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Leading Japanese system integrator to hold first FinTech hackathon in Israel

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Leading Japanese system integration company TIS Intec Group unveiled today that it will hold a FinTech-focused hackathon in Israel on July 19th and 20th, called TIS – Japan Cashless Hackathon. In association with Japanese credit card company JCB as well as Japanese startup accelerator Samurai Incubate which has a local office in Tel Aviv, the event will take place at Rise by Barclays, a FinTech startup hub located in the most startup-dense neighborhood of the ‘Startup Nation’. Prior to the event, TIS Intec Group is looking for 15 talented teams to attend with innovative cashless payment ideas with interest in expanding around the world including Japan, especially for the verticals of artificial intelligence, IoT (Internet of Things) and Blockchain. The winning team will win a trip to Tokyo to discuss future collaboration and business opportunity with TIS Intec Group’s executives while the second and third runner-ups will get the opportunity to work with the firm also. Starting with the first FinTech hackathon by local bank Leumi Group in 2013, MasterCard, IBM Watson and other many global giants have hosted FinTech-focused hackthon events in Israel to find diamonds in the rough. The country is now considered as one of the world’s…

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CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr by Andrew Eland

Leading Japanese system integration company TIS Intec Group unveiled today that it will hold a FinTech-focused hackathon in Israel on July 19th and 20th, called TIS – Japan Cashless Hackathon. In association with Japanese credit card company JCB as well as Japanese startup accelerator Samurai Incubate which has a local office in Tel Aviv, the event will take place at Rise by Barclays, a FinTech startup hub located in the most startup-dense neighborhood of the ‘Startup Nation’.

Prior to the event, TIS Intec Group is looking for 15 talented teams to attend with innovative cashless payment ideas with interest in expanding around the world including Japan, especially for the verticals of artificial intelligence, IoT (Internet of Things) and Blockchain. The winning team will win a trip to Tokyo to discuss future collaboration and business opportunity with TIS Intec Group’s executives while the second and third runner-ups will get the opportunity to work with the firm also.

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Image credit: TIS Intec Group

Starting with the first FinTech hackathon by local bank Leumi Group in 2013, MasterCard, IBM Watson and other many global giants have hosted FinTech-focused hackthon events in Israel to find diamonds in the rough. The country is now considered as one of the world’s most busiest birthplaces of prominent FinTech startups, represented by FundBox, Payoneer, and eToro.

In addition to representatives from TIS Intec Group and Samurai Incubate, CTO Yoav Intrator of Israel’s Bank Hapoalim as well as Dorel Blitz, Head of FinTech at KPMG Israel, will join the board of judges during the event. If you are interested in joining this, check out the details and fill the form right here.

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Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

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Israeli FinTech companies – click to enlarge (image credit: Carmel Ventures)

Japan’s Samurai Incubate launches ‘Accelerate Program Israel’

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo- and Tel Aviv-based startup accelerator Samurai Incubate announced last week that they have begun recruiting Japanese companies to participate in the Accelerate Program Israel, their goal being to accelerate M&A as well as R&D of the latest technology in the region by fostering Israeli startups. Accelerate Program Israel will be a three-month program run on the basis of Samurai Incubate’s wealth of experience in the incubation of startups in both Japan and Israel. The company says that they will be able to make use of their co-working space in Tel Aviv, Samurai House in Israel, as well as the large social network they have built in the country. In July 2014, Samurai Incubate expanded into Israel, establishing their incubation office Samurai House in the city of Tel Aviv. In January of this year they established a new fund called the Samurai Incubate Fund No.5 and has been investing in Israeli pre-seed round startups. Additionally, the company invested in Tel Aviv-based startup incubator Startup East in May, and has been strengthening exchange between the Japanese and Israeli startup communities and cooperation between the two ecosystems. Samurai Incubate director Shouta Morozumi says that compared to…

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Samurai Incubate CEO Kentaro Sakakibara in Jerusalem

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo- and Tel Aviv-based startup accelerator Samurai Incubate announced last week that they have begun recruiting Japanese companies to participate in the Accelerate Program Israel, their goal being to accelerate M&A as well as R&D of the latest technology in the region by fostering Israeli startups.

