Sakae Asanuma
Founding President and CEO @ Taiho Ventures
Menlo Park, United States
Sakae Asanuma is a Series A investor at Taiho Ventures in Menlo Park focused on Biotechnology and Medical. Sakae Asanuma is based out of Menlo Park, California and is the Founding President and CEO of Taiho Ventures. Sakae previously worked at Astellas Venture Management LLC as a President and CEO. Sakae Asanuma attended the Carnegie Mellon University - The Tepper School of Business.
- Total investments:
- 14
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 64%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Sakae Asanuma invests in
BiotechnologyMedicalTherapeuticsHealth CareLife Science
Stages Sakae Asanuma invests in
Series ASeries BSeedSeries C
Countries Sakae Asanuma invests in
United StatesUnited KingdomThe Netherlands
Investment Focus
Industry
- Biotechnology 9 (64%)
- Medical 6 (43%)
- Therapeutics 6 (43%)
- Health Care 4 (29%)
- Life Science 4 (29%)
Stage
- Series A 4 (29%)
- Series B 4 (29%)
- Seed 2 (14%)
- Series C 2 (14%)
Country
- United States 6 (43%)
- United Kingdom 2 (14%)
- The Netherlands 1 (7%)
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
Storm Therapeutics
|
Targeting pathways that modify RNA to deliver novel cancer therapeutics. | $56M / Series C / Apr 16, 2026 | |
Crossbow Therapeutics
|
Crossbow Therapeutics is a seed-stage, stealth-mode oncology startup company. The company develops antibody engineering for intracellular cancer targets. | $77M / Series B / Mar 18, 2026 | |
Cellvie
|
Cellvie develops cell-derived medicines, leveraging the therapeutic potential of mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell.Mitochondria are at the heart of complex life's origin. Likely a bacterium at the time, the would-be-organelle merged with a simple organism, entering into a symbiotic relationship: The mitochondria began supplying theenergy for elaborate cellular functions to evolve, while the organism provided the mitochondria with an environment to thrive. Today, mitochondria are found in all human cells, except for red blood cells. They take on a pivotal role in cellular fate, as they produce most of the energy (ATP) and are involved in a large number of cellular and metabolic processes. The density of the organelles is particularly high in cells requiring a lot of cellular energy - e.g. cardiomyocytes or brain cells.Mitochondria function, and hence energy supply to the cell, may be impaired due to acute insults (e.g. ischemia) or genetic disorders (e.g. LOHN).Researchers at Harvard University developed an approach for mitochondria augmentation and replacement to ameliorate the damages from ischemia-reperfusion injury. Ischemia is a lack of blood flow leading to an undersupply of oxygen and an impairment of mitochondria function. Reperfusion describes the re-introduction of blood flow, inducing an oversupply of oxygen. Both, ischemia and reperfusion, damage cells, with the mitochondria dysfunction being at the heart of the injury. The cascade of events, from ischemia to reperfusion, will eventually lead to cell death. The most prominent acute conditions associated with ischemia-reperfusion injury are heart attacks. At Cellvie, we are developing a means to transplant viable mitochondria into the compromised cells, to interrupt the said cascade of events, re-enabling the cells to turn oxygen into energy via the mitochondria. | $5M / Seed / Sep 09, 2025 | |
Normunity
|
Normunity is a biotechnology company creating a new class of precision immuno-oncology medicines, called immune normalizers, that target novel mechanisms that free the body’s normal immunity against cancer.Based on an ongoing, interactive academic-biotech alliance with the lab of Dr. Lieping Chen at Yale School of Medicine, Normunity is targetingnewly-discovered mechanisms of immune disruption in cancer based on proprietary discovery platforms that elucidate the complex interactions between human cancer and the immune system. The company is advancing an emerging pipeline of immune normalizers, including initial drug programs that target mechanisms that drive the exclusion of T-cells from immune-sensitive tumors and other mechanisms that are barriers to normal immune function in cancer.Normunity is located in Boston, Massachusetts and West Haven, Connecticut. | $75M / Series B / Jan 13, 2025 | |
Anavo Therapeutics
|
