Makoto Miyauchi holds a bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Economics of The University of Tokyo and an MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business. He worked at Sojitz Corporation before joining DI.

At Sojitz, he worked on trading and marketing of various products to ASEAN markets, and marketing and SCM development for consumer goods in Japan.

At DI’s Tokyo head office, he was mainly involved in new business and growth strategy development for major corporations, medium to long-term vision development, overseas expansion strategy development and execution support, and industry production activities aimed at creating next- generation industries for Japan, in collaboration with government agencies and multiple private- sector firms.

In his past posting to DI Vietnam, he was pressing forward with the production of new businesses and the development of social systems for emerging economies, through public-private collaborations between Japan and Vietnam, with a focus on industries experiencing a sudden upsurge in domestic demand (agriculture, food value chain, healthcare, and consumer goods, etc.). His duties were wide-reaching, including the provision of strategic consulting and M&A advisory services for the Vietnamese government and for large Japanese and Vietnamese companies, and expanding DI’s own business foundations in ASEAN.

Since 2015, Eto has led India operation and conducted investments in Indian Startups and supported Japanese companies looking to expand into India. DI as a whole, Eto has provided support in a wide variety of areas such as new business strategy, international business development strategy, corporate strategy and implementation support for clients in energy, healthcare, electronics, financial, chemical and so on.

Prior to DI, Eto worked for the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, dealing with energy projects in Asia and being in charge of sovereign, corporate and project risk analysis. At PWC, he delivered financial advisory in infrastructure and healthcare spaces. He has entrepreneurial experience as a founder of a health care startup.

Eto holds a bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Economics, The Keio University. He is fluent in English and Japanese.

At DI, Pawan supports DI’s Venture Capital business across various sectors. He brings along his expertise in originating and consummating investment transactions across various sectors such as consumer, healthcare, financial services, chemicals, media & entertainment and technology including new-age start-up ecosystem.

Before joining DI, Pawan worked with a Rainshine Entertainment (Mumbai) as a part of the Chairman’s office leading their fundraising, corporate development & new business initiatives division. Prior to that, he held positions as an Investment Banking Professional at Edelweiss, Systematix Capital, and Elara Capital, successfully leading and executing transactions totalling $200 million+ spanning late-stage & early-stage companies.

Pawan holds MBA-Finance and Bachelors of Commerce from University of Mumbai.

Diana brings over 12 years of strategy consulting experience spanning diverse sectors and geographies. She has advised several startup and Growth Tech companies in India, an e-commerce giant, a prominent U.S.-based social-media firm, and one of the world’s largest retailers, among others.

Before joining DI, Diana served as a Project Leader at BCG, predominantly focused on their Consumer and Retail practice in India. Her extensive portfolio covers areas such as business strategy, core value proposition, supply chain optimization, AI/ML, pricing, and assortment for online and offline retail, FMCG players.

Prior to BCG, Diana worked for the US and India offices of Deloitte Consulting, where she advised on business strategy and digital transformation across industries. She worked on topics such as cloud enablement, mergers and acquisitions, as well as organizational transformation.

Diana earned her MBA from IIM-Lucknow and holds a Bachelor’s in Technology from SMIT.

At DI, Apurva supports the Venture Capital business across sectors. She brings rich deal origination, analysis and portfolio management experience across consumer, agriculture, education, financial services, healthcare & pharma and technology-enabled businesses.​

Before joining DI, Apurva was a part of Hero Enterprise Investment Office for their Venture Capital, Fund of Funds and private equity transactions. Apart from deal experience, she was also actively involved in portfolio management and exit processes for the fund. Prior to that, she worked with the Corporate Venture Capital arm of Times Group, a leading media conglomerate in India. She also did a summer internship program with Goldman Sachs’ investment banking team.

Apurva holds an MBA in Business Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur and Bachelors of Commerce (Hons) from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata.

Shashank comes with experience in Mass-mobility sector including Inter-city and intra-city bus business, First and Last Mile and E-Mobility Solutions. He was leading strategic projects in Chalo Mobility as part of CEO’s team for strategizing, liaising and execution of multi-million dollar projects across India.

Shashank has completed his B-Tech from IIT Roorkee along with MBA (Finance and Operations) in a 5 year dual degree course.

After graduation he started working for Hikari Tsushin in Tokyo, Japan; with responsibilities of growing company’s Joint Ventures, international market expansion, research, planning and improving supply chain efficiency.

Shashank can speak Hindi, English, Garhwali and Japanese.

Rup is the Data Science expert in DI India team, who brings over five years of experience in developing AI-driven solutions for consumer technology and digital platforms across India and Japan.

With a strong background in leveraging machine learning and advanced analytics to tackle complex business challenges, he has consistently driven innovation in dynamic, large-scale environments. Before joining DIAI India, Rup played a pivotal role at Glance – InMobi Group, where he led strategic data science initiatives aimed at enhancing user engagement, ad performance, and content strategy.

At DI India, he is involved in multiple strategic projects across Japan and India, focusing on building robust machine learning and AI frameworks that drive value creation across industries. Rup combines deep technical expertise with a product-centric mindset, ensuring that his solutions are both impactful and scalable.

He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from R V College of Engineering, Bangalore.

