Hiromi Kawamata

EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ Asia-Pacific Class of 2026
Founder and CEO, Mecara Co., Ltd, Japan

Hiromi Kawamata is the founder and CEO of Mecara, a Japanese IT enterprise established in 2019. Mecara specializes in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital pupillometry and cloud-based autonomic nervous system analytics. It offers a seven-second pupillary response measurement device along with autonomic analysis, age scoring and clinical decision support for hospitals, clinics, corporations and research institutions.

Hiromi’s entrepreneurial journey was shaped by two pivotal experiences. The first was the loss of her father to lung cancer in 2011, which revealed the inadequacies of existing health monitoring tools. The second stemmed from her global business activities in the US, China and Dubai, where she supported Japanese companies and questioned how Japan could cultivate competitive unicorns. Recognizing AI as a promising field for Japan, she focused on developing preventive health technologies.

With a career spanning Japan, the US, China and Taiwan, Hiromi has led multinational businesses while raising two young children. Her involvement with Silicon Valley startups has further shaped her global perspective. In her early twenties, she founded Lindoors Inc., an innovative advertising agency primarily operated by work-from-home mothers. She also served as the Japan Representative for the Dell International Women’s Entrepreneur Conference and advised Google’s Japan’s women’s employment initiatives.

Mecara aims to establish a new global healthcare infrastructure that enables the measurement and visualization of autonomic nervous function worldwide. Over the next three to five years, the company plans to expand across the Asia-Pacific region and enter the US market, evolving from a device-centered business into a comprehensive SaaS and data platform.