Masao Hirano
About Masao Hirano
Masao Hirano (平野 正雄) is based in Tokyo. He worked in management consulting at McKinsey & Company from 1987 to 2007 and led McKinsey's Japan office from 1998 to 2006. In 2007 he moved to Carlyle Japan, where he worked on management buyout investments in Japanese companies until 2012.
Since 2012 he has been a professor at Waseda Business School, specializing in general management and global management. He holds a master's degree in engineering from the University of Tokyo, a master's degree in management science and engineering from Stanford, and an engineering doctorate from the University of Tokyo.
He has also served as an outside director, auditor or advisor at many companies. MarketScreener lists past board roles at Uzabase (2019 to 2023), WILLCOM, Broadleaf, Dexerials and others. Crunchbase lists current roles as outside director at Locondo.jp, LITALICO and PLAID.
Crunchbase and CB Insights list a small number of personal investments. CB Insights shows three: an angel round dated 2018-11-30, a seed round dated 2023-07-20, and the U-ZERO seed round in 2026. PitchBook lists ExRoad (2023) as one of his investments, with ANRI, G-STARTUP, Globis and Hiroaki Sugita as co-investors.
CB Insights also records two portfolio exits for him, the latest being exroad on 2026-02-28. The company behind the 2018 angel round is not named in the free data. His check sizes are not public.
His AI round on the Lounge deals desk is the U-ZERO seed round of ¥950M, dated 2026-07 on Lounge. CB Insights dates the same round 2026-06-03 and lists co-investors Allen Minor, Fujitsu Ventures, Global Hands-On VC and Mike Eberhard. We did not find other public AI-specific investments by him.
He has not published a thesis, stage preference or check size that we could find. His disclosed rounds are seed and angel. U-ZERO is in Japan, and ExRoad is listed by PitchBook as a B2B environmental services company. His board work spans software, education and social services, and telecom, but that is operating experience and not a statement of what he backs as an angel.
- U-ZERO: seed round of ¥950M, listed on the Lounge deals desk as an AI round (2026).
- ExRoad: B2B environmental services company per PitchBook; he invested in 2023, and CB Insights lists an exit dated 2026-02-28.
Investing activity
Masao Hirano appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $6M. The most recent is U-ZERO (Seed, ¥950M, Jul 2026).
Masao Hirano most often invests alongside Global Hands-On VC, Allen Miner, Fujitsu Ventures Limited and Mike Eberhard, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Masao Hirano
Who is Masao Hirano?
He is a Tokyo-based individual investor and professor at Waseda Business School. He previously led McKinsey's Japan office and worked at Carlyle Japan on buyout investments.
What AI startups has Masao Hirano invested in?
On the Lounge deals desk he is listed in the U-ZERO seed round of ¥950M in 2026. We found no other public AI-specific investments.
What stage does Masao Hirano invest in?
His disclosed deals are angel and seed rounds, dated 2018, 2023 and 2026. He has not published a stage preference.
What is Masao Hirano's check size?
It is not public. The U-ZERO round totaled ¥950M across several investors, so that figure is not his own check.
Does Masao Hirano invest outside Japan?
We found no public evidence of this. His known investments and board roles are with Japanese companies.
Who has co-invested with Masao Hirano?
On U-ZERO, CB Insights lists Allen Minor, Fujitsu Ventures, Global Hands-On VC and Mike Eberhard. On ExRoad, PitchBook lists ANRI, G-STARTUP, Globis and Hiroaki Sugita.
Is Masao Hirano an angel investor?
Yes. Masao Hirano invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Masao Hirano invested in?
Masao Hirano's AI investments include U-ZERO. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Masao Hirano invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Masao Hirano has invested at Seed, with a median round of $6M.
Who does Masao Hirano co-invest with?
Masao Hirano's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Global Hands-On VC (1 deal), Allen Miner (1 deal), Fujitsu Ventures Limited (1 deal) and Mike Eberhard (1 deal).