See the original story in Japanese. As previously reported, a brand new startup conference called Barkation was announced to take place on February 19 and 20 this year, primarily organized by the former Slush Tokyo team, but we learned today that it will be canceled this year. The main reason behind the cancellation is the team couldn’t spend enough time preparing for the conference, such as training volunteers, and they will focus on building the Bark community this year. Thanks to their concept that the conference shouldn’t come first but is just as part of the Bark community, the cancellation will give no significant impact on their ongoing activities. In an interview with Bridge, Bark CEO Haruka Furukawa said her team decided to cancel because they don’t want participants from Japan and the rest of the world to get disappointed. Over the past few years, there has been a series of announcements of cancellations and suspensions of global startup conferences. Austria’s flagship conference Pioneers, which has been running for eight years since 2011, announced a break last year. Tech in Asia has shut down their conferences in Singapore and Tokyo and currently runs it only in Jakarta. RISE, hosted in…
The Bark Launch Party took place in October in Harajuku, Tokyo. Image credit: Bark
As previously reported, a brand new startup conference called Barkation was announced to take place on February 19 and 20 this year, primarily organized by the former Slush Tokyo team, but we learned today that it will be canceled this year. The main reason behind the cancellation is the team couldn’t spend enough time preparing for the conference, such as training volunteers, and they will focus on building the Bark community this year.
Thanks to their concept that the conference shouldn’t come first but is just as part of the Bark community, the cancellation will give no significant impact on their ongoing activities. In an interview with Bridge, Bark CEO Haruka Furukawa said her team decided to cancel because they don’t want participants from Japan and the rest of the world to get disappointed.
Over the past few years, there has been a series of announcements of cancellations and suspensions of global startup conferences. Austria’s flagship conference Pioneers, which has been running for eight years since 2011, announced a break last year. Tech in Asia has shut down their conferences in Singapore and Tokyo and currently runs it only in Jakarta. RISE, hosted in Asia by the WebSummit organizer, has also announced that it will cancel the 2020 edition over the recent tension in Hong Kong.
See the original story in Japanese. Japanese outstanding VC firm B Dash Ventures held its flagship semi-annual conference B Dash Camp 2018 Fall in Fukuoka from October 3rd to 5th. 16 startups which passed document examination participated in the preliminary of Pitch Arena, and 6 teams were chosen for finalists. The top prize went to Aeronext, a startup developing next-gen drone technologies. This article introduces the finalists and their pitches. The judges for the final round of Pitch Arena were as follows: Kotaro Chiba (Investor / Drone Fund) Shinji Kimura (AnyPay) Taichi Murakami (Livesense) Yusuke Sato (Hey) Genki Shiota (Akatsuki) Ken Tamagawa (Soracom) Top Prize / PERSOL Award winner: Aeronext Aeronext develops next-gen drone technologies. Using its own technology called 4D Gravity, the firm had launched drone products optimized for various use cases: Next VR optimized for 360-degree VR photographing, Next DELIVERY specialized in delivery services and Next INDUSTRY available for infrastructure inspection, surveying, security and agriculture. By improving drone airframes from hardware perspective, these products acquired significant technical superiority in body axis stability or high-speed flight. The firm aims a business scaling-up by founding joint ventures in cooperate with major companies specialized in each use case. Currently, the firm…
Japanese outstanding VC firm B Dash Ventures held its flagship semi-annual conference B Dash Camp 2018 Fall in Fukuoka from October 3rd to 5th. 16 startups which passed document examination participated in the preliminary of Pitch Arena, and 6 teams were chosen for finalists. The top prize went to Aeronext, a startup developing next-gen drone technologies.
This article introduces the finalists and their pitches. The judges for the final round of Pitch Arena were as follows:
Kotaro Chiba (Investor / Drone Fund)
Shinji Kimura (AnyPay)
Taichi Murakami (Livesense)
Yusuke Sato (Hey)
Genki Shiota (Akatsuki)
Ken Tamagawa (Soracom)
Top Prize / PERSOL Award winner: Aeronext
Aeronext develops next-gen drone technologies. Using its own technology called 4D Gravity, the firm had launched drone products optimized for various use cases: Next VR optimized for 360-degree VR photographing, Next DELIVERY specialized in delivery services and Next INDUSTRY available for infrastructure inspection, surveying, security and agriculture.
By improving drone airframes from hardware perspective, these products acquired significant technical superiority in body axis stability or high-speed flight. The firm aims a business scaling-up by founding joint ventures in cooperate with major companies specialized in each use case. Currently, the firm is developing Next VTOL, the airplane capable of vertical take-off and landing with fixed wings utilizing its own multicopter technologies.
Sparty provides the hair-care brand Medulla for female users, allowing periodical purchase of shampoo and hair treatment customizable in accordance with hair quality and condition. The shampoo market in Japan is formed with many varieties and even the most popular product can acquire only 5% of the share. The firm expects that the next trend in the shampoo market must be personalization and launched this service in May 22nd.
Just answering to seven questions, users can periodically receive optimal shampoo and hair treatment chosen from among more than 100 recipes. The firm aims to encourage an innovation in the data-driven hair-care market. It currently has six demonstration spots within Tokyo are and is going to expand them nationwide through cooperation with hair-salons.
Jobcan Award winner: Kuraseru by Kuraseru
When an inpatient who is hardly treated by home medical care leaves hospital, social workers or care managers in hospital have to look for a nursing facility which can accept him. Kuraseru develops and manages the hospital-leaving arrangement SaaS (Software as a Service) Kuraseru targeting social workers and care managers.
