Number of Portfolio Companies 1
Number of Current Board & Advisor Roles 3
  • Primary Job Title Founder & Director
  • Primary Organization 
    eAccess
  • Investor Type  Individual/Angel

Dr. Semmoto founded eAccess Ltd in 1999. eAccess is Japan's first true entrepreneurial and global IP/telecom company that provides high-speed broadband telecommunication services using xDSL technology.

eAccess has grown to a leading broadband IP operator in Japan, and completed its Initial Public Offering at the Tokyo Stock Exchange

Mothers in October 2003 and moved to the Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section (TSE1) in November 2004. This is considered to be the fastest listing in the TSE1 whose market capitalization was approximately US $1.5 billion.

Additionally he founded EMOBILE Ltd. which was awarded 3G spectrum license in 2005 and entered into the mobile broadband market in 2007. EMOBILE completed its financing, total US $3.5 billion, which includes $1.2 billion for equity and $2.3 billion for debt financing, to roll out the nationwide mobile network. 

EMOBILE launched its data service in March 2007 and then the voice service in March 2008. Bundled with UMPC, EMOBILE's high speed, flat rate and reasonable pricing mobile data communications service dramatically changed the existing mobile scene, creating a "broadband revolution" in the mobile industry.

Prior to eAccess, Dr. Semmoto spent 30 years in senior management positions including Nippon Telephone & Telegraph (NTT), Kyocera, and DDI Corporation (currently "KDDI") which he co-founded as an Executive Vice President in 1984.

At NTT, he developed the first optical fiber system in Japan and led the development of the Information Network System, the world's first digital service which embodied the ISDN concept. He was Japan's official representative to the ITU on optical fiber and ISDN (1974-1980).

He played a major role in bringing DDI up to $5 billion in sales and $630 million in profit after 7 years of operation. In 1990, he founded DDI cellular group (currently "au") as an intrapreneur. Subsequently in 1995, he founded DDI Pocket, a PHS company (currently "WILLCOM"), and became the first president.

In 1996, Dr. Semmoto became a full professor at the Graduate School of Business Administration, Keio University to teach in the areas of entrepreneurial management and information technology, prior to the establishment of eAccess Ltd.

Although he spent most of his career in the telecommunication industry, he has also had a background of academic involvement through extensive lecturing engagements at the world's leading universities, including Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, Cambridge in the U.S. and the UK.

He was a visiting professor at the Carnegie Mellon University and at the Haas School of Business at University of California Berkeley during 1992-1993 and 2000-2001, respectively, and a visiting research fellow at Stanford University in 1997. At present, he is a visiting professor at University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

He is a director and the board of Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company (London, UK), Telecom New Zealand (Auckland, New Zealand), International Christian University (ICU) (Tokyo), and a member of the Network of Global Agenda Councils, World Economic Forum and the Trilateral Commission.

He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a member of Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and Fulbright Association in Japan. He published numerous academic papers and books on both telecommunication technologies and high technology corporate management.

He graduated from Kyoto University, Japan and received his MS and Ph.D. of Electrical Engineering in University of Florida.

Number of Investments 1
Sachio Semmoto invested in Cinnamon AI on Jan 28, 2019. This investment - Series B - Cinnamon AI - was valued at
$15M
.
Announced Date  
Organization Name  
Lead Investor  
Funding Round  
Money Raised  
Jan 28, 2019
Cinnamon AI
Series B - Cinnamon AI
$15M
Number of Current Jobs 2
Number of Past Jobs 7
Sachio Semmoto has 2 current jobs as Founder & Director at eAccess and Visiting Professor at University of Canterbury. Additionally, Sachio Semmoto has had 7 past jobs including Executive Vice President at KDDI.
Organization Name  
Title At Company  
Start Date  
End Date  
KDDI
Executive Vice President
Stanford University
Visiting Research Fellow
UC Berkeley, Haas Business School
Visiting Professor
Kyocera
Team Member
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
Executive Vice President
eMobile
Founder
Carnegie Mellon University
Visiting Professor
Number of Current Board & Advisor Roles 3
Sachio Semmoto holds 3 board and advisor roles including Board of Advisors at Transclick, Advisor at Roby, and Chairman Emeritus at eAccess.
Number of News Articles 3
Funding RoundJan 28, 2019
NewsAug 20, 2018
NewsAug 17, 2018