This is the abridged version from our original article in Japanese.
Japan’s MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) Soracom, which offers mobile data communication over its platform, announced today that it has fundraised about 600 million yen (about $5.8 million) from Pavilion Capital, the private equity fund of Singapore’s state-backed Temasek Holdings.
Coinciding with this funding, the company announced that it will set up a local subsidiary called Soracom International in Singapore. In partnership with Mitsui & Co., which participated in the previous $22 million series B funding round, Soracom is ready now to boost its global expansion efforts. The Internet of Things(IoT)-focused MVNO will start this thrust from the Asian market.
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. Tokyo Startup Gateway was commenced in 2014 as a startup support program for those aged 15 to 39 and setting up shop in Tokyo, offered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The secretariat operations are handled by a nonprofit organization based in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, renowned for being a Tokyo startup hub, called ETIC (Entrepreneurial Training for Innovative Community); as its name suggests, the organization offers training to young people who wish to start up and sustain new business enterprises. In addition, this NPO also avails a purely private-sector Corporate Social Responsibility-type training project together with Mistletoe‘s Taizo Son known as SUSANOO. SUSANOO just finished gathering its 4th batch and provides bootcamps focused on social business. ETIC additionally arranges business internships for freshman and sophomore university students through its DRIVE internship program, not to mention having a Makers University set up to inculcate next-generation entrepreneurs and providing entrepreneurial support for the disaster-stricken Tohoku region. As for Tokyo Startup Gateway, the publicly-supported Tokyo effort will help those looking to start up, that is prior to incorporation, a new entity whether for profit…
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.
A briefing for applicants for Tokyo Startup Gateway was made in early June.
Tokyo Startup Gateway was commenced in 2014 as a startup support program for those aged 15 to 39 and setting up shop in Tokyo, offered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The secretariat operations are handled by a nonprofit organization based in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, renowned for being a Tokyo startup hub, called ETIC (Entrepreneurial Training for Innovative Community); as its name suggests, the organization offers training to young people who wish to start up and sustain new business enterprises.
In addition, this NPO also avails a purely private-sector Corporate Social Responsibility-type training project together with Mistletoe‘s Taizo Son known as SUSANOO. SUSANOO just finished gathering its 4th batch and provides bootcamps focused on social business. ETIC additionally arranges business internships for freshman and sophomore university students through its DRIVE internship program, not to mention having a Makers University set up to inculcate next-generation entrepreneurs and providing entrepreneurial support for the disaster-stricken Tohoku region.
As for Tokyo Startup Gateway, the publicly-supported Tokyo effort will help those looking to start up, that is prior to incorporation, a new entity whether for profit or not by affording the opportunity to take part in an idea contest (in the form of business plans in “400 Japanese characters” regardless of nationality, but apparently must be fluent in Japanese). This year’s application was closed on June 12.
The contest leads to selection of those who obtain mentoring, given a look at plans for establishing startups, then given financial support for these businesses. Even if not selected, the applicants – especially those who did not make it to the final round in November of 2016, planning to start up by end of 2017 fiscal year – will be able to utilize the networks formed in moving forward their business activities as sources for Key Performance Indicators.
Not only has this contest led to many new challenges being brought forth by young entrepreneurs (as an aside, if one was still aged 39 as of April 1, one could still apply for that year) such as past applicants aiming to realize the world’s first typhoon powergen system and carrying out R&D on flying cars, but in addition has launched numerous women entrepreneurs due to about a third of the applicants being women. Indeed the program theme of “Change the Color of the World” seems to be the driving force in building an ecosystem for innovation in Tokyo.
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. This is Part 2 of a 3-part series on Silicon Valley for aspiring innovation ecosystems. In part 1 of this series, I provided a very succinct recap of the Silicon Valley narrative. For a more in-depth review, A History of Silicon Valley by Piero Scaruffi and Arun Rao might well be the most comprehensive, and Robert Cringely’s Accidental Empires focuses on the pc industry empire-building during the pre-web era. Understanding the Silicon Valley story is important for those who are striving to replicate the Silicon Valley model in their own communities, such as what various government entities from Europe to Asia aspire to do. Witnessing these government efforts ebb and flow over the years, I submit that two fundamental questions should be addressed: Should governments even try to copy Silicon Valley? What is the secret…
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.
