THE BRIDGE

tag Thailand

Japan’s Thai Embassy holds 2nd batch helping startups connect with local conglomerates

SCORE 1,200 Masaru Ikeda Masaru Ikeda
SHARE:

See the original story in Japanese. On Monday at True Digital Park in Bangkok, the Japanese Embassy in Thailand together with the CP Group (Charoen Pokphand Group) held a Demo Day of the second batch of Rock Thailand, a matchmaking event aiming to help Japanese startup and Thai conglomerates to work together. The event is part of the Open Innovation Columbus (OIC) initiative, which promotes strategic alliances between Japanese startups and Thai conglomerates. The majority of Thai conglomerates do not reap the benefits of a digital economy. In Japan, large companies are moving to start digital transformation (DX) by collaborating with startups (it’s so called ‘open innovation’), while in Thailand, due to the nature of the verticals that local startups specialize in, DX through open innovation will likely still take time. In response to this, OIC selected a team of 10 Japanese startups that lead verticals likely to be useful for DX (AI, robotics, IoT, logistics), and that are particularly interested in advancing into Southeast Asia, including Thailand, and invited them to Bangkok. This is an attempt at targeting cross-border open innovation and focuses on using the power of Japanese startups to foster DX for Thai conglomerates. Since top executives…

See the original story in Japanese.

On Monday at True Digital Park in Bangkok, the Japanese Embassy in Thailand together with the CP Group (Charoen Pokphand Group) held a Demo Day of the second batch of Rock Thailand, a matchmaking event aiming to help Japanese startup and Thai conglomerates to work together. The event is part of the Open Innovation Columbus (OIC) initiative, which promotes strategic alliances between Japanese startups and Thai conglomerates.

The majority of Thai conglomerates do not reap the benefits of a digital economy. In Japan, large companies are moving to start digital transformation (DX) by collaborating with startups (it’s so called ‘open innovation’), while in Thailand, due to the nature of the verticals that local startups specialize in, DX through open innovation will likely still take time.

In response to this, OIC selected a team of 10 Japanese startups that lead verticals likely to be useful for DX (AI, robotics, IoT, logistics), and that are particularly interested in advancing into Southeast Asia, including Thailand, and invited them to Bangkok. This is an attempt at targeting cross-border open innovation and focuses on using the power of Japanese startups to foster DX for Thai conglomerates. Since top executives from local conglomerates including CP group listen to startup pitches, their effort is more likely to lead to PoC (proof of concept) and other collaborative work because of top-down decision making.

From left: Thanasorn Jaidee (President, True Digital Park), Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin (CEO, Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa), Thailand), Soopakij Chearavanont (Chairman, CP Group), Kobsak Pootrakool (Deputy Secretary-General for political affairs to Thai Prime Minister), Shiro Sadoshima (Japaese Ambassador to Thailand), John Jiang (Chief Digital Officer, CP Group)
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda

As a result of the initiative’s previous batch, our readers may recall that there were an announcement regarding the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on PoCs towards collaboration between Japanese startups and Thai conglomerates:

  • Umitron (IoT-powered aquaculture tech) – CP Foods (Thailand’s largest food distributor)
  • Ground (autonomous collaborative robot for the logistics industry) – WHA (logistics facility giant in Thailand)
  • Skydisc (AI and IoT) – TTCL (Thiland’s engineering giant)
  • Toppan Printing – DRVR (fleet analytics)
  • Flare (ad-wrapping service for car owners and telematics) – Toyota Tsusho Thailand
  • Leave a Nest – Innospace (Thailand’s startup accelerator backed by the government and private sectors)

Since Shiro Sadoshima were finishing his term as the Japanese ambassador to Thailand, attending the Demo Day was the last opportunity for him to be involved in a series of the OIC activities. In the event, Kobsak Pootrakool, Deputy Secretary-General to the Thai Prime Minister for Political Affairs, made a keynote speech and thanked Sadoshima for his great work for many years. Because of high reputation from the Thai Government and local conglomerates, Roch Thailand and other OIC activities are expected to be taken over and followed up by the next ambassador.

The founders of participating 10 startups from Japan made a pitch to Soopakij Cheravanont, chairman of CP Group, and other 60 representatives from his group companies in addition to 80 people from other local conglomerates. Discussions between potential partners with Japanese startups have just begun after the pitch, so please stay tuned to their future progress and eventually public announcement as their previous batch grads recently did. For now, let’s have a quick look down on how the participating startups are working to tackle.

See also:

Paronym

Founded back in 2016, Paronym has developed the TIG interactive video solution that allows viewers to obtain necessary information by tapping an item in a video clip. Use cases include e-commerce sites selling interiors and fashion outfits, recipe sites (linking to foods and ingredients in the recipe), and online travel guides (linking to travel destinations). The platform offers tracking editing tool that allows content owners to associate objects in a clip with link destinations in addition to heat map tool showing them which part of the clip their viewers are tapping.

