# Tomohiro Takano

> Tomohiro Takano is the co-founder and CEO of Genomelink (operated by AWAKENS, Inc.), a Berkeley-based consumer genomics company building what he calls a 'DNA App Store.' The platform lets people who have taken tests from services like 23andMe or AncestryDNA upload their raw DNA data to unlock ancestry breakdowns, ancient-DNA comparisons, hundreds of trait analyses, and DNA matching. Takano started the company in 2016 as a weekend project in Japan with co-founders he met at university, moved to the Bay Area with no visa and little funding, and won a spot at Berkeley SkyDeck one day before the team was set to fly home and shut down. He frames himself as a 'risk manager' rather than a risk taker, and credits a liberal arts education for teaching him to ask the right questions.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Genomelink (AWAKENS, Inc.)
- **Organizations:** Genomelink, AWAKENS, Inc., M3, Inc., Impact Hub Tokyo
- **From:** Japan
- **Nationality:** Japanese
- **Education:** B.A. in Arts and Sciences (Social Sciences / Liberal Arts), International Christian University (ICU), M.A. in Public Economics / Public Policy and Social Research, International Christian University (ICU) Graduate School
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Genomelink, a consumer genomics platform serving DNA-test customers worldwide, Built Genomelink into a multi-product ecosystem including YourRoots (genealogy) and T1D Scout, Took the company through Berkeley SkyDeck and Y Combinator

## Career timeline

- **2013** — Helped establish Impact Hub Tokyo, serving as hosting/community manager and project manager to support social entrepreneurs
- **2015** — Joined medical venture M3, Inc. as a business producer in the Genomics Business Group, handling business development and marketing
- **2016** — Co-founded Genomelink as a weekend project with co-founders Yuta Matsuda and Ken
- **2017** — Established AWAKENS, Inc. in San Francisco to build a platform for DNA data utilization
- **2017** — Accepted into Berkeley SkyDeck accelerator one day before the team planned to return to Japan
- **2021** — Raised a Seed round (latest funding ~$3.5M; total funding ~$8.38M)

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Genomelink, a consumer genomics platform serving DNA-test customers worldwide
- Built Genomelink into a multi-product ecosystem including YourRoots (genealogy) and T1D Scout
- Took the company through Berkeley SkyDeck and Y Combinator
- Grew the platform to advertise 400+ trait analyses and coverage of 130+ ethnicities

## Latest updates

- **2021-06** — Genomelink raised a Seed round (latest funding around $3.5M)

## Links

- Website: https://genomelink.io
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomohiro-takano-a0b3662a
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/genomelink
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Genomelink

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/tomohiro-takano
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-21