TEAM
HOMMA
WHO WE ARE
The HOMMA team is made up of accomplished architects, technologists, designers, and innovators. Our collective experience drives us. The community we build for guides us. Our home is in Silicon Valley, California with offices in Portland and Tokyo.
TAKESHI TED HOMMA
FOUNDER & CEO
Ted was born into a family with fifteen generations of experience in the building trades in Japan, specializing in carpentry in the construction of shrines and temples. He attended Chuo University in Tokyo where he founded an internet startup called Yellnet which he sold in 2002. Following the sale, he joined Sony Corporation that resulted in a relocation to California in 2008. After four years with Sony, Ted joined Rakuten Corporation as the Executive Officer for Global Digital Content. He left Rakuten in 2016 to found HOMMA, Inc with the vision to bring innovation to the residential home construction and smart technology industry. Ted’s decades of entrepreneurial experience and significant depth in technology and international business drive Homma’s goal to revolutionize the residential smart home market.
RYO INOUE
HEAD OF ARCHITECTURE
Ryo grew up in Saitama, Japan before attending the State University of New York and Northeastern University in Boston. Ryo began his design career with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York in 2007 where he worked on several high-rise projects in Japan, the US, and Kazakhstan. After a return to Japan in 2008, Ryo joined Kobayashi Maki Design Workshop in Tokyo and worked on office, retail, apartment buildings and various other projects in Japan, China and Peru. In 2013, Ryo obtained a Japanese Architect License and moved back to the US in 2014. Ryo joined HOMMA in 2017 as Head of Architecture and leads architectural design for all Homma projects.
EDE SCHWEIZER
CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER
Ede Schweizer is an award-winning designer, building start-ups and leading iconic brands. He specializes in creating new futures for physical and virtual brand experiences. Ede has previously held roles at Apple during the first iPhone launch, Google as one of the founding Android designers, Amazon to build the Alexa Design Lab, Nike, and Pinterest. He joined HOMMA in 2019.
MIO GARCED
MANAGER
Mio grew up primarily in Japan where she graduated from Waseda University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Mio then spent four years in the travel industry with the Japan Tourist Bureau where she was awarded Most Valuable Employee in Sales. Following this, Mio joined Rakuten Travel for nine years where she was awarded numerous sales and achievement awards. Mio also established the U.S. branch office in San Francisco for Rakuten Travel where she was responsible for developing the regional sales team. She believes her success comes from the people who have been involved in her life. Her work motto is "get things done," and will do so at HOMMA where she currently serves as a manager.
YUSUKE SATO
SOFTWARE ENGINEER
Yusuke was born and raised in Niigata, NE of Japan, and attended Tohoku University where he achieved a Master’s degree in Computer Science in 2015. Yusuke began his software engineering career with Recruit Holdings, launching new services in its research and development division. Later, he moved to Quipper, Inc. and worked on several significant projects including the full renewal of its front-end web application and the migration from monolith application to microservice architecture. Yusuke joined HOMMA in April 2020 and has been responsible for building a robust system to manage all edge-connected devices.
ROBERT PILE
HEAD OF REAL ESTATE STRATEGY
Robert grew up in Portland, OR and attended the University of San Diego where he achieved a bachelor’s degree in Economics in 2009. He also achieved a master’s degree in real estate development from Portland State University in 2014 and achieved the Certified Construction Manager designation in 2019. Robert has managed tens of millions of dollars in office and retail tenant improvement projects, led the development of a 59-unit mixed use (retail/multifamily) project, and was part of the team that delivered the 32-story high rise tower Park Avenue West in Portland, OR. Robert oversees the strategy and execution of Homma’s residential construction projects.
MARIO ARAI
PRODUCT MANAGER
Born and raised in Tokyo and then moved to California. Mario is inspired by technologies that transform the world and human lives, which inspired him to start his career as a computer system engineer. Prior to joining HOMMA, Mario was COO and VP of E-Commerce of JINS Eyewear US, Inc, successfully completing the expansion of the Japan-based retail business to North America. He also has expertise in digital commerce and business development which eventually led him to achieve $10 million in revenue for JINS. Mario earned a BA of Computer Science from Keio University in Japan.
SUBARU BABA
HEAD OF FP&A
Born in Japan, Subaru spent majority of his childhood in the US. After graduating from the International Christian University in Tokyo he joined General Electric where has spent 8 years serving various finance leadership roles in Corporate, Capital, Power, Renewables, and Healthcare. His expertise includes FP&A, controllership, internal audit, and commercial finance. Most recently he held the role of Finance Director for GE’s Pharmaceutical Diagnostics business in Japan and Korea. In his free time Subaru enjoys Diving, Golf, Tennis, and playing with his Italian greyhound puppy.
SHOTARO UCHIDA
SENIOR EMBEDDED ENGINEER
Shotaro is a software engineer working specifically on embedded systems for more than a decade. He started his career after graduated from Tokyo National College of Technology, then contributed to the various smart home projects. Later he moved to California and joined Kinoma Team at Marvell Semiconductor. His primary responsibility at Marvell was to design and develop a custom Linux distribution for Kinoma Create, a prototyping toolkit to build IoT devices using JavaScript framework. Prior to Homma, Shotaro was a Software Development Engineer at Amazon, working with various projects for the automotive industry including Alexa Auto SDK, a toolkit to bring Alexa into vehicle, which he was responsible for the cross-platform hardware support. He is also passionate about Ramen and helping other restaurants make their custom noodles.
