THE BRIDGE

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European firms taking a full dive into Asian underwater market

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This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. A manufacturing startup from Nice, France and an Italian “diving computer” maker showcasing their products at an annual show targeting the diving market in Asia. Held at the Sunshine 60 Building in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward (from whence the current Tokyo Metropolitan Gov. Yuriko Koike hails), many overseas companies albeit mostly those involved in services such as resort operations took part in this event. The French firm Visit Seabed which at the last show announced its diver stability device last year (improved this year in terms of size and design) unveiled at the 2017 its new product – a world first – called Seabed Buggy which assists those divers exploring the shallower seabeds in a safer and stressless manner. Even those who may not have much stamina can now use this underwater vehicle to move about freely. According to the company, it took a few years to perfect this powered “board” since several designs were tried out and many patents required to realize those were filed. The final version enables divers to “scoot” near the seabed thanks to facilitated operations. As…

This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.


Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy

A manufacturing startup from Nice, France and an Italian “diving computer” maker showcasing their products at an annual show targeting the diving market in Asia. Held at the Sunshine 60 Building in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward (from whence the current Tokyo Metropolitan Gov. Yuriko Koike hails), many overseas companies albeit mostly those involved in services such as resort operations took part in this event.

Visit Seabed CEO Frederic Castellanet on the left
Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy

The French firm Visit Seabed which at the last show announced its diver stability device last year (improved this year in terms of size and design) unveiled at the 2017 its new product – a world first – called Seabed Buggy which assists those divers exploring the shallower seabeds in a safer and stressless manner. Even those who may not have much stamina can now use this underwater vehicle to move about freely.

Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy

According to the company, it took a few years to perfect this powered “board” since several designs were tried out and many patents required to realize those were filed. The final version enables divers to “scoot” near the seabed thanks to facilitated operations. As an aside, it is understood that there are more activities in the offing for French Polynesia, being one of the potential Visit Seabed user space, as the local government is pushing for more resort developments.

Image credit: Ratio Computers

This year, the Italian company Ratio Computers were also conspicuous at the diving confab. The computer in this case is not the ones used to access the Internet but those used by divers to ensure that they have a handle on their underwater activities related to the amount of gas left in the tank (which needs to take into account the time required upon surfacing since a sudden rise would result in the bends and other ailments), depth and other vital information. (Speaking of Italy, it has of late been a hotbed of startup activities.)

It is thought that with the further spread of interest in underwater leisure as well as business such as aquatic environment use like water use (one novel project is outlined by “waterpolitan.com” although currently its focus does not cover the oceanic environment yet), Japan and Asia promises to become a fertile ground [sic!] for expanded use of diving equipment and devices.

Feeling a part of something bigger

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This guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). You can read more on his blog at http://rude.vc or follow him @markbivens. The Japanese translation of this article is available here. The other day a tech CEO that I admire and keep in touch with occasionally mentioned something that really resonated with me. The guy is a fantastic entrepreneur, one of the best I know, as well as an excellent visionary in his marketspace. Like most CEOs in a fast-growing technology venture, this one finds himself on the road often, striking business development deals and generally evangelizing his company all over the world. Following one particular stretch in which this guy was traveling for an extended period, some members of his staff remarked how refreshing it was to have him back in the office to re-energize their motivation levels for their relentlessly demanding jobs. I find this totally unsurprising. It isn’t that his employees are not self-starters lacking the ability to work without daily guidance. On…

mark-bivens_portraitThis guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). You can read more on his blog at http://rude.vc or follow him @markbivens. The Japanese translation of this article is available here.


Image credit: peshkova / 123RF

The other day a tech CEO that I admire and keep in touch with occasionally mentioned something that really resonated with me. The guy is a fantastic entrepreneur, one of the best I know, as well as an excellent visionary in his marketspace. Like most CEOs in a fast-growing technology venture, this one finds himself on the road often, striking business development deals and generally evangelizing his company all over the world.

Following one particular stretch in which this guy was traveling for an extended period, some members of his staff remarked how refreshing it was to have him back in the office to re-energize their motivation levels for their relentlessly demanding jobs.

I find this totally unsurprising. It isn’t that his employees are not self-starters lacking the ability to work without daily guidance. On the contrary, employees in a startup are by definition talented and ambitious, and this group was no exception. They simply experienced withdrawal symptoms from going too long without being reminded in person of how they fit into this radically innovative company in a way that only a founder can convey.

Indeed, only candidates of a certain profile are attracted to work in a startup. Stability, predictability, and a comfortable salary are certainly not the lures. Rather, it is the opportunity to achieve fulfillment.

People need to feel a part of something bigger

This is human nature. It’s the top chunk of Maslow’s pyramid. Without this feeling, we lose our souls. We become zombies in mindless corporate careers where the sky has been blotted out, so hopelessly dependent on the “system” that we later fight to protect it.

If your motivation level at work is chronically sub-optimal, or you feel that your career is drifting sideways, think about the underlying issue. Look around your work environment. Do you have autonomy? Do you work for an inspiring leader? Are you surrounded by colleagues with infectious enthusiasm? Do you have the chance to succeed or fail on a daily basis? Are you made to feel like you are a key component of a larger vision?

Feeling a part of something bigger can be the most fulfilling reason to work in a startup.

‘Empathy’ is jumping the shark

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This guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). You can read more on his blog at http://rude.vc or follow him @markbivens. The Japanese translation of this article is available here. One of the most powerful yet understated human emotions is under threat. Empathy is the capacity for understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another. In contrast with its close cousin sympathy, empathy approaches a truer shared experience. It is more credible because the empathizer has been in your shoes, and thus shares your experiences and values. The trouble is, businesspeople are glamming onto the concept of empathy in order to self-promote or simply sell more crap. Purveyors of cars, cat food, and coffee are increasingly telling us not only which brands we should buy but how we could live our lives based on collective shared values. On-demand transportation services commiserate with our suppression by the transportation incumbents and entice drivers to break free of their…

mark-bivens_portraitThis guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). You can read more on his blog at http://rude.vc or follow him @markbivens. The Japanese translation of this article is available here.


