Koichiro Araki

Koichiro Araki is an Investment Director at TEL Venture Capital, Inc. (TEL VC), the corporate venture-capital arm of Tokyo Electron Limited, the world's leading semiconductor- and display-production-equipment maker. TEL VC was founded in 2006 and operates from dual bases in Silicon Valley (Fremont, California) and Tokyo. Within the firm, Araki is responsible for investment activity in Japan and also serves in a "Controller" capacity.

Araki has spent his career inside the Tokyo Electron group. Before moving into venture investing, he spent over ten years in Tokyo Electron's Information Systems Division, followed by roughly four years working in the company's Investor Relations function. He joined TEL Venture Capital in 2017, where he now focuses on identifying startups with technical synergies to Tokyo Electron, supporting their growth, and scouting new business opportunities for the parent company.

He holds a Master's degree in electronic information engineering from Yokohama National University. This engineering background, combined with his operational and IR experience inside a global semiconductor-equipment leader, positions him as a strategically-minded corporate investor rather than a purely financial one.

• Invests on behalf of Tokyo Electron in "innovative technologies that have synergy with Tokyo Electron," the world's leading semiconductor and display production-equipment manufacturer.
• Looks for startups whose technology can strengthen TEL's core semiconductor and flat-panel-display businesses — spanning process, design, materials, hardware/software, sustainability/conservation, and peripheral areas — as well as other silicon-fabrication and process technologies.
• As a corporate/strategic investor, the "yes" typically hinges on a credible technical fit and mutual growth potential with Tokyo Electron's businesses, not solely on financial return; portfolio companies gain access to TEL's development and product resources.
• Araki personally owns the Japan market, sourcing and supporting domestic startups and connecting them into TEL's ecosystem.
• Focus areas surfaced in recent deals include ultra-small and real-time sensors (pressure, temperature, gas, flow) for closed/industrial environments, alongside core semiconductor process and security technologies.