These procedures are currently done by phone and facsimile, and Kuraseru aims to improve the efficacy of the work by replacing all these procedures. The firm had fundraised 50 million yen (about $450,000) from 500 Startups Japan in June.
600 by 600
600 is the refrigerator-based drink / convenience goods sales service. It is, so to speak, the free convenience store for offices, hospital, or apartment houses. All goods have IC tags attached, and the refrigerator detects which goods were picked and then calculates the price automatically triggered by opening and closing the door. Purchasers pay for them by swiping credit cards to reader on the door.
The firm had officially launched the service this June and commenced a new integrated service of storage / unmanned convenience store from this month. 600 replenishes commodity goods in the refrigerator twice a week and also provides a concierge service; users can purchase their favorites items from among 600 items by requesting through a chat tool in advance.
Ginco developed the wallet app under the same name available for multiple cryptocurrency. Not a few users in Japan deposit cryptocurrency to the exchange and leave it untreated, but Ginco suggests that users should own and manage their cryptocurrency by themselves to secure safety. Since its launch back in April 2018, the app has been downloaded more than 30,000 times, and the total dealt amount on the app comes to more than 3 billion yen (about $27 million).
The firm monetizes the app through customer transferring to various services where cryptocurrency is available. The firm added DEX (Decentralized Exchange) function enabling overseas users to trade tokens between users on Ginco and plans to launch hardware wallet next year too.
The firm fundraised 150 million yen (about $1.3 million) from Global Brain.
Choole by Rexit
Rexit provides the bridal reservation support platform Choole, allowing couples about to be married to choose wedding dress, hair-do, photographer, videographer and wedding hall. The choice of wedding dress or flowers is generally narrow because bridal item providers are tied up with each wedding hall, but Choole enables users to order to any provider directly and hold ceremonies in at reasonable price.
Since its launch back this June, more than 130 wedding halls have participated in this platform. The firm fundraised 55 million yen ($490,000) from Shinichiro Sugiyama (CEO of Valetudo), Genki Arai (CEO of Happy Element) and individual investors.
Translated by Taijiro Takeda Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy
See the original article in Japanese. During Infinity Venture Summit 2018 Spring in Taipei, a semi-annual conference hosted by renowned startup-focused investment fund Infinity Venture Partners (IVP), the LaunchPad startup pitch competition was held on June 8th, where Taipei-based ReCactus won the top prize. According to Infinity Venture Partners Founder and Managing Partner Akio Tanaka, of the 300 startups that have participated in LaunchPad in the last 10 years, around 20 have reached the IPO stage, another 20 or so are at M&A, and another 20 have secured large amounts of funding, which means that 1 in 5 teams has made significant progress. A total of 14 teams, 7 from Japan and 7 from Taiwan, participated in this edition of LaunchPad. The following people served as judges. Image credit: Masaru Ikeda Joesph Chan, AppWorks Josephine Cheng, KKBOX Yvonne Chen, WI Harper Brian Hsu, Mediatek Kotaro Yamagishi, Keio Innovation Initiative Hiroto Tokusei, Google Shoga Kawada Koichiro Yoshida, CrowdWorks Yoshihiko “Max” Kinoshita, Skyland Ventures Yuzuru Honda, FreakOut Holdings Kota Chiba, Drone Fund Additionally, Taiwan’s Cinchy, one of the companies sponsoring the LaunchPad session, presented the Shure high-end headset to each of the finalists. 1st place winner: ReCactus by ReCactus (Taiwan) Prizes Amazon…
During Infinity Venture Summit 2018 Spring in Taipei, a semi-annual conference hosted by renowned startup-focused investment fund Infinity Venture Partners (IVP), the LaunchPad startup pitch competition was held on June 8th, where Taipei-based ReCactus won the top prize.
According to Infinity Venture Partners Founder and Managing Partner Akio Tanaka, of the 300 startups that have participated in LaunchPad in the last 10 years, around 20 have reached the IPO stage, another 20 or so are at M&A, and another 20 have secured large amounts of funding, which means that 1 in 5 teams has made significant progress.
A total of 14 teams, 7 from Japan and 7 from Taiwan, participated in this edition of LaunchPad. The following people served as judges.
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
Joesph Chan, AppWorks
Josephine Cheng, KKBOX
Yvonne Chen, WI Harper
Brian Hsu, Mediatek
Kotaro Yamagishi, Keio Innovation Initiative
Hiroto Tokusei, Google
Shoga Kawada
Koichiro Yoshida, CrowdWorks
Yoshihiko “Max” Kinoshita, Skyland Ventures
Yuzuru Honda, FreakOut Holdings
Kota Chiba, Drone Fund
Additionally, Taiwan’s Cinchy, one of the companies sponsoring the LaunchPad session, presented the Shure high-end headset to each of the finalists.
1st place winner: ReCactus by ReCactus (Taiwan)
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
Prizes
Amazon Loft Tokyo Invitation Tour, Airplane Tickets for 2 (Provided by Amazon Web Services)
500,000 yen voucher for Freee (Provided by Freee)
360 cans of Yebisu Beer (Provided by AGS Consulting)
1 night stay for 5 people at Village Izukogen (Provided by Sumitomo F Real Estate)
5,000 US dollars worth of GCS Credit (Provided by GrandTech Cloud Services)
ReCactus is a social app that allows users to shoot, edit, and post their video reactions alongside online video content. When someone tries to create a video reaction without ReCactus, they have to download the original video, shoot and edit their reaction while playing it, and then re-upload the finished product to YouTube or other platforms. And then there is always the chance that the video could end up deleted due to copyright restrictions on the original video content.
