailers, pharmacies, and other micro merchants catering to everyday household needs as well as consumer financing for these merchant’s customers to help increase retail sales.
Board Observer
Sep 2022
Instapay's digital account is specially designed for the needs of your workers. Instapay account's mobile app is linked to Instapay Mastercard which makes it extremely convenient for your employees to receive their salaries into their Instapay accounts. Instapay is regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia (Central Bank of Malaysia) and empowers your workers while simplifying the salary payment process for you. It streamlines payroll, makes organisations compliant with regulations and promotes financial inclusion of workers. The platform is currently available in Malaysia, a country that is a major destination for migrant workers from other south Asian countries. The migrants are usually employed in low-skilled work and face challenges of financial inclusion, among others. Instapay’s vision is to build the capacities of employer organisations to manage their payroll in a financially inclusive and regulation compliant manner. It also aims to facilitate the entry of the migrant workers into the formal digital economy by securing their earnings and allowing them to make purchases and remit funds online.
Investor
Dec 2021
Accelerate your sales growth with fully-scalable solutions that cater to your needs, featuring real-time simulations and store-level scenario planning. Our Data-Empowered Retail Solutions fully integrate into your existing supply chain, retail planning and forecasting systems – building on investments already made. Our retail clients around the world see at least 4% to 11% in incremental sales. Request a demo: contact@omnistream.co
Board Observer
Jun 2021
Dagangan is an Indonesian-based social commerce platform focused on maximizing the potential of rural communities by establishing a tech-empowered hub-and-spoke network which enables an easier supply chain of high-quality and affordable daily goods. Our solutions allow retailers as well as end-customers in Tier 3-4 areas in Indonesia to get access to affordable daily necessities in an efficient manner; and serve large producers reach areas that were previously difficult to enter due to logistical limitations. To date, Dagangan has served over 100,000 transactions and reached more than 8,000 villages in West and Central Java, as well as the Special Region of Yogyakarta.
Board Observer
Nov 2020
We empower enterprises to collect payments from anywhere in the world securely, efficiently and at the most competitive rates. We go beyond basic remittance and provide recurring billing, invoicing, customer dashboards and direct client website payments via API. AQWIRE is both a (SaaS) Software as a Service and payments platform, providing a global payments collection facility and customized systems.
mid stageReal Estate
Board Observer
Jun 2020
PolicyStreet Group is a full-stack insurance technology (insurtech) group of companies providing digital insurance solutions to businesses and consumers across Asia and Australia. The Group operates through multiple entities across its key markets and business lines, including its insurance distribution, embedded insurance, and reinsurance arms. It partners with over 40 insurance and takaful providers globally to deliver employee benefits and group insurance solutions, insurance aggregation services, and digital infrastructure that simplifies insurance. PolicyStreet Group is backed by leading venture capital firms Altara Ventures and Gobi Partners, as well as sovereign wealth funds Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Cool Japan Fund. The Group serves over 10 million customers with more than US$10 billion in sum insured. It was featured in the Financial Times and Statista’s Top 500 High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2026 list and named “Most Disruptive Insurtech in Malaysia” at the Insurance Asia News (IAN) Country Awards for Excellence 2025.
Board Member
Jun 2018
HealthMetrics is an award-winning, next generation employee healthcare platform for companies to manage their employee healthcare benefits holistically & seamlessly with process automation, live dashboards, data analytics, self-service employee mobile app & crafted wellness programs. HealthMetrics connects companies to its 4000+ healthcare partner network nationwide ranging from GP, Dental, Optical, Specialist, Hospitals & Wellness Providers. HealthMetrics's MMI Framework (Manage, Measure & Improve) has successfully helped companies improve HR efficiencies through employee self-service (ESS), leverage on seamless connectivity to healthcare providers & 3rd party systems and obtain insightful real-time data analytics to help organisations make data-driven improvements. HealthMetrics is the fastest-growing employee healthcare management platform and proudly serving over 1000+ corporates with a total of 200,000+ users. HealthMetrics portfolio of clients includes PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Family Mart, CIDB, MPOB, Star Media Group, Domino's, Mr. DIY, Jaya Grocer, Pullman Hotels, PICC, KLK, Campbell’s, Taylors Group, iPay88, Metro Parking & many more.