At Red Rock Coffee in Mountain View, entrepreneurs and nomad workers look always busy. (Photo by Masaru Ikeda)
In part 1 of this series, I provided a very succinct recap of the Silicon Valley narrative. For a more in-depth review, A History of Silicon Valley by Piero Scaruffi and Arun Rao might well be the most comprehensive, and Robert Cringely’s Accidental Empires focuses on the pc industry empire-building during the pre-web era. Understanding the Silicon Valley story is important for those who are striving to replicate the Silicon Valley model in their own communities, such as what various government entities from Europe to Asia aspire to do.
Witnessing these government efforts ebb and flow over the years, I submit that two fundamental questions should be addressed:
Should governments even try to copy Silicon Valley?
What is the secret sauce that makes Silicon Valley such a bastion of entrepreneurship and innovation?
Regarding the first question, my opinion is that the answer should generally be no. Silicon Valley today encompasses such a unique confluence of factors — some planned, most serendipitous, and many even difficult to identify — that government attempts to create a replica of Silicon Valley in their home market will inevitably end in futility.
For the Silicon Valley model is one that has evolved over decades. No government in an open market economy has demonstrated an ability to cultivate a 30-year project. Furthermore, Silicon Valley is not the result of a centrally-planned state endeavor. The government, more specifically the State of California, created an environment that fostered the emergence of Silicon Valley, in large part by trying to do no evil. But it was predominantly the private sector and an abundance of rugged individuals that built the foundation for today’s Silicon Valley.
An experienced European VC that I respect a lot reminded me of The Netherlands’ misplaced ambition to replicate Silicon Valley in 1997:
In 1997 the Dutch Government thought of stimulating IT entrepreneurship by setting up a Government supported VC fund called Twinning. All those hype days….. Anyway, like so many other initiatives of governments also this idea ended in a mass failure. In my opinion there is no way of just copying the Silicon valley concept. That is a unique situation, the environment, the infrastructure, the knowledge, experience, but also the heritage, the long experience and history. No way of copying it in 5 years. No way of copying it anyway!
My intention by citing The Netherlands here is not to single them out. On the contrary, The Netherlands learned its lesson and I would submit that today represents a role model for promoting export-driven entrepreneurship and innovation (more on that in a future piece).
None of this wisdom has prevented numerous regions from trying. Silicon Alley, Silicon Prairie, Silicon Roundabout, Silicon Gulf, Silicon Welly, Silicon Beach, Silicon Border, Silicon Desert, Silicon Glen, etc. and those are just the ones beginning with the word Silicon, the list is actually quite ridiculous.
Yet the areas with the most success in creating clusters of innovation have been those that do it on their own terms and play to their own unique strengths, where the government facilitates an environment that doesn’t penalize failure, and then gets out of the way.
New York City has emerged as the world’s second largest market of VC-backed digital media startups thanks largely to the area’s fashion and media sectors (and ironically, the Silicon Alley term has fallen out of fashion). Mayor-emeritus Bloomberg’s policies ushered in a vibrant ecosystem of lifestyle and design.
Los Angeles is now gaining status as fertile ground for gaming startups, its proximity to the Hollywood film studios undoubtedly playing a key role.
Israel boasts the highest concentration of high-tech firms per capita in the world, often companies developing cutting-edge communications and security technologies for export worldwide.
I submit that governments should not seek to copy Silicon Valley, but rather should take inspiration from the factors that rendered Silicon Valley a success. In the third and final post of this series on Silicon Valley, we’ll look at the most relevant ingredients of the region’s secret sauce which might inspire Japan in its goal to spur innovation.