Accelerate Program Israel will be a three-month program run on the basis of Samurai Incubate’s wealth of experience in the incubation of startups in both Japan and Israel. The company says that they will be able to make use of their co-working space in Tel Aviv, Samurai House in Israel, as well as the large social network they have built in the country.

In July 2014, Samurai Incubate expanded into Israel, establishing their incubation office Samurai House in the city of Tel Aviv. In January of this year they established a new fund called the Samurai Incubate Fund No.5 and has been investing in Israeli pre-seed round startups. Additionally, the company invested in Tel Aviv-based startup incubator Startup East in May, and has been strengthening exchange between the Japanese and Israeli startup communities and cooperation between the two ecosystems.

Samurai Incubate director Shouta Morozumi says that compared to China and Korea, Japan’s business presence in Israel is relatively small.

Acquisition cases of Israeli startups by Chinese businesses such as Alibaba are increasing, and Samsung is now launching an accelerator program in Israel called Runway, so compared to those kinds of developments the movement of Japanese business is quite small as of now.

In Japan there are precedents of incubation programs such as IBM BlueHub which is carried out together with IBM Japan, but the company is hoping they’ll be able to elect five or so startups with a similar framework and successfully hold a three-month accelerator program in Israel.

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Samurai House in Israel

Translated by Connor Kirk
Edited by Masaru Ikeda

Japan’s Samurai Incubate invests in Israeli startup incubator Startup East

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-headquartered startup incubator Samurai Incubate announced today that it has invested an undisclosed sum in Israeli startup incubator Startup East. Startup East was founded about 1.5 years ago, aiming to invite Asia startup to Israei as well as encourage Israeli startup to more penetrate in the Asian region. Especially for startups in Asia, the Israeli incubator appeals that it can provide a gateway to the global market leveraging a solid relationship between the local startup community and Silicon Valley. According to Amos Avner, founder partner of Startup East, they can’t disclose details but are in talks to fundiraise from and partner with unnamed local incubators in Singapore and South Korea as well as one of the governments in the Asia region. On the other hand, Startup East has not received any financial support from the Israeli government because they are a totally private incubation initiative. They have a total of about 10 portfolio startups to date, and are focused on nourishing technology-oriented startups developing something like image processing and business intelligence. In partnership with Startup East, Samurai Incubate wants to encourage startups in Japan and Israel to communicate each others and strengthen integrating the…

samurai-incubate-startup-east_logos

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-headquartered startup incubator Samurai Incubate announced today that it has invested an undisclosed sum in Israeli startup incubator Startup East. Startup East was founded about 1.5 years ago, aiming to invite Asia startup to Israei as well as encourage Israeli startup to more penetrate in the Asian region. Especially for startups in Asia, the Israeli incubator appeals that it can provide a gateway to the global market leveraging a solid relationship between the local startup community and Silicon Valley.

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Amos Avner, Founding partner of Startup East

According to Amos Avner, founder partner of Startup East, they can’t disclose details but are in talks to fundiraise from and partner with unnamed local incubators in Singapore and South Korea as well as one of the governments in the Asia region. On the other hand, Startup East has not received any financial support from the Israeli government because they are a totally private incubation initiative. They have a total of about 10 portfolio startups to date, and are focused on nourishing technology-oriented startups developing something like image processing and business intelligence.

In partnership with Startup East, Samurai Incubate wants to encourage startups in Japan and Israel to communicate each others and strengthen integrating the two ecosystems. As part of this effort, the two incubators will co-organize an event on 9 June having five Israeli companies: Startup East and its portfolio startups. This is part of Startup East’s roadshow tour visiting Japan, Korea, and Singapore, and participating startups will explore potential funding opportunities, acquiring clients, and making media exposures during the visit.

Since its expansion to Israel back in July 2014, Samurai Incubate set up anincubation office called Samurai House in Tel Aviv where they have been nourishing Japanese entrepreneur-led startups like Aniwo.