One of the most powerful yet understated human emotions is under threat. Empathy is the capacity for understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another. In contrast with its close cousin sympathy, empathy approaches a truer shared experience. It is more credible because the empathizer has been in your shoes, and thus shares your experiences and values.

The trouble is, businesspeople are glamming onto the concept of empathy in order to self-promote or simply sell more crap.

Purveyors of cars, cat food, and coffee are increasingly telling us not only which brands we should buy but how we could live our lives based on collective shared values. On-demand transportation services commiserate with our suppression by the transportation incumbents and entice drivers to break free of their shackles. Travel and lodging services remind us that by staying at their properties we celebrate the aiding of refugees, or help the world come together. Even VCs are clamoring to express how much empathy they have for the entrepreneurs in whom they invest.

Admittedly, I’ve been guilty of this last one. I used to emphasize how my three prior startups, which included two flame-outs, make me a better VC.

I’ve been in your entrepreneurial shoes, with some success yet not devoid of frequent struggle and disastrous failure, so this makes me a better financial partner for your startup.

I would claim. Actually, I genuinely believe this, but it now feels contrite when I say it.

Perhaps the extent to which empathy as an advertising technique has become fashionable is best demonstrated by this video ad from the InterContinental hotel brand. Stories of the InterContinental Life Presents: Empathy – A Bespoke Connection.

The accompanying podcast’s episode notes characterize it as a “chat with a pair of philosophy experts about the rewards of empathy in our daily lives.”

As this trenchant piece in The Atlantic sums up perfectly, current ads that evoke the ethic of empathy reflect not only our cultural moment but also our technological one. They focus on empathy-infused user experiences which put the “sell” in the celebration of human connection.

I fear that empathy is jumping the shark, and that triggers my profound sympathy.

Chinese cancer therapeutics startup reveals global expansion plan at BIOAsia in Tokyo

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This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. Dr. Jingsong Wang (王劲松), CEO of Harbour BioMed (和铂医药) which was started up in Shanghai last December, spoke at a luncheon at BIOAsia 2017 in Tokyo. Dr. Wang spoke of how his company was conducting research in Europe (in cooperation with Erasmus University in the Netherlands) while being at the U.S. biopharmaceutical business frontline in Massachusetts regarding immuno-oncology platforms. The company holds proprietary transgenetic mouse patents aimed at human cancer therapeutics. Biotechnology Innovation Organization‘s annual biomed-focused confab has been held in Tokyo at the Grand Hyatt in recent years, bringing together many companies from the Asia-Pacific regions. Investment Banking Vice President Oded Spindel of the New York firm Rodman & Renshaw was the interviewer for this year’s luncheon session, the highlight of the American industrial association’s premiere Asia event, organized with help from Japan Bioindustry Association (which will be holding its own event this fall). It was noted by the Chinese medical doctor who also worked at multinational pharma Bristol-Myers Squibb that his startup already had some 30 clients garnered over the past several months, and had obtained backing from…

This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.


Dr. Jingsong Wang speaks at BIOAsia 2017.
Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy

Dr. Jingsong Wang (王劲松), CEO of Harbour BioMed (和铂医药) which was started up in Shanghai last December, spoke at a luncheon at BIOAsia 2017 in Tokyo. Dr. Wang spoke of how his company was conducting research in Europe (in cooperation with Erasmus University in the Netherlands) while being at the U.S. biopharmaceutical business frontline in Massachusetts regarding immuno-oncology platforms. The company holds proprietary transgenetic mouse patents aimed at human cancer therapeutics.

Biotechnology Innovation Organization‘s annual biomed-focused confab has been held in Tokyo at the Grand Hyatt in recent years, bringing together many companies from the Asia-Pacific regions. Investment Banking Vice President Oded Spindel of the New York firm Rodman & Renshaw was the interviewer for this year’s luncheon session, the highlight of the American industrial association’s premiere Asia event, organized with help from Japan Bioindustry Association (which will be holding its own event this fall).

Dr. Jingsong Wang speaks at BIOAsia 2017.
Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy

It was noted by the Chinese medical doctor who also worked at multinational pharma Bristol-Myers Squibb that his startup already had some 30 clients garnered over the past several months, and had obtained backing from Boston-based VC firm Atlas Venture. Dr. Wang noted as well that the R&D networking from his days at Sanofi was being leveraged fully. Chinese VC firms Advantech Capital, affiliated with Japan’s New Horizon Capital, and Legend Capital Partners (君联资本), a subsidiary of Legend Holdings (of Lenovo fame / 联想控股), backed Harbour BioMed’s launch and expansion last year.

Eight potential AgriTech startups gain places for May Tokyo AG/SUM event

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This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. The Japanese/Asian edition of AG/SUM, also known as “Harvest” in the US where it originated, is an agriculture-centered “summit” particularly highlighting agricultural technology. A pitch competition for potential startups was held in February in Japan, a country which now faces such problems as aging farmer population and dwindling agricultural operations. Japan’s Nikkei News group backed the Tokyo competition. Technology has today become a mainstay in the agricultural sector, including genetic manipulations and cloning, some twenty years after Dolly the sheep dominated the world headlines. There will be a main AG/SUM meeting again in Tokyo this May and eight startup candidates won the pitch. Among the eight was PPAP (Passionate Productive Agriculture with Pecan-nut) of University of Tokyo, but more on this team later. The requirements for giving the pitch held at the Toranomon Hills meeting room in Minato City were that the teams had to offer tech-related solutions to farming issues and that operations had not been started up at competition time. Interestingly, there were in addition to half a dozen winning pitches covering standard agriculture (including the University of…

This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.


