About us
Alpaca was founded in 2025 by a group of researchers, care professionals, technologists and families who have all personally experienced positive aspects of care through their work or caring for a loved one. We want to help any family caring for a loved one to enable to create positive care experiences and help them participate in a fundamental human activity that enriches our lives.
Our team
Chair
Nick Hird
30+ years is medical research working on drug discovery R&D, including almost 20 years in Japan at Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. After becoming interested in non-drug approaches for dementia therapy, Nick left Takeda to found a start-up company developing digital technology for personalized interventions to support people with dementia and their families.
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Vice-chair
Hayato Watanabe
20+ years of life science VC investment and advisory experience. Currently, President & CEO of Crafton Biotechnology based in Nagoya/Tokyo. Hayato has been involved in the creation of a number of biotechs as well as startups involved in non-pharmacological intervention for patients with dementia or MCI.
Operations
Tohmi Osaki
Occupational Therapist, Doctor of Medical Rehabilitation and Lecturer at Faculty of Comprehensive Rehabilitation, Kobe Gakuin University.
After graduating from Kobe University, he worked as an occupational therapist supporting people with dementia and became a university professor in 2017. He is currently mainly involved in dementia prevention intervention research including the J-Mint project at Tamba City, Hyogo Prefecture.
Alpaca details
Formation
Established as a non-profit organization in Kobe, Japan on January 23rd 2025.
Vision
Contribute to creating a society where the positive aspects of care are used to enable people with dementia and their loved ones to continue to live happy and fulfilling lives within their communities..
Objectives
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Develop methods, including using technology, to enable people in the care triad to create positive aspects of care in their daily lives.
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Use Citizen Science research to conduct trials with families to generate evidence that these methods are effective in the real world and scientifically valid.
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Provide information and research results about positive aspects of care that are easily understandable to families and care givers. Also, share our research results with academia and the dementia care research community at conferences and in scientific publications.
Our Partners
