Shota Deguchi

Shota Deguchi is a visiting scholar at the US-Asia Technology Management Center for 2023-2024. He focuses on the role of academic institutions in creating an innovation hub for start-ups and large companies with the aim to support emerging entrepreneurs and drive open innovation.

He is the Director of Marketing & Business Development at Digital Blast, a Tokyo-based space-tech start-up, where he was one of the founding members and contributed to the company’s growth over the course of 5 years. Prior to his current role, he was a consultant at IBM Japan with expertise in FinTech and InsurTech, helping his clients’ new business development.

His professional experiences to date convinced him of the importance of strengthening collaboration between start-ups and large companies and creating new, innovative business models in an unprecedented manner.

Shota was an active member of AIESEC, a global youth leadership organization, where he supported and collaborated with more than 1,000 global youths with prospects to rise as future leaders.