Dentsu Innovation Initiative’s purpose is to proactively produce new business foundations for Dentsu Group and grow its businesses in the face of accelerated change. At DII, we create partnerships with cutting edge martech/adtech, media, and commerce tech innovators that give our clients an edge. We also make equity investments in these startups through our corporate venture wing, Dentsu Ventures. Simply put, we're the corporate venture & innovation team at dentsu.
This is a critical role on our DII US team, reporting to Head of Venture Partnerships. We have built incredible momentum working alongside our colleagues at our Tokyo HQ, and we’re looking to add a sharp analytical and creative thinker to our team. This is not a traditional investment role, but rather a generalist position that can manage founder conversations, evangelize DII’s vision and process to internal stakeholders, and establish DII as the best partner to founders building in martech, media and commerce.
- Identify, source, and screen startups that align with our investment thesis
- Host office hours and set meetings with potential startups for partnership or investment
- Maintain team CRM for touchpoints with startups and ecosystem partners
- Monitor market trends; stay up to date on developments in our R&D areas
- Actively recruit and meet companies through various channels including online research, networking events and referrals from our network; initiate outbound conversations to bring external deals into the pipeline
- Recommend new investment opportunities and funds that could enhance diversity of portfolio
- Support preparation and execution of our accelerator program
Qualifications
- Background in (corporate) venture capital, startups, and the tech ecosystem; familiarity with marketing technology, the advertising and CX landscape
- Generalist skillset: able to analyze data and write investment memos, as well as bring an accelerator program to life while connecting with a broad range of teams across the dentsu network
- Systems thinker that can be meticulous on details but always connect back to the big picture
- Comfort working with international teams
- Nice to have: valuation and modeling skills; project management skills (ability to orchestrate proofs of concept)
- 5+ years of experience