ReCactus collects videos that have already cleared the copyright hurdle and users can shoot a video reaction while playing them within the app. Once shooting is finished, it is mixed and edited with the original video and automatically uploaded to YouTube and other social media platforms. After launching in October of 2017 the monthly user growth rate has reached 30%, with North and South America accounting for ⅓ of the access rate respectively, the rest accessing from Russia and Southeast Asia. It is possible to imagine monetization in the form of native advertising and paid content using video reactions. The app is available on iOS and Android.
2nd place tie: TWO (Taiwan)
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
Two is an IoT (Internet of Things) hardware device that allows users to keep track of what is going on with their garbage by simply attaching it inside the can. It can run using WiFi for one year on a battery. By accumulating and analyzing the data it is possible to improve the waste disposal cycle and to lower waste management costs required from garbage collection to the landfill disposal.
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
From August, the company will start PoC (proof of concept) with the Environmental Protection Agency responsible for waste disposal in Taipei. It is said that by 2050 approximately 80% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. With an example like Toronto, Canada where the annual garbage processing costs top $2.5 billion US, it is expected that local governments from each city in each country will step up to help try and solve such headaches.
2nd place tie: Xpression by EmbodyMe (Japan)
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
Xpression is an app that replaces users’ faces and expressions as reflected in a camera with video faces and expressions in real time. It is possible to use videos taken with an iPhone or videos that have been published on YouTube, etc., as long as the facial expressions can be made out. In addition to impersonating celebrities, users can appear in online videos in suits without ever changing out of their pajamas.
While SnapChat earns much of its revenue from AR (augmented reality) ads, EmbodyMe’s business model for Xpression seems to involve YouTubers and AR ads using the app. Also, by making the Xpression functions available as SDK (software developer kit), the company is considering third party AR app developers who can incorporate it into their own apps and services.
In 2015, SkyRec, which graduated from the 11th batch of Taipei-based startup accelerator AppWorks, initially analyzed wires using cameras installed in stores, analyzed items for sale, improved display methods, selected and removed unpopular items, and specialized in offline retail marketing and business intelligence. But, for this pitch the company proposed applying their technology to the new field of unmanned shops.
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
The company introduced an unmanned self-checkout system using facial recognition technology with a function that can recognize repeat customers even without members cards. The company says that nearly 30% of manual labor time and cost at convenience stores, G stores (gas stations with convenience stores attached), and supermarkets around the world could be reduced. After winning the Slush Asia 2016 pitch competition, the company’s business has been expanding rapidly, and nearly 200 stores are currently using SkyRec, along with 199 companies using the brand.
Orii is a wearable device designed to support communication without having to look at a screen as with smartphones or smart watches. It is troublesome to have to focus on a screen while in the middle of doing something, and even dangerous to try do so while walking. Orii is a smart ring capable of transmitting voice, when a consumer wears it on their finger and hits their finger against their ear, it is possible to hear voices by bone conduction.
It is recommended for those who are inconvenienced by AirPods or other hearing devices, which must always be worn in the ear.
It is also possible to give voice commands using Bluetooth in collaboration with Siri and Google Assistant. A crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter and Indiegogo produced good results. The company also won the Techsauce Summit Tokyo preliminary round and proceeded to its finals in Bangkok in late June.
The following is a list of the teams that participated as finalists while they didn’t place 5th or above.
A fortune telling service for companies by Animalogy (Japan)
Animalogy is a human resource analysis platform to analyze the skills of team members and create stronger teams within the company. Animalogy proposes a fortune telling service using four pillar astrology to make guesses about human relationships and urges companies to place the right people in the right place.
frm.ai by UNH3O (Taiwan)
Frm.ai is a fan relationship management tool for brands, retailers, and artists. The tool tracks interactions and engagement with fans, analyzes the user’s preferences and interests, and tells users how to follow up with which fans, what messages to send, and when to send them. The company was acquired by Botomize, a company specializing in bot analysis, in March of 2018.
Soico Cloud by Soico (Japan)
Soico advocates the idea of “time capsule stock options” that can solve the problems of existing stock option schemes, in particular, the problem of issuing stock options after the market capitalization increases, thus making the stock price too high. The solution is to decide the number of stock options to be offered at the point of offering since it is not possible to measure its future contribution to the company. The company has developed Soico Cloud, which can complete a series of procedures on the cloud and manage, store, execute rights, and accept contracts.
Bonx for Business by Bonx (Japan)
Bonx, which is a wearable transceiver that allows users to communicate hands-free via the Internet, has sold approximately 20,000 units so far and is targeted at sports fans such as snowboarders and cyclists. Bonx for Business has expanded on the original Bonx to meet corporate demand by targeting users who need to communicate with each other in remote locations such as management bases and warehouses. It is assumed that the pricing structure is based on a combination of hardware sales and software usage fees.
Tlunch by Mellow (Japan)
Tlunch is a platform that matches open building spaces with food trucks. The company has contracts with about 70 building owners, mainly in Tokyo and Yokohama, and so far about 350 food trucks use the platform. For food truck owners, who are often individuals, it is troublesome to negotiate with each building owner individually in order to find business spaces, and this is what Tlunch aims to alleviate. Tlunch receives 15% of sales from the food trucks as a commission, 5% of which is paid to the building owner as a fee.