Image credit: AG/SUM

The Japanese/Asian edition of AG/SUM, also known as “Harvest” in the US where it originated, is an agriculture-centered “summit” particularly highlighting agricultural technology. A pitch competition for potential startups was held in February in Japan, a country which now faces such problems as aging farmer population and dwindling agricultural operations. Japan’s Nikkei News group backed the Tokyo competition.

Technology has today become a mainstay in the agricultural sector, including genetic manipulations and cloning, some twenty years after Dolly the sheep dominated the world headlines. There will be a main AG/SUM meeting again in Tokyo this May and eight startup candidates won the pitch. Among the eight was PPAP (Passionate Productive Agriculture with Pecan-nut) of University of Tokyo, but more on this team later.

Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy

The requirements for giving the pitch held at the Toranomon Hills meeting room in Minato City were that the teams had to offer tech-related solutions to farming issues and that operations had not been started up at competition time. Interestingly, there were in addition to half a dozen winning pitches covering standard agriculture (including the University of Tokyo Faculty of Agriculture team).

One pitch was focused on insect ranching for human consumption, by Musshine, and another on fisheries to keep down wasted aquatic ‘harvests’ (as termed at a Japanese agriculture ministry-affiliated research institute), by Tail. However, not all the others were pitching from conventional farming-oriented angles like plantation and soil conditioning, one of the six offering an AR-based farming experience while one more availed a soil-minimal approach with their fintech-applied agrobusiness funding presentation.

Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy

Regarding the latest in tech trends, IoT use was offered by Hackerfarm. Yet, most fascinating was the agronomically-soundness and science-based PPAP team effort led by Dr. Hiroyoshi Iwata, looking to use novel technologies to stimulate and make profitable the nut industry in Japan by expanding pecan-nut production. As it happened, coinciding with FOODEX confab in mid-March, an International Symposium on Food Production Technology centered on the now-lucrative cash crop… nuts… was held at the institution where Dr. Iwata is attached to.

The University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences hosted the symposium which brought leading-edge researchers like Dr. G. Barton Beuler and Dr. Jennifer Randall (New Mexico State University) among others. In particular, focus on use of high-tech farming techniques and genetics to realize a profitable and sustainable agrobusiness grounded in the nutritious yield. The scientific basis for promoting production of the versatile foodstuff was even more convincing upon hearing from experts and makes it worth waiting until the for-public May presentation.

8 hardware startups give pitches at first Hardware Cup in Osaka for Pittsburgh finals

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This is a guest post by Mari Futagami, Community Manager of Kyoto-based hardware startup accelerator Makers Boot Camp. The accelerator holds the Monozukuri Hub Meetup event in Kyoto on a monthly basis. Additionally, all photos in this article were provided by professional photographer Miki Matsuura of Tumiki Photo. See the original story in Japanese. Monozukuri Hardware Cup 2017 was held for the first time in conjunction with Hack Osaka 2017 on 9th February. It is a pitch event hosted by Monozukuri Hardware Startup Consortium aiming to be a stepping stone for the Japanese “monozukuri” (referring to manufacturing in Japanese) startups which can potentially be successful around the world. Monozukuri Hardware Startup Consortium is organized by Darma Tech Labs (Kyoto), FabFoundry (New York City), and TechShop Japan (Minato-ku, Tokyo), and this pitch event is treated as the Japanese regional preliminary of National Hardware Cup which has been held in the US since 2015. Although typical national events in Japan are often held in Tokyo, Monozukuri Hardware Cup will be held in Kansai area for the next three years including this time. Hardware Cup Final has been held in Pittsburgh since 2015, and there is a reason why the regional city was…

This is a guest post by Mari Futagami, Community Manager of Kyoto-based hardware startup accelerator Makers Boot Camp. The accelerator holds the Monozukuri Hub Meetup event in Kyoto on a monthly basis.

Additionally, all photos in this article were provided by professional photographer Miki Matsuura of Tumiki Photo.


See the original story in Japanese.

Monozukuri Hardware Cup 2017 was held for the first time in conjunction with Hack Osaka 2017 on 9th February. It is a pitch event hosted by Monozukuri Hardware Startup Consortium aiming to be a stepping stone for the Japanese “monozukuri” (referring to manufacturing in Japanese) startups which can potentially be successful around the world.

Monozukuri Hardware Startup Consortium is organized by Darma Tech Labs (Kyoto), FabFoundry (New York City), and TechShop Japan (Minato-ku, Tokyo), and this pitch event is treated as the Japanese regional preliminary of National Hardware Cup which has been held in the US since 2015. Although typical national events in Japan are often held in Tokyo, Monozukuri Hardware Cup will be held in Kansai area for the next three years including this time.

Hardware Cup Final has been held in Pittsburgh since 2015, and there is a reason why the regional city was chosen to be the host for the final of the event. Pittsburgh had once flourished as a town of steel industry, but its regional economy was seriously damaged by imported cheap steel in the 1970s. However, Pittsburgh, the city also known as an academic city having good universities such as Carnegie Mellon University, shifted its industrial base into high technology, as well as health, education or finance, and had gradually transformed into a new city since the 1980s.

Attracting innovative sections of top IT players including Google, Apple and Facebook, Pittsburgh has been developing into a more creative environment. Based in such a place, the hardware-focused accelerator AlphaLab Gear, chosen as one of the top 20 programs by Seed Accelerator Rankings Project, hosted Hardware Cup Final. AlphaLab Gear team has been creating an organic ecosystem in Pittsburgh as a key player, tying up with the academic / industrial world in addition to VCs.

