Yosuke Ochiai, Hideyuki Sugita, and Cassandra Christian are the founders of Paraventures. Yosuke and Cassandra met as International MBA students at IE University in Madrid, Spain. Coming from diverse backgrounds, what brings them together is a fierce passion for social good and love of travel.

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When Yosuke was 18 years old, one of his best friends, Hideyuki, was injured in a rugby match and was in the hospital for over a year. Hideyuki, and his friendship with Yosuke, had changed forever. As a rugby team, they had talked about hiking Mount Fuji together, but with Hideyuki's accident they thought that it was never going to be possible. 10 years later however, with the help of an expert guide and a special wheelchair, the entire rugby team hit the summit. It was an extremely emotional moment for everyone involved, and because of this experience, Yosuke went to business school to make this experience something that everyone with a disability, and their loved ones, could experience as well. Disabilities shouldn't limit anyone from experiencing the world and trying new things, and at Paraventures we aim to give everyone the experience that Hideyuki and his rugby team experienced together.