The company offers a different line-up for each of six different verticals including movies splitting off into multiple case scenarios, magazines, digital signage, commerce, learning and live (performance). Due to its high interactivity, they claim that the platform can help e-commerce sites gain their conversion rate twice that of Instagram, three times that of YouTube. The company is seeking business partnership, series B investment, and sales partnership in Thailand.

Connected Robotics

Connected Robotics was founded back in 2014 by CEO Tetsuya Sawanobori who has been developing industrial robot controllers and won a robot contest organized by Japanese public broadcaster NHK when he was attending the university of Tokyo. Their portfolio products include OctoChef offering automated cooking of Octopus Dumplings, the Reita ice cream serving robot, Dish Washing System, hot snacks serving robot for convenience stores, and the Loraine breakfast cooking robot.

The company won the Startup Weekend Robotics back in 2017, and was also selected for Kirin Accelerator 2017 and IBM BlueHub 4th Batch. Their robot is not intended for sale but is provided as a service (Robot as a Service=RAAS) that allows store owners to use it by paying installation and monthly usage fees so that then can start using it as an alternative to clerks. Supporting various robot arms with its control software and computer vision-based positioning system, the system is very flexible in dealing with a variety of ingredients and cooking procedures.

IntegriCulture

IntegriCulture has developed cell farming technology for producing cultured meat. As a means of supplying animal protein, meat products derived from livestock has many issues from the viewpoint of sustainable society because of excessive consumption of water resources, deforestation, and emission of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, the technology for producing cultured meat is very expensive and still far from far from our daily consumption.

The company has succeeded in producing meat for human consumption by culturing actual cells. For example, it enables to produce chicken liver paste equivalents by putting muscle cells into culture solution (biocatalyst). In the actual animal body, internal organs secrete hormones to change cells to support every different function in the body but the company’s solution, called CulNet, made it possible virtually. The company is currently developing cultured foie gras, hoping to work with Thai companies to market artificial anti-aging serum based on the same culture technology.

See also:

A.L.I. Technologies

A.L.I. Technologies has three business domains: drone, air mobility, and computing power sharing. in the air mobility business, the company unveiled the prototype of hoverbike for public road use back in March. In the machine computing power sharing using high-spec GPUs, our readers may recall that the company invested in Pegara, the startup behind a CPU cloud service for deep learning called GPU Eater, back in September this year.

The company’s drone can be also used for streamlining the regular semi-annual inspection of power plant facilities and eventually saving up to $9 million yen. Having formed a nationwide network of drone pilots who have received high-level training, the company is looking to increase demands of drones in periodical facility inspections, agriculture, and surveys in addition to those of hoverbikes in racing, entertainment, and mobility use.

LinkWiz

The working population, especially in the manufacturing industry, is shrinking not only in Japan but also in Thailand as the aging society advances. LinkWiz automates manufacturing and inspection processes of industrial products using robots, realizing labor savings and gaining efficiency. Their flagship products are the L-Qualify 3D weld bead inspection system and the L-Robot teaching tool that helps robots correct movements aligned with target work.

The company claims their technology has helped precision machinery and auto parts manufacturers like Yamaha, Mitutoyo, and Aisin Seiki cut down their production cost. LinkWiz hopes clients to use these robots “as sensors” and use them throughout the entire manufacturing process at the factory. In June, the company secured about $8.2 million from round INCJ, SMBC Venture Capital, Mitutoyo, Panasonic, Global Brain, Hamashin Lease, and other investors in a series B round.

TBM

TBM has developed a new limestone-based material called Limex, an alternative to paper, plastic, and vinyl. Making paper consumes a lot of wood and water, while producing plastic also consumes fossil fuels and releases greenhouse gases. As plastic pollution in the ocean has become a mindful issue, Limex can replace traditional materials and be used for business cards and packages. The new material is used for a menu at Yoshinoya beef bowl restaurants in Japan while it’s also attracting people’s attention as plastic bags provided at supermarkets are being charged for environmental reasons.

In addition to recycling collected materials into equivalent products, the technology enables to create a value-added product such as converting collected old Limex-made menus into new bowls, which they call ‘up-cycle’. The company runs their business in over 30 counties by licensing their technologies to local partners in over 30 countries, exploring potential partnership with manufacturing companies as well as investment. They were ranked in the second place both in Nikkei’s Next Unicorn Survey and For Startups’ estimated valuation raking.