Ilana Diamond, Chief of AlphaLab Gear, explained the reason for holding Hardware Cup:

In the US, hardware startups have more difficulties in fundraising rather than web or app startups. I think that is because they could not gain enough understanding of investors or media.

Pitches and exhibition booths

Exhibition booths were set for eight participant startups where visitors can try their products. By allowing them to actually touch and experience the products, their understanding of the hardware development seemed to deepen, and also active communication among startups came to be seen.

In the pitch competition, each team gave a pitch within four minutes and dealt with questions from the judges all in English in five minutes. Under the same regulation with the final, the eight teams competed for a ticket for the final in Pittsburgh.

Atmoph

Gyeong-il Kan, Co-founder / CEO of Atmoph

The first presenter was Kyoto-based Atmoph which developed the world’s first digital smart window under the same name and aims to spread a new travel experience to homes. Co-Founder / CEO of Atomoph Kan’s experience of window-less environment in the US triggered him to start development of the smart window.

With beautiful moving scenery images displayed on the liquid crystal screen and sounds all over the world such as Hawaii, New Zealand, Switzerland or Patagonia, Atmoph provides users to get a feel for actually being there. All images were originally photographed in 4K resolution by partnered cameramen. Currently, more than 500 images of 30 countries have been uploaded and one can purchase them via the app. The window is also able to display daily life information such as weather forecasts or time.

The team is eyeing possibilities for application to health-care or home hub uses.

Dendama

Yoshihiro Otani, CEO of Dendama (right)

Dendama offers an IoT (Internet of Things) kendama (Japanese cup-and-ball toy) under the same name capable of online match games. The player population of kendama is said to be 3 million in Japan and the kendama boom is gradually spreading globally. Dendama is equipped with a sensor capable of discriminating complicated kendama skills by linking with the app and enables online match games with players all over the world.

The team plans exhibition at Kickstarter and SXSW, and continues business activities with a view to linking with AR (augmented reality) technologies.

Lightflyer

Kaoru Kakinuma, CEO of Lightflyer

Lightflyer was spun out from The University of Tokyo and is going to offer the launching service of ultra-small satellites leveraging its know-how of “the microwave rocket” accumulated for 13 years. The launching apparatus costs only tens of thousands of dollars for each ultra-small satellite and that is one-hundredth of conventional ones.

The Lightflyer team has established a research and development in cooperation with the University of Tokyo or Carnegie Mellon University, making efforts to complete the unit to put satellites into low orbit.

Mille-Feuille

Yoshinari Kou, Mille-Feuille

The automated electronic schematic creation tool Mille-Feuille supports programmers or artists without specialized knowledge to freely design their own custom electronic circuits. Mille-Feuille is composed of base board, module board, and device board. Users can participate in designing of the device boards as open hardware and can even sell them.

While sales of device boards will become the first profit for the firm, it also plans to customize and sell the license of the electronic schematic creation tool and its firmware (they are Web tools) to user companies. Moreover, the team has a concept of preparing a marketplace focusing on device boards and offers services like Google Play.

PLENGoer Robotics

Atsuhiko Tomita, COO of PLENGoer Robotics

PLENGoer Robotics develops the original personal assistant robot. The team introduced this time a personal assistant robot capable of changing a general home into a smart home by controlling camera functions or household appliances, which was exhibited at CES too.

Unlike conventional cameras requiring pushing a shatter button, PLENGoer Robotics’ camera recognizes ideal photo opportunities and provides natural photos automatically.

See also:

QD Laser

Hironori Miyauchi, Business Development Manager, Visual Information Device Business Division, QD Laser

QD Laser develops the retina scanning type laser eyewear which projects images directly to wearer’s retina from the built-in laser projector on the eyewear frame. The number of visually handicapped people with impaired vision, who are not completely blind but have cloudy eyesight, totals at about 1.5 million in Japan and 250 million in the world including developing countries so this technology has a possibility of contributing to improvement of their quality of life.

With the specially designed optical system, QD Laser is able to project clear images regardless of the accommodation of eyes including eyesight or in-focus position. The team has been developing the glasses as medical instrument or welfare equipment in order to recover visual senses of visually handicapped people mainly caused by dysfunctions of anterior ocular segments such as corneas and lens. The team also implied the application possibilities in other fields such as AR or smart glasses where significant expansion is expected in the future.

Secual

Naoki Nishida, COO of Secual

Secual was founded in June of 2015, aiming to realize a new style of home security utilizing IoT. When the built-in sensor of the device installed on a window or a door detects unusual vibration, it transmits information to the firm’s center system via the gateway and notifies user’s smartphone of the analyzed information.

The device costs about $90 at least. Since it can be easily installed without requiring wiring works, the team approaches possible users who had gave up introducing home security due to high costs or installation limitations in rental houses, and aims to secure profit by setting $8.7 as the monthly charge.

The team is also developing new devices that work with Secual and is looking to various kinds of business development such as utilization in welfare facilities through strengthening cooperation with external organizations.

See also:

VAQSO

Kentaro Kawaguchi, CEO of Vaqso (right)

Vaqso develops the scent generation device attachable to HMD (head-mount display). Linking with VR contents, it is able to shoot out various realistic smells and provides VR experience with higher reality. The device can be installed to all HMD on the market.

See also:

Awards Ceremony: QD Laser Won the Top Prize

QD Laser team won the top prize

After the pitch competition held at the communication area with a casual atmosphere, the awards ceremony was held at the main arena.

The scent device for VR Vaqso team took 3rd place and the personal assistant robot PLENGoer Robotics team took 2nd place. The top prize went to the retina scanning type laser eye-ware QD Laser team.