Leber by Agree (Japan)
Leber is a doctor sharing app with a question response rate of 3 minutes or more. When users input their symptoms they will receive a message from the doctor with regards to treatment, and according to symptoms and necessity may also receive information on the nearest medical institutions and open drugstores. For individual users the company offers services for 100 yen per inquiry, and Tsukuba City Hall, along with companies in the Tsukuba area, have begun offering the services for employees, staff, and their families.
WeMo by WeMo (Taiwan)
WeMo is a rental sharing platform for scooters deployed in Taiwan. The merits include suppression of air pollution and reduction in parking spaces. The scooters are equipped with GPS and IoT devices, and it is also possible to acquire the user’s movement data. It is convenient to use as one-way transportation since it can be left behind, like when users need to travel late at night and the public transportation has stopped or before going out drinking. Every week the company acquires 1,000 new users, and the usage per day/per scooter is 4.3 times on average. By the end of 2018, the company plans to offer services in 3,000 cities around the world.
Sumaho Hoken by JustInCase (Japan)
The goal of JustInCase is to apply the idea of a sharing economy to the “P2P insurance” field. Generally, with P2P insurance, insurance premiums are paid in groups (pools) that are interested in insurance among friends or with the same risk, and the insurance money is paid out from this pool. As the first step, the company will provide “smartphone insurance” covering damage to smartphones, and the second step will be to offer “Kega Hoken” (injury insurance) covering injuries from trekking and fishing events.
PiSquare by PiStage (Taiwan)
CG and animation production requires rendering, and rendering takes time. PiSquare applies real-time rendering technology implemented in game engines, and the like, to CG and animation production software, reducing the rendering which conventionally took 100 minutes per frame to 0.05 minutes (3 seconds) per frame. It is expected to be used mainly in animation studios and VR/AR content makers.
Translated by Amanda Imasaka Edited by Masaru Ikeda
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. The Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ANZCCJ) on Tuesday evening held, with support from Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and Japan Australia Business Co-operation Committee, a Tech Startup confab at its new headquarters inside WeWork Shimbashi, in Tokyo. The panel comprised Australian Paul Chapman of fintech firm Moneytree, New Zealand-raised Yuta Iguchi of Million Steps Partner now doing Israel-focused business in Japan, Japan manager Shota J. Adam of mattress provider Koala.com and Kiwi-Aussie serial entrepreneur Terrie Lloyd (Japan Travel CEO), moderated by Jared Campion of Carter Search. See also: Moneytree, Japanese personal finance app, raises $9M to better serve corporate users Japanese personal finance app Moneytree raises $1.5 million Moneytree gives Japanese consumers smarter access to their finances Japan-based MetroWorks raises funds from Sunbridge Global Ventures Part of the Small/Medium-sized Enterprises Support Programme, it brought an audience ranging from ANZ Bank and HRExperts to Rio Tinto and Vega Global, illustrating the keen interest by foreign affiliates as to communication and human resource aspects of tech startups in Japan. In addition to SME, ANZCCJ has a program supporting Youth…
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.
The panel comprised Australian Paul Chapman of fintech firm Moneytree, New Zealand-raised Yuta Iguchi of Million Steps Partner now doing Israel-focused business in Japan, Japan manager Shota J. Adam of mattress provider Koala.com and Kiwi-Aussie serial entrepreneur Terrie Lloyd (Japan Travel CEO), moderated by Jared Campion of Carter Search.
Part of the Small/Medium-sized Enterprises Support Programme, it brought an audience ranging from ANZ Bank and HRExperts to Rio Tinto and Vega Global, illustrating the keen interest by foreign affiliates as to communication and human resource aspects of tech startups in Japan. In addition to SME, ANZCCJ has a program supporting Youth Jobs too.
Image credit: ANZCCJ
Moneytree’s Chapman in particular noted how opportunities open up, referring to how the banking sectors in Japan and Australia both are conservative, yet once a trend begins, the momentum will be maintained on a long-term basis. For fintech, Open Banking — meaning accessibility via cyberspace to bank accounts — is a prominent example of this.
Hiring, training and retaining personnel were points stressed by intercultural expert Shota Adam of Internet-dependent Koala.com while the need to familiarize/educate clients and customers was emphasized by Messrs. Iguchi and Lloyd alike, though the latter apparently has an eye on philanthropic endeavors like disaster prevention activities as well.
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. AG/SUM (Agritech Summit) 2018 was presented by Nikkei from June 11 in Tokyo’s Nihombashi area, which from the Edo era has been home to Shinto shrines dedicated to medicinal plants. The district, under redevelopment by Mitsui Fudosan which was a major event sponsor, also has a concentration of pharmaceuticals firms ranging the gamut from Daiichi-Sankyo (with its Kusuri [Medicine] Museum) to Takeda Pharmaceutical’s newly-opened global headquarters building. The three-day event is part of the newly-launched “summit” series run by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the flagship daily newspaper of the NIKKEI news concern; originally focused on finance and regulation, it is now aiming at such fields as life sciences and transportation, with an eye to the expansion of business activities in reflection of the Rugby World Cup next year in Japan as well as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics/Paralympics. The agriculture-centered event comprised a Symposium, an Exhibition and a Start-up Pitch Run plus a Reverse Pitch, in addition to a Marche where stalls lined the underground passageway leading from the main venues of Nihombashi Life Science Building and Nihombashi Mitsui Hall to the…
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.