Investor
Jan 2018
Vexere.com - The largest Online Bus Ticketing System in Vietnam, helping customers search information and buy long-distance bus tickets online. With network of more than 2000 bus operators, you can easily search for ticket prices, schedule, address, phone and reviews of all bus operators to anywhere in Vietnam. Vexere is selling tickets for more than 500 bus companies in Vietnam, covering all major routes in Vietnam. Vexere is also the leader in providing Bus Management Software which is used by 300 bus companies, contributing to the modernization of the long-distance bus industry. We believe an organization should be born to solve critical issues of the society. Our culture emphasizes teamwork and community values. All VeXeRe members are given opportunities to lead with initiatives on products and strategy, and are expected to become future leaders. Vexere was invested by CyberAgent Ventures (Japan) and Pix Vine Capital (Singapore) and other well-known social investors. Some of Vexere’s awards: - 1st prize in Startup Viet 2016 by VnExpress - 1st prize in Echelon Ignite Vietnam 2014 by E27 - 3rd prize in Nhan Tai Dat Viet 2015 - 2nd prize in National Startup Competition hosted by VCCI - 2nd prize in Mekong Business Challenge sponsored by Google, McKinsey and Co., and Standard Chartered. - CEO of Vexere was honored Typical Entrepreneur HCMC 2016 You can also read more about us on the following articles: - VnExpress: https://startup.vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/hanh-trinh-khoi-nghiep/quan-quan-startup-viet-2016-muon-dung-dau-mang-xe-khach-online-dong-nam-a-3640772.html - VTV1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKGXXqPzBTE - FBNC: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbBV15XCO13sdxyXQXeiPzgC7BCO_6wmK - TechInAsia: https://www.techinasia.com/vexere-vietnam-bus-tickets-sms Vexere.com - Vietnams largest online bus ticketing platform
Board Observer
May 2017
Witnessing the rise of e-commerce in Southeast Asia first hand, we were increasingly unsatisfied with the online shopping experience. As more and more new online shops emerged, it became increasingly difficult to find the products you are looking for as well as the best offers and promotions. We felt lost in the e-commerce jungle. What was missing was the one stop shopping destination that let’s you easily find any product online, in an intuitive and visual fashion. We are a team of young individuals, with a special mix of tech geeks, fashionistas and entrepreneurs. We have a strong bias for action, we want to learn, grow and we want to build a great company together. Our mission is to create the most delightful online shopping experience. We aim to provide the widest selection of products across all categories, no matter whether you are looking for a blue dress, 17cm high heels, a solid bag pack, or a new couch. With the help and funding of the Asia Venture Group – investments include iMoney, Trusted Company and Happy Fresh - we quickly acquired international know-how, expertise and talent in fields ranging from technology over online marketing to the business side of things. Focused on execution from our headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, we quickly grew into the leading platform for online shoppers across seven markets: - Malaysia --​> http://iprice.my - Singapore --​> http://iprice.sg - Indonesia --​> http://iprice.co.id - Philippines --​> http://iprice.ph - Hong Kong --​> http://iprice.hk - Thailand --​> http://ipricethailand.com - Vietnam --​> http://iprice.vn
Experience · 16 entries
All (16)
Investments (12)
Board (9)
2025
Board Observer
Dec 2025
Your all-in-one investment app. We accompany your investment journey for a better financial future!
Board Observer
Aug 2025
With Indonesia’s highly robust payment ecosystem, OY! Indonesia aims to provide the most comprehensive, reliable and secure payment solution that is available for businesses of all sizes. Our platform offers products that include a variety of payment acceptance methods, fund transfer to more than 100 banks in Indonesia, as well as reconciliation for cash and digital payments. You can manage your business’ transaction flow, whether it is money in or money out, all in one dashboard. By 2021, OY! Indonesia has achieved a centaur status with one of the largest online and cash management networks in Indonesia, helping thousands of businesses accelerate their growth across the country. OY! Indonesia is licensed and supervised under Bank Indonesia and Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), in compliance with PCI DSS policies, as well as ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified.
2023
Investor
Dec 2023
Founded in 2018, Qoala is an omnichannel insuretech company, with a purpose to democratize, empower and redefine insurance for customers. Qoala believes in order to redefine insurance, it takes all stakeholders to be involved. Hence, Qoala is committed to provide the upmost value to all of its stakeholders including insurance partners, customers and regulators. Today, backed by prominent investors, Qoala is operating in four countries in Southeast Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand - and moving closer towards our goal to make insurance accessible and affordable for all. Qoala is also: 1. Qoala App: a digital insurance marketplace that gives its users the peace of mind from unexpected financial risks 2. Qoala Plus: a digital solution that enables our Mitras to sell various insurance products 3. Qoala for Enterprise: a corporate insurance solution that enables our partners to save on average 25% on insurance cost structure and earn additional income stream with our state-of-the-art technology At Qoala, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce of highly talented and ambitious individuals, with a data-driven mindset. Join our growing community of product driven, tech enthusiasts and growth minded individuals with strong insurance and eye towards the needs of customers and other stakeholders, with varying experiences from leading insurance industry players, leading tech giants, management consulting and many more. Qoala is working with PT Mitra Jasa Pratama as an insurance broker that is registered and monitored by OJK with a registration number: KEP-7767/MD/1986. Copyright © 2021 Qoala.
mid stageInsurance
Board Observer
Sep 2023
AwanTunai is a point of sale financing solution aimed at digitizing Indonesia’s vast cash economy. AwanTunai builds digital distribution to thousands of micro-retail merchants who can then access working capital as well as accept payment from AwanTunai consumer credit. The financially inclusive startup also issues mobile-based consumer credit, serving the 100 million Indonesians unable to access banking products. This way, AwanTunai provides a holistic financing solution for micro-merchants. Working capital for grocery stores, motorcycle repair garages, electronic retailers, pharmacies, and other micro merchants catering to everyday household needs as well as consumer financing for these merchant’s customers to help increase retail sales.
Director
Jan 2023
MUFG Innovation Partners was established in 2019 as a Corporate venture capital to enable MUFG’s open innovation strategy through investments in innovative startups globally. We drive business collaboration between startups and MUFG to co-create an inclusive future of finance.
Show all 16 entries ↓
Investment activity
2017–2025 · 12 investments
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