(From left) Jeffrey McDaniel, Hikari Takahashi, and Shuji Fujita as judges for the pitch competition

The chief judge of the pitch competition Jeffrey McDaniel, Executive-in-Residence of Innovation Works hosting the accelerator AlphaLab Gear, commented on Japanese hardware startups:

Presentation in English must be the great first step to make appeal to overseas investors. I hope you all grow up utilizing Japanese manufacturing background.

After the competition, judge Shuji Fujita (President of EO Osaka) and judge Hikari Takahashi (Co-founder of Brain Portal) gave advices to eight participant teams about the key to success in business development. Fujita and Takahashi made great efforts to support the Japanese startup culture.

Supplemental Prizes

Yoshiaki Tsuda, Chief Director, Digital Design Lab of All Nippon Airways which acts as the travel sponsor of this event

The qualifier QD Laser team was given a ticket to the pitch competition in Hardware Cup Final (19th to 20th April, Pittsburgh), as well as round-trip tickets from Japan to New York and travel expense support of $2,600 by the travel sponsor All Nippon Airways.

PLENGoer Robotics in 2nd place and Vaqso in 3rd place were given exhibition rights at demonstration area in Hardware Cup Final and travel expense supports ($1,800 for 2nd place and $880 for 3rd place) as well. Moreover, participation rights to Hardware Cup Demo Day which will be held either in New York or Pittsburgh will be awarded to all higher-ranking winners.

While it was the first Monozukuri Hardware Cup held this time, eight teams were chosen as finalists from 24 applicants through documentary elimination and competed fiercely to qualify for Hardware Cup Final by presenting their own products and business plan.

I hope that holding Monozukuri Hardware Cup continuously in the Kansai area will contribute to further growth of the Japanese hardware startups and become a foothold for creating the ecosystem of manufacturing.

Translated by Taijiro Takeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

3 Southeast Asian AI startups that could work well in Europe

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This guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). You can read more on his blog at http://rude.vc or follow him @markbivens. The Japanese translation of this article is available here. Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending the remote webcast of Zeroth.ai accelerator’s class pitch day. Here in The Bridge you’ll find a more comprehensive recap of the event. In contrast, I’ll hone in on three AI startups which struck me as particularly relevant for the European market. Rocco.ai – an AI-powered social media manager. Rocco’s key selling point is improving the efficiency of managing myriad social media campaigns in the saturated space of platforms. Sounds worthwhile. However, I could already imagine another killer app: tweak the Rocco bot to suffer through the countless productivity-sapping meetings which are all-too-common in many Southern European business environments. Impress.ai – an AI-powered candidate screening tool for employers. One of Europe’s strengths is is deep base of diverse talent in the job-seeking pool. Hiring managers are inundated with…

mark-bivens_portraitThis guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). You can read more on his blog at http://rude.vc or follow him @markbivens. The Japanese translation of this article is available here.


Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending the remote webcast of Zeroth.ai accelerator’s class pitch day.

Here in The Bridge you’ll find a more comprehensive recap of the event. In contrast, I’ll hone in on three AI startups which struck me as particularly relevant for the European market.

Rocco.ai – an AI-powered social media manager. Rocco’s key selling point is improving the efficiency of managing myriad social media campaigns in the saturated space of platforms. Sounds worthwhile. However, I could already imagine another killer app: tweak the Rocco bot to suffer through the countless productivity-sapping meetings which are all-too-common in many Southern European business environments.

Impress.ai – an AI-powered candidate screening tool for employers. One of Europe’s strengths is is deep base of diverse talent in the job-seeking pool. Hiring managers are inundated with résumés in countries which have punishingly high unemployment rates. Impress.ai’s tool strikes me as a remedy to optimizing these hiring processes. One open question for bots like these is how do we ensure that our human biases do not become integrated into the AI tools humans build?

Sero.ai – a clever application for deep learning to improve rice crop yields. By taking photos of their rice fields with their smartphones, farmers can obtain AI-driven analytics and disease diagnoses in real-time in order to optimize usage of pesticides, fertilizers, water, and energy on their crops. This led me to thinking: would a similar application be appropriate for vineyards? For example, could a winemaker minimize pesticide usage based on an AI-informed recommendation of insect susceptibility? Or perhaps even the harvest date could be optimized? It would seem to me that a startup from one of the major wine regions in France, Italy, or even Germany would have some legitimacy in this area.

To reiterate what I had mentioned in my predictions post, I believe 2017 will be a breakout year for the deployment of AI applications. By this I mean that AI companies will start to master the processes of expectation management and social engineering in order to bring AI across the chasm of consumer perception. This excites me as an investor.

[On a related note: my favorite venue for meeting AI entrepreneurs in Tokyo is the aptly-named Deus Ex Machina, a surf shop that doubles as a café (or vice versa). If you appreciate AI (or even just a well-balanced Gibraltar, albeit brewed by a human), Deus is worth a stop. If you bump into me there, I’m probably meeting with an AI entrepreneur, so please introduce yourself. However, please don’t “out” me as a VC since the staff of the Deus only know me as the California surfer dude.]

12 employee incentives for your startup which hardly cost a cent

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This guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). You can read more on his blog at http://rude.vc or follow him @markbivens. The Japanese translation of this article is available here. I like to preach that Silicon Valley no longer has a monopoly on tech innovation. Startup ecosystems around the world have emerged and have produced many game-changing innovations over the past couple decades. Yet in one area several of these communities (not all, but many) remain in the dark ages relative to North America: employee incentive management. Readers of my blog know that one of my recurring gripes is the regulatory difficulty in granting equity to stakeholders of French startups. France, however, is not uniquely guilty. The government in the Netherlands, for example, has made granting stock options in startups so fiscally unappealing that the instrument is useless. Between bouts of complaining though, I had also promised to expand on some of the lessons I’ve learned over the years on establishing non-monetary incentives in venture-backed…

mark-bivens_portraitThis guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). You can read more on his blog at http://rude.vc or follow him @markbivens. The Japanese translation of this article is available here.