AG/SUM Pitch Run finalists Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy
AG/SUM (Agritech Summit) 2018 was presented by Nikkei from June 11 in Tokyo’s Nihombashi area, which from the Edo era has been home to Shinto shrines dedicated to medicinal plants. The district, under redevelopment by Mitsui Fudosan which was a major event sponsor, also has a concentration of pharmaceuticals firms ranging the gamut from Daiichi-Sankyo (with its Kusuri [Medicine] Museum) to Takeda Pharmaceutical’s newly-opened global headquarters building.
The three-day event is part of the newly-launched “summit” series run by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the flagship daily newspaper of the NIKKEI news concern; originally focused on finance and regulation, it is now aiming at such fields as life sciences and transportation, with an eye to the expansion of business activities in reflection of the Rugby World Cup next year in Japan as well as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics/Paralympics.
The agriculture-centered event comprised a Symposium, an Exhibition and a Start-up Pitch Run plus a Reverse Pitch, in addition to a Marche where stalls lined the underground passageway leading from the main venues of Nihombashi Life Science Building and Nihombashi Mitsui Hall to the nearest railway stations, namely Mitsukoshimae subway station for Ginza and Hanzomon Metro lines as well as the JR Shin-Nihombashi station, nearby Nihombashi Information Center.
AG/SUM Reverse Pitch Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy
The Pitch Run was held with 26 participants, in two parts (a.m. and p.m.) on June 12, with the Reverse Pitch being gathered in the early evening of the same day. The competitors vied for the main Nikkei Award while the Mizuho Award (namesake after Mizuho Bank, Mizuho standing for the Japanese phrase meaning plentiful harvest, roughly equivalent to “cornucopia”) was subsidiary. The Reverse Pitch was more of a participant feedback and follow-up session for pitch participants.
The a.m. session judges were Plug and Play Tech Center’s Seena Amidi, World Innovation Lab’s Namiko Kajiwara, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings’ Uraki Fumiko and Nihon Keizai Shimbun’s Keiichi Murayama while the p.m. judges were Bits x Bites’ Matilda Ho, RocketSpace’s Shaina Silva, Mistletoe’s Eriko Suzuki and euglena’s Akihito Nagata; Mizuho Bank’s Naoto Oohitsu was a judge for both sessions.
Musca CEO Mitsutaka Kushima Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy
The joint winners of the Mizuho Award turned out to be three companies, all from Japan – graft biotech outfit Gra & Green, plant factory maker PlantX and insect-tech Musca [“musca” meaning fly in Latin]. The Nikkei award went to the international quartet of U. California Berkeley-affiliated Sugarlogix, Stanford-related Agribody Technologies, vineyard support tech provider Biome Makers and non-fermentation winemaker AVA Winery.
Speaking of wine, along with visitors from Israel (though only contaminant detector manufacturer Inspecto showed up this year, MBR-supported hydroponics firm FreightFarms opting out this year, depriving me of a chance to ask about Kosher foodstuff) and elsewhere in the Middle East (Turkish agro-finance service Tarfin and sensor data processor Tarsens [with NVIDIA backing], where Halal is a huge market), afficianados of the beverage like myself found AVA tech intriguing for such diets.
It is hoped that next year the event can be expanded and brings more general visitors to the Marche and other public outreach aspects – as for example the Turkish start-ups in fact stayed on through Monday after in order to gain more information and further exchange. In addition perhaps more start-up involvement from South American and even Africa, not to mention elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, could be possible.
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. d10e — dubbed “The Leading Conference On Decentralization” — held the 21st Global Edition from April 28 to May 1, 2018. The venue, Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel located near Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea, gathered numerous participants who foresee far-reaching changes being brought on by adoption of blockchain technology, especially by localities and businesses. The first and second days were spent by Blockchain Investors Consortium (BIC), one of the main event sponsors, familiarizing d10e-goers with Tokyo. Keynote speeches were presented on the third day. On the final day, 22 teams gathered to present their revolutionary wares during the 1st Edition in Japan Startup Pitch (MC: Ms. Naomi Brockwell). Leonardo Render Chief Strategy Officer Delon de Metz, the energetic (enough to jump off the stage and safely too) young man with the winning message at this year’s inaugural Japan pitch competition, got First Prize. The visual rendering services company headquartered on Madison Avenue in New York convinced all that their business is ready to roll. The runner-up was Ms. Liina Laas-Billson, Chief Business Development Officer for Black Insurance, the digital insurance company on blockchain….
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.
Randy Hencken, Co-founder of floating seasteading company Blue Frontiers, delivered his keynote speech. Image credit: Kurt Hanson / The Bridge
d10e — dubbed “The Leading Conference On Decentralization” — held the 21st Global Edition from April 28 to May 1, 2018. The venue, Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel located near Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea, gathered numerous participants who foresee far-reaching changes being brought on by adoption of blockchain technology, especially by localities and businesses.
Image credit: d10e
The first and second days were spent by Blockchain Investors Consortium (BIC), one of the main event sponsors, familiarizing d10e-goers with Tokyo. Keynote speeches were presented on the third day. On the final day, 22 teams gathered to present their revolutionary wares during the 1st Edition in Japan Startup Pitch (MC: Ms. Naomi Brockwell).
Delon de Metz, Chief Strategy Offier of Leonardo Render Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy / The Bridge
Leonardo Render Chief Strategy Officer Delon de Metz, the energetic (enough to jump off the stage and safely too) young man with the winning message at this year’s inaugural Japan pitch competition, got First Prize. The visual rendering services company headquartered on Madison Avenue in New York convinced all that their business is ready to roll.