This is the abridged version from our original article in Japanese. Midokura Holdings Ltd., the company offering a software network virtualization technology, announced today that it has fundraised $20 million in a series B round. This round was led by Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ for Short) with participation from Simplex and Allen Miner. Simplex provides major Japanese banks with dealing systems while Allen Miner is chairman of Japanese VC firm Sunbridge Global Ventures who is also formerly Oracle Japan CEO. With the funding this time, the company has raised $44 million in total to date. Midokura has not disclosed any financial details including valuation, shareholdings ratio and payment date upon fundraising. But the company claims that they will enhance development of Midokura Enterprise MidoNet (MEM) and new product line-ups as well as empowering their management and development teams. Since its launch back in 2010, the company’s been led by Tatsuya Kato, chairman of the board and co-founder, who is a veteran entrepreneur also renowned for having served Japanese investment fund Globis as COO. Prior to launching Midokura, he was involved in managing notable Japanese IT companies such as Cybird (TSE:4823) and CSK Holdings (TSE:9737). Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland,…
The Midokura team comprises 60 employees across six countries around the world
This is the abridged version from our original article in Japanese.
Midokura Holdings Ltd., the company offering a software network virtualization technology, announced today that it has fundraised $20 million in a series B round. This round was led by Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ for Short) with participation from Simplex and Allen Miner. Simplex provides major Japanese banks with dealing systems while Allen Miner is chairman of Japanese VC firm Sunbridge Global Ventures who is also formerly Oracle Japan CEO. With the funding this time, the company has raised $44 million in total to date.
Midokura has not disclosed any financial details including valuation, shareholdings ratio and payment date upon fundraising. But the company claims that they will enhance development of Midokura Enterprise MidoNet (MEM) and new product line-ups as well as empowering their management and development teams.
Since its launch back in 2010, the company’s been led by Tatsuya Kato, chairman of the board and co-founder, who is a veteran entrepreneur also renowned for having served Japanese investment fund Globis as COO. Prior to launching Midokura, he was involved in managing notable Japanese IT companies such as Cybird (TSE:4823) and CSK Holdings (TSE:9737).
Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, Midokura runs its business operations at six different locations worldwide, though substantial headquarter operations is found in Tokyo. According to Kato who is based out of Tokyo, their system development team is based out of Barcelona, Spain while the San Francisco team is in charge of marketing operations.
The company has been developing MEM, a software network virtualization technology which replaces hardware network devices with a series of software, enabling service providers to reduce installation and maintenance costs for network environment.
Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy
Tokyo-based Umami, the Japanese company behind the restaurant mobile app for foreign visitors under the same name, announced last week that it had fundraised 50 million yen (about $466,000) in a seed round. Participating investors in this round were Voyage Ventures, Fujita Kanko (TSE:9722), CSAJ Startup and other undisclosed four companies. Voyage Ventures is the investment arm of Japanese internet company Voyage Group (TSE:3688) while Fujita Kanko is the owner company of notable Japanese hotel chains such as Chinzanso and Washington Hotels. Upon gaining this funding, Umami wants to focus more on driving hotel guests from foreign countries to restaurants and recreational services in town. Since its launch back in April of 2015, the Umami mobile app has been adopted by about 250 restaurants in Japan. The app allows restaurants to provide their menu in English, Chinese (simplified and traditional) and Korean as well as Japanese, attract customers through coupons, and spread words using social network services so that they can better reach out to foreign visitors. For customers, it helps them find restaurants following their dining preference using a recommendation feature, making orders at a restaurant in their mother tongue and choosing allergy-free or halal food menus.
Tokyo-based Umami, the Japanese company behind the restaurant mobile app for foreign visitors under the same name, announced last week that it had fundraised 50 million yen (about $466,000) in a seed round. Participating investors in this round were Voyage Ventures, Fujita Kanko (TSE:9722), CSAJ Startup and other undisclosed four companies. Voyage Ventures is the investment arm of Japanese internet company Voyage Group (TSE:3688) while Fujita Kanko is the owner company of notable Japanese hotel chains such as Chinzanso and Washington Hotels. Upon gaining this funding, Umami wants to focus more on driving hotel guests from foreign countries to restaurants and recreational services in town.
Since its launch back in April of 2015, the Umami mobile app has been adopted by about 250 restaurants in Japan. The app allows restaurants to provide their menu in English, Chinese (simplified and traditional) and Korean as well as Japanese, attract customers through coupons, and spread words using social network services so that they can better reach out to foreign visitors. For customers, it helps them find restaurants following their dining preference using a recommendation feature, making orders at a restaurant in their mother tongue and choosing allergy-free or halal food menus.