CC BY 2.0: Via Flickr by Chris Potter

I like to preach that Silicon Valley no longer has a monopoly on tech innovation. Startup ecosystems around the world have emerged and have produced many game-changing innovations over the past couple decades.

Yet in one area several of these communities (not all, but many) remain in the dark ages relative to North America: employee incentive management.

Readers of my blog know that one of my recurring gripes is the regulatory difficulty in granting equity to stakeholders of French startups. France, however, is not uniquely guilty. The government in the Netherlands, for example, has made granting stock options in startups so fiscally unappealing that the instrument is useless.

Between bouts of complaining though, I had also promised to expand on some of the lessons I’ve learned over the years on establishing non-monetary incentives in venture-backed startups across Europe. Many of these lessons could be applicable to innovators in any geography.

A personal story

First, a detour into a personal anecdote. When I first graduated from university with a degree in Electrical Engineering, like most clueless 22 year-olds I didn’t know which career to pursue. I just knew that I didn’t want to become an electrical engineer for a living. This was in the 90s, a period in which the default career step for new grads who didn’t know what to do was… consulting.

Despite not really understanding what management consultants actually did, I miraculously received a handful of job offers from the main firms and decided to join one which seemed like the best fit for me. No offense to this firm, which is world-class, but within three months of my first job out of college I realized that I was not the best fit for consulting.

I began spending spare weekends (spare evenings were non-existent) with a former classmate brainstorming on new business ideas. The positive energy from these sessions drew a stark constrast with my day job. I almost resigned in anticipation, but then my employer pulled a jedi mind trick on me which completely shifted my momentum:

They gave me a prize.

The partners of our firm’s office presented me with an award of recognition for my purportedly extraordinary efforts on a client engagement. It was a glass trophy, with no monetary award attached, but a plaque inscribed with my name and the words, “extraordinary achiever” or something like that.

And you know what, it worked. This glass trophy (which probably cost a mere dollar to manufacture in China) re-energized my motivation and loyalty to my firm for another year. Crucially, I was presented this award during a quarterly all-hands meeting, on a stage to the applause of the entire office. This event motivated me more than any bonus or raise ever could have. Even when I try to look back on the occasion with detached hindsight to laugh, I can still sense some of the residual pride I had felt that day.

With this demonstration of human psychology as a backdrop, and in the spirit of spurring creativity among all company-builders reading this, here are a handful of ideas to attract, motivate, and retain your employees on a startup budget.

12 cost-effective ideas to motivate your team:

  1. Give awards. Recognize performance in a manner visible to the whole company. Prizes could take the form of inexpensive trophies, French Open or Stade de France tickets, Michelin restaurant vouchers, etc.
  2. Hold internal competitions. For example, create an 8-week internal hackathon comprised of cross-functional teams (1 salesperson, 1 developer, 1 designer) to produce a viable new revenue line for your company. Teams present their creation in front of the company at the end of the period. Allocate one hour every Friday morning on company time for teams to collaborate. Pride and ego will probably encourage teams to work on their project outside of company time. The winning team receives a prize, but the real winner will be your startup.
  3. Invite a star performer to join a board meeting on occasion (for those whom would enjoy this and not feel intimidated by it).
  4. Grant extreme flexibility in work arrangements: let employees work the hours they wish, from the location they wish, and measure them solely on deliverables, not “office time”.
  5. Create a warm and fuzzy office environment where employees enjoy spending time. Let employees decorate their own desk, provide free monthly catering from a company like La Belle Assiette (I’ll even give you a 40€ voucher if you’re in Belgium, France, Germany, or UK). Or consider relocating your office to a place like Station F. I recently visited one office that put a barbershop in a side room with a barber on-demand which I thought was really cool.
  6. Invite a visiting speaker once a semester, such as a Silicon Valley type on vacation, or a developer to talk about the latest techniques in Rails, or anyone that might be of interest to the staff.
  7. Be creative in granting job titles. Job titles cost the company virtually nothing yet can deliver immeasurable perceptual value to the employee.
  8. Give employees the latest iPhone. As with job titles, there’s an arbitrage opportunity here between the perceived value vs. cost of free smartphones.
  9. Hold periodic company retreats to brainstorm on strategy in a remote environment like a wine-tasting outing, a farmhouse, a kayaking trip, etc. The key is that everyone be invited to contribute to the discussion. You can abandon company hierarchy for a day.
  10. Empower your employees. Give them some autonomy and the ability to fail without repercussions. To the extent possible, allow them to control their own budgets up to a certain limit.
  11. Communicate as openly as you can about the opportunities and challenges facing your business. Twitter and Medium founder Evan Williams is frequently praised by his employees who remain fervently loyal to him. Keeping employees in the dark is a recipe for underperformance.
  12. Make your employees feel that they’re a part of something big. Treat your employees like fonctionnaires if you want to run your startup like a government agency and go nowhere.

Tokyo Government looking to attract foreign entrepreneurs in effort to create New Tokyo

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This is a guest post authored by Amanda Imasaka. She is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) held “Invest Tokyo Seminar Winter 2017,” headlined by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, on the 25th of this month at the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) headquarters. Their message was strong and clear: create a “New Tokyo,” attract foreign companies and entrepreneurs (especially those from IoT, AI, and FinTech– the so-called 4th Industrial Revolution-driven sectors), lead the world in business. Over four years the government will construct a new Tokyo by putting, using a term coined by Governor Koike, “Citizens First.” Their goal is to create a diverse city where everyone can live peacefully in a sustainable Tokyo capable of continuous growth, which is congruent to also making it a smart city. She listed a number of challenges they are set to tackle, such as increasing Tokyo’s GDP and the number of inbound tourists, while also outlining her FIRST strategy for growth: Finance-Innovation-Rise-Success-Technology. With her commitment to, “no more NATO (No-Action-Talk-Only) meetings,” she seems poised to make this happen, although this comment was made as the lead-in to a brief introduction of the Advisory Panel for…

This is a guest post authored by Amanda Imasaka. She is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.


