Who We Are

Anatoly Motkin is a successful technology investor with years of experience in public consulting and media entrepreneurship in the US, EU, and the Eurasian region. He began his career as a media manager and later moved into strategic consulting.

Mr. Motkin has served as an advisor and investor to both the public and private sectors, successfully backing a number of IT projects. His extensive background has led him to deepen his focus on the development of the knowledge-driven economy and IT industry in the Eurasian region.

In 2017, he founded the StrategEast Center for a New Economy, which has since become the leading independent institution advancing the knowledge-driven economy in developing countries — in collaboration with international financial institutions, development agencies, global tech leaders, and governments.

Working as an adviser to governments in Eurasia and the West, as well as to international financial institutions and development agencies, Mr. Motkin has consistently demonstrated his dedication to improving business practices and government transparency.

Shinichi Abe is a technologist and business leader who has spent three decades helping organizations use technology-driven innovation to build a better society and improve everyday life. He is President and CEO of MNES Inc., a Japanese healthcare technology company whose cloud-based medical data platform connects hospitals, clinics, and specialists, enabling medical images and data to be securely stored, shared, and interpreted — broadening access to high-quality diagnostic care across Japan and beyond. Before joining MNES, Mr. Abe spent nine years at Google, where he led the company's enterprise business in Japan and APAC, and served as representative of Google Cloud Japan, following senior executive roles at Oracle Japan and other global enterprise-software companies. He serves as an independent outside director of Sekisui House, Ltd. and Macnica Holdings, Inc., both listed on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Mr. Abe joined the board of GTF Japan to help advance international dialogue and innovation that serve the public good.

Akira Tsukagawa is a global investment and open-innovation professional with more than three decades of experience across venture capital, principal investment, investment banking, corporate innovation, and startup development.

His career includes McCann-Erickson Hakuhodo, Nomura/JAFCO Investment Asia, Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, and SBI Holdings. At Deutsche Bank, he worked on the financing of SoftBank's acquisition of Vodafone Japan. At SBI Holdings, he established the group's platform in India and formed a US$75 million Early-Stage Digital Incubation Fund, whose investments grew to approximately five times the original invested capital by maturity.

As Founder and CEO of Open Innovation Partners, he connects Japan with innovation ecosystems in India, Asia, Silicon Valley, and other international markets. He has supported open-innovation initiatives for major Japanese corporations, including OMRON and SOMPO Holding, while helping startups raise capital, commercialize technologies, enter Japan, and build partnerships with corporations, universities, medical institutions, investors, and government bodies.

At GTF, he works to convert international dialogue into concrete partnerships, investment, technology collaboration, and talent exchange between Japan and developing economies.

Tsukagawa holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, is a CFA charterholder, and completed executive education in Open Innovation, Venture Capital, Data Science, and Analytics at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.