Joseph Tou and Simone Lavizzari left the Japanese conglomerate's CVC unit, the latter having taken up an investment manager role at Join Capital.
Joseph Tou and Simone Lavizzari have departed from Sony Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Japanese electronics and entertainment firm Sony.
Tou, who did not disclose his next steps, was a California-based managing director focused on entertainment technology developers. Before joining Sony Innovation Fund in 2016, he spent over a decade as vice president of corporate development at Sony Corporation of America.
Italy-based Lavizzari joined Sony Ventures in 2021 as senior investment manager, before being made investment director in October 2023. He targeted companies working on deeptech and B2B software in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is now an investment manager at industrial and enterprise tech VC firm Join Capital.
Launched in 2016, Sony Ventures runs multiple vehicles including the initial Sony Innovation Fund focused on entertainment, healthcare, mobility, sensor and financial technology startups.
The Innovation Growth Fund, a joint venture with brokerage Daiwa Securities, was then launched in 2019 to back growth-stage companies. After that, the unit launched Sony Innovation Fund: Environment, Sony Innovation Fund 3 and Sony Innovation Fund: Africa.
Last month, Sony Ventures co-founder and GCV Powerlist mainstay Gen Tsuchikawa left his chairman position after two decades at the parent firm.
