Kaisei Hamamoto
Co-Founder & CEO
Kaisei Hamamoto has been the CEO of SmartNews since 2023 and cofounded the company with Ken Suzuki in 2012. An engineer by training, Kaisei's professional mission has been to visualize and organize large amounts of information to help people better understand the world, which aligns with SmartNews's mission to deliver the world's quality information to the people who need it. Kaisei is responsible for the strategic direction of SmartNews around the world and making sure the company lives up to its mission.
Ken Suzuki
Co-Founder and Executive Chair of the Board
Ken Suzuki is co-founder and Chair of the Executive Board of SmartNews. Ken received a Ph.D from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at The University of Tokyo in 2009, and is currently a project researcher at the University of Tokyo. He has authored several published works such as “Namerakana Shakai to Sono Teki (The Smooth Society and Its Enemies)". Ken co-founded SmartNews, Inc. in 2012 with the mission of “delivering the world’s quality information to the people who need it.” In September 2014, he established SmartNews International Inc.
Yi Ren
Chief Strategy Officer (CSO)
Yi Ren is CSO of SmartNews. With more than ten years of business management experience, Yi is responsible for overseeing strategy and corporate planning. Yi joined SmartNews from DeNA China, where he served as CEO, growing the organization into a leading mobile game publisher. He built the business from scratch, managing strategy and business development, into a successful game business across Asia. He was also involved in the establishment of Dream Incubator China in late 2010. Yi graduated from the University of Tokyo's Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology School of Engineering, and completed his Master's degree there as well.
Minoru Imano
Outside Board Director
Minoru Imano joined GLOBIS in July 2006. Prior to GLOBIS, he worked for Arthur Andersen for five years, where he was in charge of sales force operation turnaround, post-merger integration and long-term business planning projects. He is the leader of the IT sector investment team. Mr. Imano received a Bachelor's degree in Law from the University of Tokyo.
