IDEO Partner Brings Wealth of Human-Centered Design and Creative Expertise to New Business Creator

PALO ALTO, CA/TOKYO, JAPAN, June 22, 2020 /Neptune100/ — Moon Creative Lab, a design-led innovation hub that powers the creation of new businesses for Mitsui & Co., today announced the appointment of Mike Peng as Chief Creative Officer.

Moon Creative Lab, founded in 2018, was created to help unlock the creativity of Mitsui & Co.’s 46,000 strong global workforce and build innovative businesses that will have an exponential impact on Mitsui & Co. and the rest of the world. Through Moon, the best and wildest business ideas from Mitsui & Co. employees are surfaced and provided the resources and conditions to light the way to a more creative future.

As Chief Creative Officer at Moon, Peng will oversee all design aspects of the organization and its work and will lead its continued collaboration with IDEO. Specifically, he will ensure that the new ventures created within Moon are elevated by human-centered design and creativity. Prior to Moon, Peng was a Partner at IDEO where he co-founded and ran its Tokyo office since its inception in 2011. IDEO is instrumental in the creation of Moon and Peng was a critical member of the team in shaping the foundation for Moon’s brand, culture and venture operations.

“Mike has been a core member of our founding team at Moon and his experience in building design-forward organizations will be an asset to our company as we continue to expand our capabilities for Mitsui & Co. globally,” said Kaichi Yokoyama, CEO, Moon Creative Lab. “He is exactly the right leader that will continue to push us to be bold in our thinking and human-centered in our approach to building new businesses.”

While at IDEO, Peng co-founded D4V (Design for Ventures), Japan’s first-of-its-kind venture capital firm that invests in early-stage Japanese ventures and co-creates human-centered products and services to deliver positive impact to the world. Peng graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Neuroscience. He has taught at The University of Tokyo, Keio University, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID), and NYU, among others. He currently serves on the board for IDEO.org, a non-profit committed to create a more just and inclusive world through design.

“My last 14 years at IDEO showed me the power of purpose-led, design-driven organizations, and the impact they can have in the world today,” said Mike Peng, Chief Creative Officer, Moon Creative Lab. “I believe Moon Creative Lab is one of these organizations and I’m excited to bring creative leadership to the growing team and help build new, human-centered businesses from the ground-up.”

About Moon Creative Lab
Moon Creative Lab is a design-led innovation hub that powers the creation of new businesses for Mitsui & Co, one of Japan’s largest organizations. As a 150-year-old company, Mitsui & Co. is in pursuit to become a more future-forward, entrepreneurial company. Through Moon, our mission is to help unlock the creativity of its 46,000-strong global workforce and build innovative businesses that will have an exponential impact on Mitsui & Co. and the rest of the world. To learn more, visit us at: www.mooncreativelab.com.

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