Liina Laas-Billson, Chief Business Development Officer of Black Insurance Image credit: d10e
The runner-up was Ms. Liina Laas-Billson, Chief Business Development Officer for Black Insurance, the digital insurance company on blockchain. The demure pitch for the Estonian outfit gained Second Prize as it explained elegantly how its platform connects insurance brokers directly with capital, enabling them to launch their own virtual insurance agencies.
Cereal Finance CEO Sergey Vart (left) and a pitch judge Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy / The Bridge
Third Prize was garnered by Cereal Finance Co-founder & CEO Sergey Vart, who heads the St. Petersburg-based provider of blockchain ecosystem for asset-based loans. Finally, the Audience Award went to ZPER (according to Marketing Manager DK Yoon, pronounced ‘Zee-per’) of Singapore, offering a decentralized ecosystem for P2P finance.
George Hahn, co-founder and CGO of ZPER Image credit: d10e
This is a guest post authored by Jerry Suppan. He is a Tokyo-based photographer and writer. The Tokyo Startup Gateway contest, held this year at a new venue near Tokyo Tower, is an event styled to present young, entrepreneurial-minded individuals and their startup business concepts that will contribute to society with global impact in genres like technology, communications, transportation, food, environment and other issues. The contestants gave their final presentations on November 18th seeking to start up their entrepreneurial concepts through ETIC, (“Entrepreneurial Training for Innovative Communities”) which is a Tokyo based-NPO (non-profit organization) in charge of the event’s administration and such. Business concept plans from young entrepreneurial types were accepted starting from May 2017 with over 1,300 applications. During July-August 2017, the first stage of the selection process reduced the application count to around 180. During September-October 2017, the second stage of the selection process, the application count was further reduced to around 30 candidates. Finally during November and the final stage of the selection process, 10 candidates were chosen as finalists to participate in the competition event. Judges: There were four judges who discussed and concurred to make the final decisions for the winners of the competition: Shigeo…
This is a guest post authored by Jerry Suppan. He is a Tokyo-based photographer and writer.
The Tokyo Startup Gateway contest, held this year at a new venue near Tokyo Tower, is an event styled to present young, entrepreneurial-minded individuals and their startup business concepts that will contribute to society with global impact in genres like technology, communications, transportation, food, environment and other issues. The contestants gave their final presentations on November 18th seeking to start up their entrepreneurial concepts through ETIC, (“Entrepreneurial Training for Innovative Communities”) which is a Tokyo based-NPO (non-profit organization) in charge of the event’s administration and such.
Business concept plans from young entrepreneurial types were accepted starting from May 2017 with over 1,300 applications. During July-August 2017, the first stage of the selection process reduced the application count to around 180. During September-October 2017, the second stage of the selection process, the application count was further reduced to around 30 candidates. Finally during November and the final stage of the selection process, 10 candidates were chosen as finalists to participate in the competition event.
Judges:
There were four judges who discussed and concurred to make the final decisions for the winners of the competition:
Shigeo Kagami, Professor and Head of Office of Collaborative Research Development, Division of University Corporate Relations, the University of Tokyo
Naomitsu Kodaka, CEO/Co-Founder, Tokyo Otaku Mode Inc.
Yuka Tanimoto, Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Web Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Japan
Masamichi Tohyama, President, Smiles
The Finalists
Of the original 10 finalists, four were finally selected as winners of the event.
Shigeto Obata
Grand Prize: 1,000,000 yen (approximately $9,000 USD) & recognition trophy
Business concept: To create a platform by which anybody can share a small-sized aircraft and pilot, to realize a world and environment in which anyone can shift from ownership to freely utilize air space.
Masashi Hashimoto
Runner Up: 500,000 yen (approximately $4,500 USD) & recognition trophy
Business concept: To leverage dreams for use in medicine and research; To acquire hints from dreams for business applications; to enjoy freely moving about inside dreams and develop technology to see the dreams we want to see.
Milme
Runner Up: 500,000 yen (approximately $4,500 USD) & recognition trophy
Business concept: To create a share house which sponsors social foundation power, work, environmental, economic, and mental independence for 18 and 19 year old teenagers who aspire to be self-supporting and independent.
Junichi Tamaki
Audience Prize: Recognition trophy
Business concept: To propose a new city transport system which utilizes variations in building heights in a fun style and quickly transport / travel in direct lines between buildings over short distances of 100-500 meters.
Other finalists
The following is a list of finalists that did not receive prizes but made a great effort to introduce new, innovative, entrepreneurial concepts.
Sho Inami…To apply genetic engineering of insects to provide ideal “food” in areas where it is necessary.
Madoka Umetsu…To create VR training material to improve stuttering by amygdala and brain science approach. We aim to solve problems in employment and career of stuttering persons.
Yuka Shimane…To create work clothes having the necessary functionality on location at the site of manufacturing facilities. To make work easier for technicians by using data obtained IoT technology.
Saiko Nagaoka…To create a kimono sharing service by matching users that want to lend kimonos with users that want to borrow.
Masashi Nagano…To realize a paradigm shift in Japanese language education in society by providing inexpensive high quality Japanese education to all foreigners living in Japan.
Masahide Yamaguchi…To set up an employment transition support facility, expand matching between welfare facilities and companies, and promote development of work opportunity through understanding of work styles and disabilities.