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. This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on Silicon Valley for aspiring innovation ecosystems. Spot quiz: What region is formerly known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight ? Here’s a hint: it’s not Blackstone Valley in Massachusetts, nor is it Berlin, East London, and especially not Saclay, France. A swathe of apple orchards and orange groves spanning Santa Clara County in Northern California is what gave Silicon Valley this original nickname. In 1953, transistor inventor William Shockley left Bell Labs, moved to Mountain View, California and founded Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory with the belief that silicon would be a better material than the conventional germanium for making transistors. Shockley was a brilliant engineer but proved a terrible manager, so in 1957 eight of his best engineers (including a character by the name of Gordon Moore)…
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.
Spot quiz: What region is formerly known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight ?
Here’s a hint: it’s not Blackstone Valley in Massachusetts, nor is it Berlin, East London, and especially not Saclay, France.
A swathe of apple orchards and orange groves spanning Santa Clara County in Northern California is what gave Silicon Valley this original nickname. In 1953, transistor inventor William Shockley left Bell Labs, moved to Mountain View, California and founded Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory with the belief that silicon would be a better material than the conventional germanium for making transistors. Shockley was a brilliant engineer but proved a terrible manager, so in 1957 eight of his best engineers (including a character by the name of Gordon Moore) quit and went on to found Fairchild Semiconductor.
This is of course only one little excerpt of a fascinating story, but it seems timely to review the history of the creation of Silicon Valley as various governments from Europe to Asia periodically attempt to replicate Silicon Valley in their local geographies.
I’m a Silicon Valley native. My first residence when I entered the world almost four decades ago was in Tiburon, an island just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Besides a brief stint in Tokyo, I spent much of my childhood growing up in Los Altos, a sleepy residential town smack in the middle of Silicon Valley. I attended the same high school as Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in Cupertino, albeit almost two decades later.
We knew our region as Silicon Valley (not “The Valley”, as people that never lived there sometimes call it). However, as kids, we didn’t necessarily realize that we were a part of something so unique. The high-tech boom of the 80’s was in full swing, though it was about designing microprocessors rather than designing mobile apps.
HP, VisiCorp, and Varian were like the Google, Facebook, and Box of the era. Entrepreneurship was a natural reflex, not something to be forcibly learned. I recall my first entrepreneurial experience at the age of 15 which began with a paper route and, encouraged by a more industrious neighborhood kid, evolved into locking up town-wide distribution for the local newspapers and subsequently hiring junior high kids for pennies to perform the actual delivery. The San Jose Mercury News was the big brand, but the lower-quality Peninsula Times Tribune proved a nice complement with its fatter margins.
Maybe it was due to the omnipresent earthquake risk (I recall the menacing San Andreas fault line ran right down our street), but the prevalent vibe was the cycle of creating, enterprising, destroying, and rebuilding. Of course there were the folkloric stories of tinkerers in garages launching tech companies. Less often reported were the far more numerous incidents of lifestyle entrepreneurs creating small businesses: dry cleaners, pizzerias, and ice cream parlours. And just as Fairchild Semiconductor later gave way to Intel, the ice cream parlours were disrupted by frozen yogurt shops. It’s no coincidence that of the three aforementioned Silicon Valley corporate titans of the 80’s, only one name is recognizable today – HP – and it’s not exactly a poster-child for the visionary companies list nowadays.
So amidst the variety of well-intentioned innovation initiatives (most recently Japan’s plan for Tokyo as the Fintech capital of Asia), I submit that it’s worthwhile to study how Silicon Valley came to be what it is today. Some lessons may be relevant for Japan, others less so. In the spirit of constructive brainstorming, in part two of this series I’ll expound on the confluence of factors which transformed the Valley of Heart’s Delight.
Takeshi Hirano
The Bridge
Regarding the first question, my opinion is that the answer should generally be no. Silicon Valley today encompasses such a unique confluence of factors — some planned, most serendipitous, and many even difficult to identify — that government attempts to create a replica of Silicon Valley in their home market will inevitably end in futility.
Masaru Ikeda
