Akira Saito

Architech March was founded to address a clear gap in the market: traditional consulting and advisory models often do not provide family offices, private companies, and investment firms with the strategic connectivity and execution support they truly need. As a senior member of Architech March, I see our mission simply: we help clients amplify their reach, extend their connectivity, and sharpen their strategic edge to create sustainable, long-term value. We are a global value creation platform serving family offices, private companies, and investment firms across the full growth lifecycle. Our clients come to us when complexity increases — during periods of growth, transition, repositioning, capital formation, or strategic decision-making. In those moments, leaders are not looking for another consulting report. They need experienced partners who can connect the dots, expand their resource ecosystem, and move decisively from insight to execution to value creation. Architech March brings together a global network of more than 60 cross-functional experts and senior advisors across the U.S., Asia, and Europe. Our members have built companies, managed capital, scaled organizations, and guided businesses through transformation, growth, and strategic repositioning. Our platform integrates three complementary dimensions: lifecycle value creation, knowledge playbooks, and global resources and connectivity. Through this model, we provide hands-on support across strategy, diligence, portfolio value creation, business development, organizational development, market intelligence, and capital connectivity. Co-founded alongside strategic partners including Genii Capital and Middlemarch Partners, Architech March bridges institutional expertise with entrepreneurial agility. We believe value is created at the intersection of insight, capability, and capital.

Director Board of Directors

Member of TeamFirst – Japan’s leading top-talent community connecting global-minded professionals and opportunities.

Hands-on Financial Services and Management Consulting expertise to early to late stage Startups in Japan considering equity and debt financing, future IPO or international expansion, in both English and Japanese. Advised clients have won at Takeoff Tokyo and GRIC, as well as been inducted into Techstars Tokyo and Antler cohorts.

Finances, Business Development, Human Resources, Sales and Operations Management

Board Director ● Supervised company finances, fundraising (Series B, Convertible Bond Issuance and Bridge Financing of $10M US), payment verification and expanded overseas footprint and manage strategic partnerships and investments for a Growth Stage Payment-as-a-Platform Startup serving the Food & Beverage and Tourism industries ● Contributed to 4x growth in revenue prior to COVID19 ● Administered Japan Operations; HR, IT, Legal, Compliance and Investor Relations ● Collaborated with external auditors to perform short-review to prepare for an IPO audit process, formulated internal policies and controls for the payment business, IT, HR, Compliance, and transitioned the company from a founder-led company to a company with a Board of Directors and external oversight ● Coordinated with lawyers throughout Asia, ensuring regulatory compliance and managed the company’s trademarks and intellectual property ● Updated our business model and plan, produced investor decks and performed regular reporting on company status to stakeholders and investors

● Advised Investment Bank and over 500 companies in Japan and Asia on thousands of aggressive and innovative Convertible Bond structures, including a notable $1.5B US Utilities CB, as well as accelerated book builds ● Leveraged experience and knowledge of primary and secondary equity markets, stock lending, and credit markets to effectively structure Convertible Bonds that were aggressive, yet appropriate for the issuer and the underlying markets ● Presented regular updates for the investment bank and executive management in Japan, Asia and Europe, detailing changes in the Japanese and Global Convertible Bond Markets ● Coordinated with Equity Sales and Trading teams in Asia and Europe and anchor investors on primary equity deals

● Realized $12M US average annual returns and expanded the Callable Asset Swap business, stimulating flow from domestic and international clients ● Traded the convertible bond proprietary book from 2006-2015, managing up to notional $2B US, positioning the trading desk for profitability for both the mid- and long-term concerning directional views of convertible bonds and underlying products ● Provided liquidity for the market, dealing the facilitation book for the Japan, Hong Kong and London Convertible Bond Sales Trading desks from 2006-2009 and 2013-2015. ● Directed the overall Convertible Bond product risk across the firm and developed effective trade analysis tools to identify trading opportunities and assist the Sales Traders in targeting clients ● Implemented the FIS Front Arena for Derivatives to enhance risk management and execution capacity 5x

● Multi-product Sales and Execution Trading for Institutional Investors and Hedge Funds ● Analyzed Convertible Bond, Equity and Options to identify profitable trade ideas for clients, while directing the Derivatives traders to position the facilitation book ● Developed trade monitoring and execution tools to increase client order and execution capacity 10x

● Founded a new technology department providing project management expertise to the IT Division’s core infrastructure, SWIFT International Banking system and introduced operational digitalization to increase reliability and efficiency ● Led strategic and tactical guidance globally in technology security, operational risk, and information technology governance and vendor contract negotiations

● Planned and supported Firmwide Technology Group’s infrastructure, including processes, procedures and standards for enterprise-wide messaging and middleware systems ● Ensured successful architectural design, development and integration of technology and systems for migration to new facilities through strategic and tactical leadership

Track and Field, Sprint Football, Fencing