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. Yoyo Wallet, Europe’s fastest-growing mobile wallet provider, is mulling expansion worldwide but is in particular focused on the Asia-Pacific region, with Japan as a cornerstone. The four-year-old fintech outfit, based out of London, had just two months ago conducted its Series B fund run. Thus today Yoyo Wallet is well-funded enough to be able to find strong partners in Asia, not to mention that it could recently open a pilot base in Singapore. In addition, the startup has also been testing out the waters through a (still stealth-ish) New York office, so in view of fathoming the situation overseas, Yoyo Wallet’s Co-Founder and CEO Alain Falys was in Tokyo this week for the Rakuten FinTech Conference 2017; it’s worth noting that he visited Japan last year as well. Regarding the fintech conference, not only the serial entrepreneur M. Falys but also UK finance provider PremFina‘s CEO Bundeep Singh Rangar (a McGill and a Columbia School of Journalism graduate who has garnered much media attention) and blockchain-centered startup Wyre Co-Founder and CEO Michael Dunworth (an erstwhile Sydneysider fund transfers expert who…
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.
Image credit: Yoyo Wallet
Yoyo Wallet, Europe’s fastest-growing mobile wallet provider, is mulling expansion worldwide but is in particular focused on the Asia-Pacific region, with Japan as a cornerstone. The four-year-old fintech outfit, based out of London, had just two months ago conducted its Series B fund run. Thus today Yoyo Wallet is well-funded enough to be able to find strong partners in Asia, not to mention that it could recently open a pilot base in Singapore. In addition, the startup has also been testing out the waters through a (still stealth-ish) New York office, so in view of fathoming the situation overseas, Yoyo Wallet’s Co-Founder and CEO Alain Falys was in Tokyo this week for the Rakuten FinTech Conference 2017; it’s worth noting that he visited Japan last year as well.
Image credit: Yoyo Wallet
Regarding the fintech conference, not only the serial entrepreneur M. Falys but also UK finance provider PremFina‘s CEO Bundeep Singh Rangar (a McGill and a Columbia School of Journalism graduate who has garnered much media attention) and blockchain-centered startup Wyre Co-Founder and CEO Michael Dunworth (an erstwhile Sydneysider fund transfers expert who is now a San Francisco entrepreneur) gathered together to discuss “Innovation in FinTech” on September 27th at the Hotel New Otani venue. The conference also had participants like Professor Emeritus Yukio Noguchi of Hitotsubashi University [this reporter’s former fellow contributor to “BP Navigator” magazine], speaking on blockchain and the digital economy, plus other eminent persons.
Image credit: Yoyo Wallet
Returning to Yoyo Wallet, according to its CEO – who had in the past created a global electronic invoice company OB10 (now known as Tungsten Network) – it is not another “mobile wallet” app for the smartphone user but a tool for the retailer whose ePOS can become a powerful business generator when it takes advantage of the simple, quick and attractive “rail” set for them by the Yoyo Wallet platform. In a nutshell, the mobile app lets users gain “electronic point card” benefits while also letting the retailers know what kind of preferences the consumers have upon shopping. The increased incentives availed have been shown to motivate consumers into using Yoyo Wallet even more, as was borne out by the fact that the Europe-based Caffè Nero chain of 650 stores already having turned 5% of its total payment volume onto Yoyo Wallet, barely 3 months from launch.
Image credit: Yoyo Wallet
The Yoyo Wallet CEO sees their loyalty-driven set-up altering Japanese “cash-preferred” inclination which, like German buying behavior, could be changed into a digital money-oriented one where even tax invoices can be handled. Although its business in UK was led by the university sector wherein students were the early adopters, the difference in the Japanese student canteen system and suchlike will likely mean a targeting of the retail sector for Japan. A 20% share of the mobile payment market will be aimed for once the startup gains appropriate local entities as partners. Since queries as to security and other concerns were clearly addressed by CEO Falys, I would like to wish him and his company “Bonne Chance!” in breaking into the Japanese market.
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. The Fintech Accelerator program run by Startupbootcamp, based in Singapore and lasting three months long, held its first ever Demo Tour in Asia. Commencing with its home base in Singapore on July 5th, the 10-day “Odyssey” of 11 participants from seven countries entailed visits to Chengdu and Hong Kong in China before winding up on July 14th in Tokyo, Japan (albeit on the final day only eight startups gave pitches, three firms of AIM from Korea, Fugle from Taiwan and Smartfolios from Russia being absent). In Tokyo, the Demo Tour was hosted by Finolab, with support from local partners. Startupbootcamp is the accelerator arm of venturebuilder/design studio/consultancy Rainmaking, which has 11 offices on three continents. In Asia they seek to promote entrepreneurial problem solving within corporate teams across multiple industries. The Tokyo visit was opened by a Startupbootcamp Asia representative who outlined the endeavor and paved the way for the startups that had made it to Japan, with the day being ended by the Startupbootcamp FinTech Program Director summing up the tour. See also: Startupbootcamp FinTech Singapore demo day showcases…
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.
Steven Tong, Managing Director of Startupbootcamp FinTech
The Fintech Accelerator program run by Startupbootcamp, based in Singapore and lasting three months long, held its first ever Demo Tour in Asia. Commencing with its home base in Singapore on July 5th, the 10-day “Odyssey” of 11 participants from seven countries entailed visits to Chengdu and Hong Kong in China before winding up on July 14th in Tokyo, Japan (albeit on the final day only eight startups gave pitches, three firms of AIM from Korea, Fugle from Taiwan and Smartfolios from Russia being absent). In Tokyo, the Demo Tour was hosted by Finolab, with support from local partners.
Startupbootcamp is the accelerator arm of venturebuilder/design studio/consultancy Rainmaking, which has 11 offices on three continents. In Asia they seek to promote entrepreneurial problem solving within corporate teams across multiple industries. The Tokyo visit was opened by a Startupbootcamp Asia representative who outlined the endeavor and paved the way for the startups that had made it to Japan, with the day being ended by the Startupbootcamp FinTech Program Director summing up the tour.