Image credit: Amanda Imasaka

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) held “Invest Tokyo Seminar Winter 2017,” headlined by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, on the 25th of this month at the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) headquarters. Their message was strong and clear: create a “New Tokyo,” attract foreign companies and entrepreneurs (especially those from IoT, AI, and FinTech– the so-called 4th Industrial Revolution-driven sectors), lead the world in business.

Over four years the government will construct a new Tokyo by putting, using a term coined by Governor Koike, “Citizens First.” Their goal is to create a diverse city where everyone can live peacefully in a sustainable Tokyo capable of continuous growth, which is congruent to also making it a smart city. She listed a number of challenges they are set to tackle, such as increasing Tokyo’s GDP and the number of inbound tourists, while also outlining her FIRST strategy for growth: Finance-Innovation-Rise-Success-Technology. With her commitment to, “no more NATO (No-Action-Talk-Only) meetings,” she seems poised to make this happen, although this comment was made as the lead-in to a brief introduction of the Advisory Panel for Global Financial City Tokyo, which is set to discuss how to revitalize Tokyo’s financial sector for a year and then compile a report.

To lead the world in business, the TMG plans to make Tokyo “Asia’s Top Global Financial City,” and they are hoping foreign financial firms will help them accomplish this, more specifically 40 foreign financial firms between 2017 and 2020. As of now they plan to offer services, such as free consulting, an accelerator program, a financial one-stop support service to provide information on the laws and regulations, as well as publish an English handbook by April of next year. And in true omotenashi style they have even thought of support for foreign families, with plans to build an international school directly attached to Tokyo station (with the area around marked as the main hub for financial talent, and home to both the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Bank of Japan) and the easing of restrictions on foreign doctors practicing in The National Strategic Special Zone (previously they were only allowed to treat patients from their own country).

Image credit: Amanda Imasaka

Foreign companies/entrepreneurs looking to set up shop in the various special zones could reap benefits along the lines of tax incentives, quicker immigration processes, subsidies and low interest loans, among others. Additionally, in an effort to attract another 40 companies involved in IoT and AI, the TMG has pledged to create desks in major cities around the world to establish communication with local hub organizations, as well as boost matching services between foreign companies and Tokyo-based firms. The TMG had previously established Tokyo One-Stop Business Establishment Center (TOSBEC), the Business Development Center TOKYO (BDCT), and the Tokyo Employment Consultation Center (TECC), who together offer full support to anyone looking to establish a business in Tokyo.

Governor Koike and the TMG provided a wealth of information on why Tokyo should be attractive to foreign companies and entrepreneurs, especially those from the healthcare, ICT, and environmental sectors. To give some examples, Tokyo ranks number 1 in terms of urban population, and ranks third on The Mori Memorial Foundation’s ranking of livability (safety, security, etc.). It boasts the world’s 3rd largest healthcare market due to the increasing population of elderly citizens, and after the devastating effects of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami there continues to be a demand for safe, stable, efficient energy infrastructure. Finally, with the upcoming Olympics and Paralympics it is estimated that the ICT market will expand to nearly USD130 billion by 2019.

Both the Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, Mr. Toshinao Nakagawa, and the Chairman CEO of JETRO, Mr. Hiroyuki Ishige, summed up the TMG’s plans for Tokyo by expressing the hope of making it, “the world’s easiest city to do business in.”

“Health, Wealth and Fame”… Nevertheless, You Need Health to Begin with!

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This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. As my late granny, a nurse by training, used to say, “Without Health, what use is Wealth or Fame?” – indeed, that is surely on many a mind as we enter 2017 and the “Year of the Cock” according to the Chinese calendar, with avian flu already in the air. A befitting confab focusing on health and medicine while looking at the Asian setting was held at the end of last year, reiterating the need to closely scrutinize this aspect of human life. Health 2.0, started in the U.S., was first brought to Tokyo in November of 2015 with support from MedPeer… but true to being “2.0” its second meeting (using two Tokyo location rather than all being at Toranomon Hills) saw redoubled efforts. There are other activities ongoing, such as the Digital Health Meetups organized by GREE Ventures, a cornerstone of the “health 2.0” purview, as one startup-backing example. Additionally, the Japanese firm MedPeer has been doing a remarkable job in carrying on the Health 2.0 Tokyo chapter well, as highlighted by their hosting a seminar in September of…

This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.


Image Credit: Health2.0 Asia-Japan

As my late granny, a nurse by training, used to say, “Without Health, what use is Wealth or Fame?” – indeed, that is surely on many a mind as we enter 2017 and the “Year of the Cock” according to the Chinese calendar, with avian flu already in the air. A befitting confab focusing on health and medicine while looking at the Asian setting was held at the end of last year, reiterating the need to closely scrutinize this aspect of human life. Health 2.0, started in the U.S., was first brought to Tokyo in November of 2015 with support from MedPeer… but true to being “2.0” its second meeting (using two Tokyo location rather than all being at Toranomon Hills) saw redoubled efforts.

There are other activities ongoing, such as the Digital Health Meetups organized by GREE Ventures, a cornerstone of the “health 2.0” purview, as one startup-backing example. Additionally, the Japanese firm MedPeer has been doing a remarkable job in carrying on the Health 2.0 Tokyo chapter well, as highlighted by their hosting a seminar in September of 2016 at Nihombashi Life Science Building that covered the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the medical industry quite thoroughly. It is understood that major players ranging from startup Abeja to multinational giant IBM not to mention many medical schools found in Tokyo and around Japan took part then.