Metro Engine

With the increasing supply of hotels and vacation rentals, price wars with competitors are intensifying for owners. It is difficult for them to hire experienced pricing managers, and price adjustment process ridiculously time-consuming. Metro Engine provides hotels with dynamic pricing function (enabling them to maximize profit by price optimization) leveraging AI-powered demand forecast forecasting. It’s currently used by more than 30 hotel chains in Japan.

The platform offers sales management, demand forecasting, past data analysis, OTA (online travel agency) ranking and other functions for hotels, as well as other services supporting demand forecasting and pricing for car rental agencies and rental property owners. In the future, the company wants to offer the best means of transportation for visitors by aggregating data from car rentals, highway bus, events, and trains as well as hotels. Having partnered with Toppan Printing, the company was qualified for both the IBM BlueHub (inbound) open innovation program and the JR East Accelerator Program 2nd batch.

See also:

SAgri

SAgri gets soil conditions (corrosion content) using satellite data and updates on farm products and varieties from farmers to create a blockchain-powered database. Putting these altogether, the company tells farmers how to improve soil conditions from biological, chemical and physical viewpoints in addition to offering them with accurate measurement to help farmers get more harvest. They have also developed a scoring scheme evaluating farmland by soil conditions data and macro data of corrosion content.

Conventional methods measuring nitrogen in soil were expensive while the company has succeeded in lowering the cost using satellite data. Focused on what, rice and sugar cane, the technology can give farmers harvest prediction and advise them how much fertilizer they should use. By sending all these insights to financial institutions, the company encourages them give loans to local farmers in India while the Japanese government leverages the technology to determine the status of fallow fields to see if then can resume cultivation. They were qualified for the MUFG Digital Accelerator 4th Batch and the 500 Kobe 3rd Batch.

Terra Drone

Terra Drone provides drone-powered services for industry use. In August, Drone Industry Insights published the Service Provider Ranking for this year and put Terra Drone in the second place following ZipLine. Currently targeting markets include oil and gas fields, power houses and grids, mines and quarries. The technology visualizes the layout of power grids in 3D using LIDAR data from drones while the recently-launched technology enables aerial livestreaming for hot spot corrosion monitoring for pipelines.

Other use cases include detecting crime from high places, detecting gas leaks in pipelines, and ultrasonic flaw detection in LNG tanks. With the unique feature of their LIDAR-based mapping technology that can visualize terrain data, demand for the technology is growing in many industries, especially in the construction one. The company is looking at series A round funding soon, exploring partnerships with local companies in Thailand and other Southeast Asian markets.

Optimind

Oprimind has developed a route planner for last-mile delivery providers called Looqia, leveraging the Combinational Optimization technology spun off from Nagoya University. In addition to Looqia as SaaS (Software as a Service), the company offers an algorithm platform as PaaS (Platform as a Service) and R&D service for enterprises. Logistics companies had been planning routes and delivery orders manually, but Looqia allows them to find the most efficient route considering traffic conditions and parking / loading restrictions on roads.

The platform can complete route plannings in 100 seconds for 30 drop-offs for each of 5 deliverers. It also has functions allowing drivers to less u-turns, helping them find easy parking lots, appropriately allocating tasks to deliverers. Their targeting industries include home delivery providers, food, liquor and medicine wholesalers, as well as vending machine vendors. In order to create a local routeing map, the company wants to partner with companies owning car driving data in Thailand. They won the Demo Day at Post LogiTech Innovation Program Batch 1, or the startup acceleration program by Japan Post.

Attendees enjoying networking opportunities.
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
IntegriCulture’s Yuki Hanyu (left) in talk with CP Group CDO John Jiang (right)
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda

Related news

  1. Japan Embassy in Bangkok, CP Group help Japan startups digitalize Thai conglomerates
  2. How Japanese startups can help digital transformation efforts of Thai enterprises
  3. Inside Bangkok’s growing startup scene

Japan Embassy in Bangkok, CP Group help Japan startups digitalize Thai conglomerates

SCORE 1,114 The Bridge The Bridge
SHARE:

This article was rearranged by our editorial from the original by Momoko Furukawa, Assistant to Executive/PR at TalentEx. TalentEX is a Bangkok-based startup offering a media outlet and an online platform for recruitment and human resources. All the photos in this article were taken by Tomohiro Ueno, Corporate Planning at TalentEx. See our past coverage to learn more about TalentEx. See the original story in Japanese. The Japanese Embassy in Thailand together with the CP Group (Charoen Pokphand Group), operating 7/11 convenience stores in Thailand and also owning local mobile telco giant True, held a Demo Day and matchmaking event called Rock Thailand in March, aiming to help Japanese startups and Thai conglomerates to work together. The event is part of the Open Innovation Columbus (OIC) initiative, which promotes strategic alliances between Japanese startups and Thai conglomerates. With regards to OIC-related events, this follows the DX Summit held by the Japanese Embassy in Thailand last October. The majority of Thai conglomerates do not reap the benefits of a digital economy. In Japan, large companies are moving to start digital transformation (DX) by collaborating with startups (it’s so called ‘open innovation’), while in Thailand, due to the nature of the verticals…

This article was rearranged by our editorial from the original by Momoko Furukawa, Assistant to Executive/PR at TalentEx. TalentEX is a Bangkok-based startup offering a media outlet and an online platform for recruitment and human resources.

