Our Team & Advisors
Reina Nakamura
General Partner
Reina leads Lyra Ventures as general partner. Her passion for how technology is reshaping the fashion industry, and her experience investing in Asian markets, led her to recognise the opportunity for a unique fund dedicated to support startups re-inventing the business of fashion with catalyst for growth in Asia. Reina works closely with a wide network of experts in fashion technology from around the globe.
Previously Reina was a senior member at Cento Ventures, where she involved in deal assessment and portfolio support. Her particular focus has been on partnership development between startups and both corporates and investors. Reina did cross-border M&A and defence advisory at Lazard Frere KK, where she helped Japanese corporations assess & execute deal opportunities. Before Lazard, Reina worked at Japanese consulting and investment firm Dream Incubator Singapore, where she supported Japanese clients’ entry into Indonesia, India, and Malaysia, and assisted strategic partnerships and M&A with local corporates.
Reina holds a BA of Laws, Political Science from Keio University in Japan. She is fluent in Japanese, English and Bahasa Indonesia.
Debra Langley
Venture Partner
Debra is based in Singapore and is an advisor to fashion, retail and related technology brands, working with them on brand and product positioning, international expansion and funding strategies. She is a Board Director at WRAP, a non-profit based in Arlington, VA, USA that is dedicated to ensuring social compliance and integrity in global manufacturing, and she serves on the Advisory Board for DesignSingapore Council, Singapore’s national agency for design. She is also a member of the Advisory Council for Vogue Singapore, and a mentor in the FarFetch X Outlier Ventures Dream Assembly Base Camp accelerator for Web3 luxury fashion and commerce.
Previously, Debra was the CEO of a retail venture specialising in contemporary Asian fashion brands that was an early omnichannel proposition. Before this, she was President, DKNY JEANS International, leading the business in all non-US markets, and President Asia-Pacific for Borderlinx, a global ecommerce enabler. Prior to that, she was a co-founder of an online health and wellness platform in partnership with philanthropist Michael Milken, and held a business development position in New York for the international division of the Hearst Corporation.
Debra is a US and New Zealand citizen, and a Singapore Permanent Resident.
Alicia Teo
Associate
Alicia has broad experience across consumer & B2B tech, having worked with startups and strategic VCs in six cities around the world. She is an Israel-Asia Leaders Fellow and the co-founder of Makers with a Mission, an Israeli non-profit focused on empowering disabled communities through inclusive design.
Suraya Goddard
Operations Manager
Suraya is the operations manager and team assistant in Lyra Ventures. Suraya has been head of operations at a digitally-native consumer brand, a sub-surface analyst for Woodside Energy, and specialised in corporate actions at Commonwealth Bank. Suraya holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics and Corporate Finance) from the University of Western Australia.
Jonathan Price
Advisor
Jonathan Price is a seasoned retail and consumer executive with over 30 years of experience. His expertise spans operations and investments, drawing from his extensive experience at TPG Capital and leadership positions at global retailers such as Marks and Spencer and The Body Shop. As an advisor to Lyra Ventures, he actively collaborates with founders to help them with scaling their business to critical growth.
He started his career at British retailer Marks and Spencer, holding multiple key roles until his final appointment in the International Franchise Group, based in Hong Kong. In 1999, he became the Vice President of Consumer Asia Pacific for Gateway Computers Ltd. In 2002, he joined the Targus Group International as President Asia Pacific and became the Global COO. In 2005, he was appointed as the Managing Director of The Body Shop Asia Pacific region, covering 16 countries and was also on the companies’ group executive committee. Since 2010, he has been working with TPG Capital as their senior advisor for retail and consumer focusing on the Asia Pacific region. Based out of Singapore, he has worked with numerous portfolio companies across Asia and served on boards in India, Japan, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.
He is also the founder and CEO of Jolsadoma and Laguna Consulting companies, providing strategic advice to the founders on retail best practices and transformational initiatives. He has worked with and invested in a number of startups including Redmart, Singapore’s leading online grocery ecommerce site; Pomelo, a vertically integrated ecommerce fashion brand in Thailand; Pixibo, a forefront size and fit platform; and Mercaux, a digital in-store sales platform.
Koji Yanagisawa
Advisor
Koji is the executive vice president and Chief Financial Officer at ZOZO Inc. (TSE: 3092), the operator of Zozotown, which is Japan’s largest and most innovative fashion e-commerce platform. He joined ZOZO Inc. in its early years and leads the key strategic agenda and business management of the entire group.
Koji is an active advisor at Lyra Ventures, where he provides valuable insight and advice across all aspects of our investments from his years of experience at the heart of Japan’s digital fashion business. In parallel, he also serves as an external director at COLOPL, a leading mobile game services company in Japan (TSE:3668), since 2015.
Prior to ZOZO Inc., Koji held a number of senior managerial positions within finance and management consulting industries.
Koji holds a BA in Economics from Keio University in Japan. He is fluent in Japanese and English.
Minoru Fukuda
Advisor
Minoru has been working for global management consulting firms for the last 16 years in Japan. He focuses on the lifestyle industry, including apparel, cosmetics, luxury, retail, food & beverage and much more. He has also supported various private equity funds in conducting business due diligence and value-up strategy in the lifestyle industry and is also the strategic advisor of a well-known fashion tech start up in Japan. Minoru is the author of the well-known industry title, “The Future of Apparel in 2030.”
Christine Goulay
Advisor
Christine has over 20 years of professional experience at the intersection of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation, with a specialization in fashion. She recently launched Sustainabelle Advisory Services focusing on innovation as the key to driving positive environmental and social impact. Previously, Christine was the Global Director of PANGAIA SCIENCE, the B2B arm of PANGAIA. Additionally, Christine was Head of Sustainable Innovation at Kering where she worked to fast-track circular and impact-driven innovations across the group.
She also spent several years at INSEAD in the Centre for Entrepreneurship, where she focused on business model innovation for double and triple bottom line companies. Before that, she launched the B2B business, Edun Live, part of the ethical fashion brand, Edun Apparel, founded by Ali Hewson and Bono. She also practiced as a corporate lawyer specializing in venture capital and private equity law. Christine attended Harvard University, holds a law degree from Boston College Law School and has an MBA from INSEAD. She recently completed an executive education course through The Wharton School on Corporate Governance: Maximizing Effectiveness in the Boardroom.