An MBA graduate from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore, Shoumik brings a strong foundation in strategy consulting and program management, with a proven track record of delivering impactful solutions for leading organizations.

Prior to DI, he worked a Strategy Consultant at Deloitte US India (Bengaluru, ’21-’25). Shoumik spearheaded multiple engagements focused on driving growth and operational efficiency for Fortune 10 technology clients and SaaS enterprises. His experience encompassed developing growth strategies, designing operating models, defining go-to-market approaches, and optimizing vendor management. He also gained exposure in the telecom and consumer sectors.

Prior to Deloitte, Shoumik served as a Program Manager at Vodafone India Services (Pune, ’20-’21), where he led various automation initiatives aimed at enhancing the efficiency of business quality assurance service delivery.

Shoumik has completed a Bachelor of Arts (Foundations of Management) and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore.

Jay Jetani, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management Udaipur (IIM-U), is an accomplished strategy consulting professional with extensive experience in go-to-market (GTM) execution, retail sales management, distribution channel development, customer and growth strategy, and customer experience transformation. He has delivered impactful solutions to clients across the Automotive, Pharmaceutical, Retail, and Fintech sectors.

Prior to DI India, he has worked with EY India’s Strategy Consulting unit – EY Parthenon in Customer & Growth Strategy practice, where he spearheaded the creation of comprehensive Growth Strategies for clients across Industries

Prior to EY Parthenon, Jay spearheaded the achievement of Automotive Retail Sales plans at Bajaj Auto Limited (BAL) by driving the execution of Accessibility, Availability, Affordability, Ability, Awareness, Activations, Acceptability, and Advocacy

Jay has also designed and rolled out Customer Experience measurement programs (including Net Promoter Score / NPS) for retail businesses, and developed Go-To-Market strategy for a leading Dubai-based global remittances company, enabling the expansion of outbound remittances into key African markets through regulatory navigation, partner identification, and localized product strategies

In addition to his MBA, Jay holds both Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Pharmaceutical Sciences

Kyohei (Kay) Hosono graduated from the Faculty of Letters of The University of Tokyo. He studied abroad at St. Petersburg State University in Russia, and holds a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Michigan in the United States.

Prior to joining DI, he worked for the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

• Kyohei joined DI with the goal of “creating companies that are able to compete out in the world.”
  • He felt that DI was the only place where he could do battle from the dual fronts of consulting and venture investment.
• Promoting DI’s Global Business
  • While working in Vietnam, Kyohei worked as a strategic consultant, as well as managing a ¥5 billion investment fund.
  • He is highly knowledgeable about business in the various Asian countries.
  • He also experienced to lead the turnaround of a listed Vietnamese company in which DI had invested.
• Changing the world by “incubation”
  • Kyohei is currently in charge of investments across the whole of DI, and has expanded its global venture investments in Japan, the United States, and India.
  • He is leveraging investment to connect the cutting-edge technology of United States and Japan with the last frontier of India.

Joining DI in 2002, Hidetaka has been working as a strategic consultant in the areas of finance, healthcare and cosmetic while supporting startup companies which he took many of them to public. After accelerating the launches of investment fund business in Asia and M&A advisory service, he took initiative in reestablishing DI’s incubation business and its investment portfolio which he is currently responsible of.

Prior to joining DI, he worked for the Bank of Tokyo (now MUFG Bank, Ltd), Tokyo-Mitsubishi Securities (now Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities) and Morgan Stanley Securities (now Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities) where he built up his skills and experiences in project financing, M&A advisory and equity offering.

A graduate of the Faculty of Economics of The University of Tokyo, Hidetaka holds an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also a CFA Chartered Analyst and an Illinois State USCPA.

Hidetaka believes that success comes not only from strategy and persuasion but from respect and consideration.

At DI India, Holiday plays a key role in supporting strategic initiatives such as fund setup and cross-border venture. She leads the operational design of investment fund and has been actively involved in evaluating new-age tech startups and managing venture investment operations.

Bringing more than 7 years experience in venture investment, she oversees over 20 startups investments, with a focus on business model assessment, performance tracking, and strategic reporting to key stakeholders.

Prior to joining DI, she played a central role at SBI Malaysia in launching and managing joint venture with both private and government-linked stakeholders across Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei, leading fund structuring, governance, and multistakeholder coordination efforts.

Joining the Strategy Consulting team, Tanmoy brings experience of driving high impact assignments focusing on revenue growth & diversification, market entry & GTM strategies, operations transformation for clients across auto, industrial, FMCG and metals & mining sectors.​

Prior to DI, he worked with KPMG for over 3 years, where he advised a Japanese conglomerate on value chain assessment, crafting GTM strategies, and creating suitable B2B/B2C business models in e-mobility & renewable energy in India & Thai market and assisted an Indian conglomerate in entering a downstream metal business in India. Additionally, he has led high value workstreams in business transformation projects for leading players in F&B, Agri, manufacturing and industrial sectors as well as Government departments and PSUs.​

Before KPMG, Tanmoy was part of Maruti Suzuki’s Engineering vertical where he managed new product development including product lifecycle management, value analysis/value engineering of new models. ​

Tanmoy is an MBA graduate from IIM-Mumbai and holds a Bachelor’s in Technology from IIT (BHU)-Varanasi.​