Title VP, Growth Ventures & Innovation Company Sony Corporation Bio Austin heads up the Growth Ventures & Innovation group at Sony Corporation of America. In this role, he is responsible for identifying potential growth areas, new business opportunities and emerging technology trends for the Company in support of strategic objectives. Specifically, Austin and his team works closely with Sony’s global headquarters in Tokyo and with the Company’s various business groups in the United States and Japan to identify innovative start-ups and to evaluate and pursue strategic partnerships, venture investments and acquisition opportunities. Austin joined Sony in 2001 as Director of Strategic Venture Investments. He was responsible for managing investments in Oren (acquired by Zoran), TeraLogic (acquired by Oak Technologies), PacketVideo (acquired by Nextwave), EmpowerTel (acquired by IP Unity), and SecureMedia (acquired by Motorola). Prior to joining Sony, Austin was the founder and CEO of TrueScope Technologies, a next generation digital media products and services start-up. Having spent more than 20 years in Silicon Valley, he has been associated with large multinational companies, start-ups and venture capitalists in a variety of roles ranging from engineering management and business strategy to venture investments. Austin holds a master’s degree in Computer Engineering from Michigan Tech and a bachelor’s degree from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India.