MASA ANDO
HEAD OF OPERATIONS
Masa brings extensive leadership experiences including business development, strategy, partnership, finance, and operations, across various industries. Masa has a track record of leading the international joint venture of multi-billion dollar complex infrastructure projects. Prior to joining Homma, Masa served as Chief Operating Officer for the insect-tech startup company, MUSCA. Masa holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a BA in Social Science from Hitotsubashi University.
JAMES HORN
STRATEGIC ADVISOR
James brings thirty years of experience in operations, venture capital, and real estate to the HOMMA team. After earning a bachelor’s degree in organizational psychology from UC Santa Barbara, James went on to earn an MBA from Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles. After a move to the Bay Area in 1995, James worked with Intel Corporation, RSA Security, and Noventi Ventures, performing operational roles in marketing and strategy before moving to Venture Capital. In 2016, James obtained a broker’s license in Real Estate and manages his own firm. James joined HOMMA as a Strategic Advisor in February 2018.
SHUN MORI
ADVISOR
Shun brings over twenty years of leadership experience to HOMMA and has had wide-ranging success leading product and engineering at both smaller startups and Fortune 500 companies. Prior to joining HOMMA in 2018, Shun led global expansion strategy and product and engineering teams for Roblox and DocuSign – both at the pre-IPO stage. Shun also held leadership roles managing teams across multiple geographies at other technology companies, including Microsoft, Oracle, Citrix, and UIE Japan (as one of its founding members). Shun is originally from Tokyo and earned a MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UC Santa Barbara.
JOJI KODA
CFO / COO
Joji thrives on transforming a vision into a viable business from both a financial and operational perspective. Born and raised in Japan, Joji also lived in Maryland and Rhode Island when he was young. He joined Mitsubishi UFJ (formerly UFJ) in 2002 followed by a move to GE Capital in 2007 where he led financial transactions in real-estate and corporate restructuring. As one of the early members of Cool Japan Fund, an investment arm of Japanese Government, Joji directed investments in four countries (UK, UAE, Singapore, and Vietnam). Prior to joining HOMMA, Joji spearheaded operational improvement projects for multinational corporations at E & Y Transaction Advisory Services. Joji has a BA from Hosei University and an MBA from Chicago Booth.
KYOSUKE INOUE
INTERIM CTO / SOFTWARE ARCHITECT
Kyosuke was born in Hiroshima, Japan and graduated from Tsuyama National College of Technology. He was responsible for the development of many new startup projects at Mixi Inc. and Cookpad Inc. From 2015 to 2019, Kyosuke worked as a co-founder and software engineer at DeployGate, Inc. He joined HOMMA, Inc. as a software architect in 2020 and is leading the company's overall technology development, including recommendations for how to build smart homes, including hardware to software. His hobbies include cooking, road biking, and he has an unparalleled love of wine. He is also involved in winemaking as co-owner of Sunset Cellars, a California winery.
KATHY WRAITH
BOOKKEEPER
Kathy spent the first 15 years of her career as a software development manager at Bank of America and AT&T. She next spent a decade in veterinary practice financial management. For the past 5 years, she has worked as an independent consultant, specializing in small business financial management, bookkeeping and personnel management. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, and an MBA with an emphasis in statistics and human resources management, both from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. Kathy recently relocated to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington and is thrilled to be a part of the Homma Pacific Northwest team.
DAISUKE MURASE
SOFTWARE ENGINEER
Daisuke (also known as “typester”) is a Perl, Go, C, Rust hacker, and open-source contributor. Daisuke has served in a variety of management and programming roles over the last decade, including Tech Lead, CTO, and Open Source developer at a number of technology companies. A native of Japan, Daisuke has spent considerable time in Kamakura, a beautiful, historically significant city in Japan. He now lives in Portland, Oregon where he has been since 2019.
HIKARU SUGIURA
SOFTWARE ENGINEER
Hikaru began programming and robotics as a child – winning the world RoboCup Junior competition at the age of 14. After graduating from Tsukuba University, he spent four years at WHILL Inc, a personal mobility company, where he was involved in the development and launch of two products – one of which was a fully autonomous drive vehicle. Hikaru believes people can focus more on their daily life if technology and intuitive interfaces are common in society. He now takes part as an international RoboCup Junior committee member and contributes to worldwide STEM education.
YUTA OKAJIMA
DESIGN TECHNOLOGIST
Yuta bridges the worlds of design and engineering. Born in Japan and earned a BA in Design and Architecture from Nagoya City University. He began his carrier as a web designer at Sony Communication Network Inc and released many web services for Sony products. After joining UIEvolution K.K. as a UI director, he moved to the HQ in Seattle in 2012 and worked for clients in the cruise, hotel, and automotive industries. Yuta is also a board member of a non-profit organization, Singularity Society, and contributes to OwnPlate open source project that helps the local restaurants during the pandemic. His daily hobby is taking a portrait of the beautiful local craft beers and tasting them.
ERNESTO ESTRADA
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Ernesto was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA where he earned a bachelor's degree in business management. While still in college he began his career with one of the world's leading automotive companies, Toyota Motor Sales. While at Toyota he held a variety of roles which he considers his actual business school. He then took his experience and knowledge to his next venture, with Yamaha Motor where he led their new business development efforts and launched a special experimental brand, YEX. Ernesto then joined Epson in 2020 as a Strategic Marketing Manager for the Latin American Marketing and Communication division, specifically in the commercial and industrial product lines. He joined HOMMA in 2022 where he will help lead the business development efforts.