Edited by Kurt Hanson

Samurai Incubate launches new fund focused on Israeli and Japanese startups

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based incubator and investment firm Samurai Incubate announced today that it has started forming a new fund called Samurai Incubate Fund No. 5. Coinciding with this, the firm also announced that it has invested in two Israeli-based startups by Japanese entrepreneurs, Aniwo and an disclosed company. The investment in these two startups has been disbursed from Samurai Incubate’s No. 4 fund. According to Samurai Incubate CEO Kentaro Sakakibara, they have raised about 500 million yen ($4.2 million) for the new fund, but aim to raise about 1 billion to 2 billion yen ($8.3 million to $16.7 million) by the time the funding is closed in June. The company plans to invest 4.5 million yen ($37,600) in every promising startup in Japan in the seed round as well as about 10 million yen ($83,400) in every pre-seed round startup in Israel. Since 2014, Samurai Incubate has been organizing startup showcase events in many cities in Japan in partnership with Deloitte’s Tohmatsu Venture Support, called Zenkoku Startup Day or literally All-Japan Startup Day. The incubation company wants to invest in about 70 promising startups discovered through this initiative. Samurai Incubate also plans to invest in Israeli…

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Samurai Incubate team, Israeli entrepreneurs and investors meet together at Samurai Office in Tel Aviv. Samurai Incubate CEO Kentaro Sakakibara sits in the middle in the front row.
(Courtesy: Samurai Incubate)

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based incubator and investment firm Samurai Incubate announced today that it has started forming a new fund called Samurai Incubate Fund No. 5. Coinciding with this, the firm also announced that it has invested in two Israeli-based startups by Japanese entrepreneurs, Aniwo and an disclosed company. The investment in these two startups has been disbursed from Samurai Incubate’s No. 4 fund.

According to Samurai Incubate CEO Kentaro Sakakibara, they have raised about 500 million yen ($4.2 million) for the new fund, but aim to raise about 1 billion to 2 billion yen ($8.3 million to $16.7 million) by the time the funding is closed in June. The company plans to invest 4.5 million yen ($37,600) in every promising startup in Japan in the seed round as well as about 10 million yen ($83,400) in every pre-seed round startup in Israel.

Since 2014, Samurai Incubate has been organizing startup showcase events in many cities in Japan in partnership with Deloitte’s Tohmatsu Venture Support, called Zenkoku Startup Day or literally All-Japan Startup Day. The incubation company wants to invest in about 70 promising startups discovered through this initiative.

Samurai Incubate also plans to invest in Israeli startups. Details have not been disclosed because it’s still before the execution of investments, but their expected incubatees include many startups focused on technologies, which makes the Israeli startup scene unique, such as developers of a wearable air purifying device, a voice input/output control for Twitter and Facebook postings, and a footprint scanning-based customized shoe e-commerce service.

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Samurai Incubate set up an incubation office in Tel Aviv in July, where they have been organizing meet-up events aiming to connect Japanese startups with Israeli entrepreneurs and investors. The company held a hackathon event in October in partnership with Toyota InfoTechnology Center, the R&D arm of Japan’s No. 1 automaker, where attendees developed exceptional services like one that allows drivers to avoid rainy areas by leveraging GPS and weather update systems, as well as one that makes it unnecessary for drivers to apply the brake until they reach their destination by predicting the timing of traffic signals and advising the best driving speed through the integration of intelligent transport systems.

According to Sakakibara, the Jewish communities in Israel and the US are well connected, so if something becomes popular in Israel, it will automatically be followed in the US. Mobile apps like Viber and Yo gained a global reputation this way. Sakakibara expects to produce more startups from Israel following their example.

I will visit Israel this year to report on their startup scene.

