SoftBank's near-$100bn vehicle intends to boost its staff numbers to 800 in the next two years as it puts down roots in new territories.

Chris Downing will stand aside as vice-president and director of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, drawing the curtain on more than three decades at Georgia Tech.

Hitachi will begin investing through the newly formed Hitachi Ventures in June, and the unit’s CEO will be ex-3M New Ventures president Stefan Gabriel.

Shin Takano, a former director of corporate venture capital at Murata Manufacturing, has joined TIS Ventures as senior vice-president.

Martelet will stand down as chief executive, allowing CFO Ian Postlethwaite to marry the two roles as NetScientific looks to continue cutting costs.

Yasuo Miyazawa, who had spent five years in the US as head of Nitto Denko's Nitto Innovations investment vehicle, is set to develop a similar initiative for Sekisui Chemical.

Derek Norman has left Syngenta Ventures and joined Bayer Growth Ventures as vice-president, while Colin Steen has replaced him as head of the unit.

Victor Christou has stepped down from his position as chief executive of Cambridge Innovation Capital just weeks after helping the unit raise $196m in additional funding.

Scott Morley has been appointed as director of the Coulter@Pitt medtech accelerator, in addition to his duties as entrepreneur-in-residence at the university's Innovation Institute.

Elliott Robinson, who was one of GCV’s 2019 Rising Stars, has resigned from his partner role at M12 to assume a growth equity investor position at Bessemer Venture Partners.