An overview of the pitches by the eight are as follows:
CherryPay (Singapore)
Singapore’s CherryPay presented their international Peer-to-Peer money transfer matching platform, which has the backing of Amazon Web Services as well as Cisco Systems. Chief Marketing Officer Kate Wu said her company provides reasonable rates and affordable service fees in addition to quick receipt of funds via local bank accounts through leveraging of its transborder network.
Smallticket (Korea)
Another businesswoman, who stood out in an attention-grabbing garb emblazoned with her company logo, was Julie Kim Jung Eun, Founder and the top officer at Smallticket of Korea. This online social insurance broker outfit, which minimizes risks using Peer-to-Peer rewarding platform, underscored the merits for micro-segment groups that utilize their system.
Vesl (the Philippines)
An all-Filipina management team as represented by the lady in charge of product development spoke on behalf of Vesl. It was noted that trade credit insurance at bite size was being availed to SMEs and others such as farmers cooperatives hitherto ineligible to gain access to cheaper financing. The startup from the Philippines now has an agreement with a global insurance broker.
Morakot (Cambodia)
Speaking of the Philippines, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Sophorth Khuon, of Cambodia’s Morakot offering microfinance, unveiled his company’s expansion plan into the island nation in 2018, following this year’s entry into Myanmar. He highlighted the problems faced by emerging markets, which his startup seeks to address with a business model based on core banking.
Scalend (India)
Regarding solutions for difficult challenges as exemplified with dealing with Big Data, Scalend showcased its AI-backed data and insights discovery platform for financial services companies. Ravi Madhira, who is one of the two co-founders, talked about how he and his business partner had over forty years of collective experience in building internet scale systems.
Jumper.ai (India)
As for AI, Jumper.ai co-founder Yash Kotak of jumper.ai outlined their social media-use e-commerce enabler which realizes Instant Checkout among other things. The auto-engage sales based on jumper tech can be used on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, with planned adoption on other social media like Line in the near future.
Tixguru (Singapore)
Another Artificial Intelligence user, Singapore-based startup Tixguru, focuses on quantitative trading recommendations for financial institutions. Its robot advisor, according to Chief Operating Officer James Ong, is grounded in a decade-long experience in this business sector.
Smart Trade (Japan / China)
Smart Trade, with a base in both Japan and China, is also involved in “quant trading” although in this startup platform’s case the target market comprises individual investors. CEO@Japan and co-founder Tomoyuki Uchida highlighted their Algorithm Store and Algorithm Factory lines. The company CMO and co-founder Guangzhen Li is also known for being active in this arena.
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. The Voyager accelerator program Demo Day was held on July 14th in Shibuya. Run by the Nomura group of companies under the auspices of Nomura Holdings, support from the Nomura side with an eye to producing synergy – in addition to outside private-sector mentors (like former Intel Japan chief Ikuo Nishioka) as well as advisors such as academics and field professionals helped five startups gain traction in their business. The five firms presented their plans, as below: Chikaku, which offers a service providing links for senior citizens to their relatives as exemplified by their grandchildren via video tech (“Mago” in Japanese, hence “Mago Channel” as the service name), tried out their productline at half a dozen Nomura Securities branches. Much positive feedback from the trial participants and the securities sales staff was gained. Chikaku hopes to expand their service further in cooperation with Nomura Securities. Simulatio, a venture business born out of research at Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), unveiled its natural language-grounded “Logic & Arithmetic Network Database” (LAND). The startup aims to promote analysis and…
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.
The Voyager accelerator program Demo Day was held on July 14th in Shibuya. Run by the Nomura group of companies under the auspices of Nomura Holdings, support from the Nomura side with an eye to producing synergy – in addition to outside private-sector mentors (like former Intel Japan chief Ikuo Nishioka) as well as advisors such as academics and field professionals helped five startups gain traction in their business.
The five firms presented their plans, as below:
Chikaku, which offers a service providing links for senior citizens to their relatives as exemplified by their grandchildren via video tech (“Mago” in Japanese, hence “Mago Channel” as the service name), tried out their productline at half a dozen Nomura Securities branches. Much positive feedback from the trial participants and the securities sales staff was gained. Chikaku hopes to expand their service further in cooperation with Nomura Securities.
Simulatio, a venture business born out of research at Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), unveiled its natural language-grounded “Logic & Arithmetic Network Database” (LAND). The startup aims to promote analysis and solution provision for the financial sector while improving the reliability of financial information for users. By collaborating with the Nomura group of companies, it looks to realize further enhancement of its services.
Giftee in conjunction with Nomura Securities Koshigaya (Saitama Prefecture) branch gave a trial run of its casual gift service “eGift” which focuses on the grandparents generation wishing to provide younger family members with small gifts. The Nomura group also stands to gain by making in-roads into the elder generation through jointly marketing the “eGift” services.
A10 Lab is offering the “MinChallenge” (meaning “Take on the challenge with everyone”) software which seeks to motivate those involved in various activities but prone to possibly dropping out. The startup hopes to improve people’s lifestyles so the general public will be motivated to be active in society. Research work on this endeavor was carried out jointly with Nomura Research Institute.
Nagoya University Medical School-spawned Prevent wishes to set up a health-oriented community where residents can lower insurance, medical and other social costs based on proper diet or training. Such communities are to be establish by working together with real estate developers such as Nomura Real Estate.
Masaru Ikeda
The Bridge