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Samurai Incubate team in Tel Aviv. (Courtesy: Samurai Incubate)

Japan’s Samurai Incubate and Toyota to hold hackathon event in Israel in October

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Tokyo-based startup incubator Samurai Incubate and Toyota InfoTechnology Center, the R&D arm of Japan’s No. 1 automaker, announced today that they will jointly hold a hackathon in Tel Aviv, Israel, 23–24 October. Samurai Incubate established a local subsidiary in Israel in April, with the aim to help more Japanese companies work with Israeli startups as well as find prominent startups to invest in the startup hub of the Middle East. Toyota InfoTechnology Center has been researching big data solutions leveraging metrics accumulated from more than 100,000 Toyota automobiles. Through the hackathon, the company aims to work with Israeli engineers to co-develop mobile apps using big data. Samurai Incubate founder and CEO Kentaro Sakakibara relocated to Tel Aviv earlier this year, where he recently set up a co-working space called Samurai House to invite startups and entrepreneurs from Japan, Israel, and the rest of world to gather. By lobbying the Israeli government, he wants to encourage their national airline to establish a direct flight connecting Tel Aviv and Tokyo to bridge local startup communities in the two countries. Event details, such as venue and agenda, have not been announced, so check visit their website for more information.

samuraiincubate-israel-toyota

Tokyo-based startup incubator Samurai Incubate and Toyota InfoTechnology Center, the R&D arm of Japan’s No. 1 automaker, announced today that they will jointly hold a hackathon in Tel Aviv, Israel, 23–24 October.

Samurai Incubate established a local subsidiary in Israel in April, with the aim to help more Japanese companies work with Israeli startups as well as find prominent startups to invest in the startup hub of the Middle East.

Toyota InfoTechnology Center has been researching big data solutions leveraging metrics accumulated from more than 100,000 Toyota automobiles. Through the hackathon, the company aims to work with Israeli engineers to co-develop mobile apps using big data.

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Samurai House, Tel Aviv

Samurai Incubate founder and CEO Kentaro Sakakibara relocated to Tel Aviv earlier this year, where he recently set up a co-working space called Samurai House to invite startups and entrepreneurs from Japan, Israel, and the rest of world to gather. By lobbying the Israeli government, he wants to encourage their national airline to establish a direct flight connecting Tel Aviv and Tokyo to bridge local startup communities in the two countries.

Event details, such as venue and agenda, have not been announced, so check visit their website for more information.

Israel’s Nordau Creative unleashes virtual dragons upon Tokyo Game Show

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While we were primarily focused on Japanese mobile game makers in our visit to the Tokyo Game Show, there were lots of foreign developers and publishers who brought great games to show off. The one that stood out the most for me was from Israeli studio Nordau Creative. They were turning lots of heads with their Kazooloo augmented reality dragon fighting game. This mobile title makes use of a large board that you place on the floor, which when viewed through the camera on your phone or tablet, appears as a sort of inter-dimensional vortex that spawns angry dragons for you to fight. Admittedly, these AR games can be somewhat gimmicky sometimes. But watching visitors dance around Kazooloo game boards shooting at floor dragons makes me think that this one has more potential than most. To try the game out for yourself, you’ll first need to get the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play and then purchase one of the available boards from the company website, which will then be shipped to you. They range in price from $14.99 for a mini-board, to $49.99 for larger sizes. If you’d like a visual demo of how the game…

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The Nordau Creative team, featuring Kazooloo AR game at Tokyo Game Show

While we were primarily focused on Japanese mobile game makers in our visit to the Tokyo Game Show, there were lots of foreign developers and publishers who brought great games to show off.

The one that stood out the most for me was from Israeli studio Nordau Creative. They were turning lots of heads with their Kazooloo augmented reality dragon fighting game. This mobile title makes use of a large board that you place on the floor, which when viewed through the camera on your phone or tablet, appears as a sort of inter-dimensional vortex that spawns angry dragons for you to fight.

Admittedly, these AR games can be somewhat gimmicky sometimes. But watching visitors dance around Kazooloo game boards shooting at floor dragons makes me think that this one has more potential than most.

To try the game out for yourself, you’ll first need to get the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play and then purchase one of the available boards from the company website, which will then be shipped to you. They range in price from $14.99 for a mini-board, to $49.99 for larger sizes.

If you’d like a visual demo of how the game works, you can check out their promo video for the game below.