# Kyoko Watanabe

> Kyoko Watanabe is a seed investor at DEFTA Partners backing Medical and Health Care. See 2 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [DEFTA Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/defta-partners)
- Location: San Francisco, United States
- Total investments: 2
- Last investment: Jun 2020
- Lead investor: 50%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyoko-watanabe-7a411

Kyoko Watanabe is a seed investor at DEFTA Partners in San Francisco focused on Medical and Health Care. Kyoko Watanabe is based out of San Francisco, California and is the Managing Director of DEFTA Partners.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Medical | 2 | 100% |
| Health Care | 2 | 100% |
| Artificial Intelligence | 2 | 100% |
| Apps | 1 | 50% |
| Mobile | 1 | 50% |

10 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 1 | 50% |
| Series A | 1 | 50% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| InformAI | InformAI is a technology company dedicated to advancing healthcare through AI-enabled clinical solutions. We specialize in creating sophisticated products for oncology and diagnostic imaging to improve patient outcomes. Leveraging strong partnerships, we deliver impactful solutions in large and fast growing markets. Located in the Texas MedicalCenter in Houston, Texas (largest global medical center), we have access to world renowned medical experts, medical institutions and proprietary datasets. | $1.8M | Seed | Jun 26, 2020 |  |
| Savonix | Savonix provides a valid and reliable measurement of cognitive function mapped to real world outcomes in domains like cognitive flexibility and on road performance in aging populations. Their customers include doctors, researchers, Fortune 50 insurance, and governments. Their platform provides users with easy to use and accessible tests of theirbrain function in multiple domains from memory to implicit learning that they can complete on a smartphone or tablet – guided and reported on by a virtual clinician. This information can in turn be used to understand risk for dementia and other brain disorders, as well as drive precision medicine in treatment planning and diagnosis. Unique to Savonix is their 3D game platform for testing that drives meta-data which has already resulted in the ability to report on the novel cognitive domain of Implicit Learning without adding a test but deriving it from passive in app performance in gold standard measures. Savonix is the only widely available mobile-ready digital cognitive test for early detection of cognitive change that is backed by decades of research into cognitive testing. They didn’t invent the wheel, they made it affordable, accessible, actionable and scalable. | $9.6M | Series A | Dec 18, 2018 |  |

2 of 2 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [DigiTx Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/digitx-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Fusion Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/fusion-fund) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Joyance Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/joyance-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Rethink Impact](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/rethink-impact) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Social Starts](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/social-starts) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [StartUp Health](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/startup-health) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About DEFTA Partners

VC Fund · San Francisco, United States

DEFTA Partners is a venture capital firm focusing on technology. They primarily make seed and first round investments in early stage information technology companies with global opportunities to accelerate growth. DEFTA has offices and partners in the United States, Japan, Israel and the United Kingdom. via: DEFTA Partners

3 contacts available at DEFTA Partners.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Arie Kahana | Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/arie-kahana |
| Kyoko Watanabe | Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/kyoko-watanabe |
| Masa Isono | Principal | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/masa-isono |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Kyoko Watanabe invest in?

Kyoko Watanabe invests primarily in Medical, Health Care and Artificial Intelligence startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 2 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Kyoko Watanabe last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Kyoko Watanabe closed in Jun 2020. Shizune tracks 2 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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