Anavo Therapeutics is the first company to systematically drug phosphatases, a rich target space previously considered undruggable for decades. We have attracted world-leading scientific expertise in phosphatase-driven disease biology and drug discovery to unlock the full potential of phosphatase-targeted allosteric modulators. In oncology, Anavois developing multiple first-in-class therapeutic programs and will build on partnerships around its platform to establish a rich pipeline across several indications | $9.4M / Seed / May 02, 2023 | |
|
Cellvie
|
Cellvie develops cell-derived medicines, leveraging the therapeutic potential of mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell.Mitochondria are at the heart of complex life's origin. Likely a bacterium at the time, the would-be-organelle merged with a simple organism, entering into a symbiotic relationship: The mitochondria began supplying theenergy for elaborate cellular functions to evolve, while the organism provided the mitochondria with an environment to thrive. Today, mitochondria are found in all human cells, except for red blood cells. They take on a pivotal role in cellular fate, as they produce most of the energy (ATP) and are involved in a large number of cellular and metabolic processes. The density of the organelles is particularly high in cells requiring a lot of cellular energy - e.g. cardiomyocytes or brain cells.Mitochondria function, and hence energy supply to the cell, may be impaired due to acute insults (e.g. ischemia) or genetic disorders (e.g. LOHN).Researchers at Harvard University developed an approach for mitochondria augmentation and replacement to ameliorate the damages from ischemia-reperfusion injury. Ischemia is a lack of blood flow leading to an undersupply of oxygen and an impairment of mitochondria function. Reperfusion describes the re-introduction of blood flow, inducing an oversupply of oxygen. Both, ischemia and reperfusion, damage cells, with the mitochondria dysfunction being at the heart of the injury. The cascade of events, from ischemia to reperfusion, will eventually lead to cell death. The most prominent acute conditions associated with ischemia-reperfusion injury are heart attacks. At Cellvie, we are developing a means to transplant viable mitochondria into the compromised cells, to interrupt the said cascade of events, re-enabling the cells to turn oxygen into energy via the mitochondria. | $5.5M / Seed / Feb 06, 2023 | |
Dren Bio
|
Dren Bio is a biotechnology company with a portfolio of attractive projects focused on powerful protein engineering technologies for the depletion of cells, protein aggregates, and other disease-causing agents. It is a holding company business model aimed at creating value with multiple projects as stand-alone assets. | $65M / Series B / Jun 14, 2022 | |
Vertero
|
Axial Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company harnessing the gut-brain axis to develop novel Central Nervous System (CNS) Therapeutics to improve the quality of life for people with CNS diseases and disorders. | $37.3M / Series C / Oct 13, 2021 | |
|
Anavo Therapeutics
|
Anavo Therapeutics is the first company to systematically drug phosphatases, a rich target space previously considered undruggable for decades. We have attracted world-leading scientific expertise in phosphatase-driven disease biology and drug discovery to unlock the full potential of phosphatase-targeted allosteric modulators. In oncology, Anavois developing multiple first-in-class therapeutic programs and will build on partnerships around its platform to establish a rich pipeline across several indications | $24M / Seed / Apr 22, 2021 | |
Orna Therapeutics
|
Orna Therapeutics is a biotechnology company dedicated to designing and delivering a new class of fully engineered circular RNA (oRNA) therapeutics with the potential to change the way we treat disease. Orna’s proprietary platform combines novel technology to create oRNAs that drive protein expression with validated and unique delivery solutions. | $80M / Series A / Feb 24, 2021 | |
| See all 14 investments → | |||
Co-Investors
About Taiho Ventures
Taiho Ventures is a company that specializes in the research and development of pharmaceuticals.
Taiho Ventures Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sakae Asanuma
Founding President and CEO
|
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FAQ
What does Sakae Asanuma invest in?
Sakae Asanuma invests primarily in Biotechnology, Medical and Therapeutics startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 14 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 Sakae Asanuma last invest?
The most recent investment recorded for Sakae Asanuma closed in Apr 2026. Shizune tracks 14 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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