Yozo Otsuki

Yozo was born in Kyoto, Japan but has resided in multiple locations since his youth, including Manhattan, Toronto, Sydney (Australia), and Singapore. He joined Goldman Sachs Tokyo under the Securities Lending division but left to pursue his passion in entrepreneurship. Inspired by his parent's experience owning a Jazz Kissaten in Kyoto, Yozo founded Kurasu, an e-commerce store specializing in Japanese coffee equipment, selling to a global audience. Done all through bootstrap, Kurasu is now a globally recognized specialty coffee roaster and importer exporter of several major coffee brands. Kurasu is currently based in Kyoto, with seven shops, including Bangkok and Singapore. Yozo started KOHII in 2021 as a startup building a community app for coffee lovers where anyone can find and purchase sustainable, delicious coffee anytime, anywhere. Through Kurasu and KOHII, Yozo's mission is to empower coffee roasters and the coffee community globally.