The 2016 Tokyo event was the 2nd Annual Health 2.0 Asia-Japan Conference held on December 6th and 7th. Emanating from Silicon Valley, the gathering brought to Asia the cutting-edge innovation taking hold in health and the healthcare-related fields via Japan. At their conferences tech from across the globe have been showcased, not to mention the holding of startup pitches. It featured live product demos including robots, company launches and a breakout session in addition to offering presentation and networking opportunities for those involved in healthcare technologies. The theme this year was “The Future is Here – Most Advanced Technologies and Healthcare.”

The first day sessions were held at the Hikarie complex in the Shibuya district, with its high concentration of startups clustered therein. Hikarie is also home to DeNA which has been providing digital health information, owing to the fact that its founder and current chairperson – who left the CEO position to take care of her ailing spouse – was interested in this situation . Most unfortunately this firm’s “wellness-centered” curation site under the present CEO was found to be dubious just prior to the Tokyo Health 2.0 opening. As luck would have it, the second day’s sessions were held in the Nihombashi district across town, an area replete with pharma and medical device companies.

Judges for pitch session
Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy

Getting back on track, the startup pitch session featured eleven outfits including four from outside of Japan (more than double the number of “pitchers” from 2015). The three-judge panel comprised event sponsor MSD’s business innovations director Katsuhiko Hiwatashi, Stanford University School of Medicine’s Dr. Fumiaki Ikeno and venture capitalist Taizo Son. The winner of the pitch competition, Neuroon based in California, offers a system using light to control a person’s sleep – especially useful for jetsetters and those suffering from sleep-related disorders – was awarded a free invitation to attend the U.S. session of Health 2.0 being held this year on the U.S. West Coast.

Interestingly, the Neuroon “eyemask” is now being availed in Japan by JIN, which runs a chain of Jins spectacles shops (as an aside, this scribe wears a pair of Jins eyeglasses too); this synergistic marketing arrangement could be reference for other startups. Furthermore, underscoring the widespread interest as to sleep disorders, on December 12th the International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (IIIS) headquartered at the University of Tsukuba held its 5th annual symposium, alongside Wako Pure Chemical‘s workshop, in Tokyo. For our reader’s benefit, RIKEN Brain Science Institute’s neural functions expert Dr. Hitoshi Okamoto was the Keynote Speaker.

Neuroon ‘s Ryan Goh
Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy

Neuroon’s Ryan Goh gave the top pitch while the three other foreign firm representatives making pitches were Medable‘s Kevin Chung, GraftWorx‘s David Kuraguntia and gripAble‘s Paul Rinne. Other (Japanese) competitors included those offering medical practitioner information services and monitors for checking overexposure to harmful radiation like ultraviolet (UV) light, which may lead to melanoma, among other products, encompassing those presented at live demos the previous day in Shibuya. Wide interest was illustrated by the fact that not only major medical arena participants but also smaller ventures eyeing the healthcare field were to be espied in the audience.

Medable’s Kevin Chung
Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy
Graftworx’s David Kuraguntia
Image credit: “Tex” POmeroy
gripAble’s Paul Rinne
Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy

This reporter found quite intriguing medable’s development support productlines for healthcare apps, with fascinating names like Axon and Cortex, and saw gripAble offerings that help patients with problems gripping things to be very commendable, reflecting the stiff upper lip attitude oft-seen exhibited by Britons (perhaps magnified by the fact Mr. Rinne whose suitcase had gone AWOL in Dubai was making a pitch wearing a T-shirt in – pardon the pun – the “gripping” Tokyo cold). Yet GraftWorx, the top “batter” for the session, outlining well-designed wearables to be used in the clinical/hospital setting appeared eminently suited for adoption soon in the Japanese medical scene.

The finalist teams at the Health 2.0 Asia-Japan pitch competition.(Neuroon’s Ryan Goh stands in the center).
Image Credit: Health2.0 Asia-Japan

Worth noting as well was that the Health 2.0 Asia-Japan conference organizer’s Japan side operating out of Jikei Medical University, located a stone’s throw away from the 2015 Toranomon venue (its hospital being renowned among many Japanese athletes for treatment of injuries, as observed by hospital-savvy Imedex CEO Ichida), did admirably in coordinating activities. Beyond sponsorship and volunteer opportunities for the 2017 Japan event I wish to spotlight commercial opportunities also, because the presence of Fronteo Healthcare as a sponsor brought to mind the importance of patent in terms of health 2.0, the Fronteo group being known for its patent data business prowess.

Though the Japanese system still does not allow patenting of medical acts unlike other advanced countries, it recently paved the way for “supplementary foodstuff” patenting. Accordingly there is some notable movement in this front entailing university-backed startups, such as those in the Tohoku region pushing forward with innovative developments. A recent unveiling I am aware of is an “antidote” to hangovers that follow drinking sessions in Japan… though apparently such disaster with “firewater” does not apply to this “partial Native American.” However it seems that such openings, if taken on with serious science in mind and approached properly, bode well for startups.

Although healthcare systems across the world have been changing rapidly, Japan likely has the highest potentials for transformation because relatively few Japanese physicians today are using electronic medical records (EMR) and this nation still has a myriad of medical Uberregulations that may be removed. Patients are not well informed about digital healthtech either, despite the fact that Japan has advanced technological foundations. Since it is being faced with unprecedented greying that undermines the national healthcare system, one of the biggest in the world, Japan is seen being a perfect setting for health 2.0 tech to be implemented in producing a positive paradigm shift.