All the photos in this article were taken by Tomohiro Ueno, Corporate Planning at TalentEx.

See our past coverage to learn more about TalentEx.

See the original story in Japanese.

The Japanese Embassy in Thailand together with the CP Group (Charoen Pokphand Group), operating 7/11 convenience stores in Thailand and also owning local mobile telco giant True, held a Demo Day and matchmaking event called Rock Thailand in March, aiming to help Japanese startups and Thai conglomerates to work together. The event is part of the Open Innovation Columbus (OIC) initiative, which promotes strategic alliances between Japanese startups and Thai conglomerates. With regards to OIC-related events, this follows the DX Summit held by the Japanese Embassy in Thailand last October.

The majority of Thai conglomerates do not reap the benefits of a digital economy. In Japan, large companies are moving to start digital transformation (DX) by collaborating with startups (it’s so called ‘open innovation’), while in Thailand, due to the nature of the verticals that local startups specialize in, DX through open innovation will likely still take time.

In response to this, OIC selected a team of 10 Japanese startups that lead verticals likely to be useful for DX (AI, robotics, IoT, logistics), and that are particularly interested in advancing into Southeast Asia, including Thailand, and invited them to Bangkok. This is an attempt at targeting cross-border open innovation and focuses on using the power of Japanese startups to foster DX for Thai conglomerates.

Representatives from the 10 Japanese startups pitched in front of top executives from major corporations such as CP Group’s CEO Suphachai Chearavanont, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), major retailer TCC known for its beer brewing brand Chang, Kasikornbank, the Thai royal family-backded SCG (Siam Cement Group), and the big name in hospital management BDMS (Bangkok Dusit Medical Service). Individual consultations between representatives were also made with the goal of establishing cooperative relationships starting with a PoC (proof of concept).

A committee made up of 10 venture capitalists and media personnel from Japan who have deep knowledge of the startup scenes in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, selected the startups to participate in this first edition of the event.

The following is an introduction of the participating startups. They are introduced in the order that they pitched. The collaboration specifics were not disclosed except between the Thai conglomerates and startups, so we introduce only the comments from participating startups.

PKSHA Technology

Yugo Takino, VP of Product, PKSHA TEchnology

PKSHA Technology (TSE: 3993) develops algorithm solutions focused on natural language processing, image recognition, machine learning and deep learning technologies. The company also develops function-specific algorithm modules and provides services to use them as core functions/ sub-functions for various software/hardware. Founded by engineers and researchers who conduct algorithm research, approximately 70% of PKSHA’s engineers who have completed doctoral programs make up their team along with a collection of qualified personnel with academic expertise. PKSHA said that their resources could be used to provide services adapted to each industry such as weather and equipment maintenance.

ABEJA

Naoki Tonogi, Managing Director, ABEJA Singapore

ABEJA provides all kinds of solutions for a variety of industries using its core technology, the AI platform “ABEJA Platform”. The company uses deep learning to automatically extract feature values from accumulated big data without human intervention.

Naoki Tonogi, Managing Director of ABEJA Singapore, cited three of ABEJA’s strengths.

  1. ABEJA can provide services for all industrial fields.
  2. The company has developed services internationally, and has already achieved results, especially in Southeast Asia.
  3. In addition to providing solutions with AI, the company produces its own products.

Tonogi shared the following comments regarding the company’s participation in Rock Thailand.

We were able to talk with major conglomerates including CP Group. Companies that we had already talked to said they’d like to work together, and we were able to propose approaches using AI tailored to each task such as smart factories, smart cities, smart stores to the others. Because of the back-up from the Japanese government, it seems possible to create a cooperative system for innovation with the conglomerates in Thailand, rather than receiving a simple project order from them.¥

It’s been about two years since I came to Singapore and Thailand, but over the past year or so the interest of corporate management in AI has greatly increased, and we were able to put together a number of projects with them. Based on the idea central to our company ‘implementing a fruitful world’, we would like to implement a rich society in Thailand for all the people involved in AI.

See also our past articles of ABEJA.

LPixel

Yuki Shimahara, CEO & Founder, LPixel

Spun off from the University of Tokyo, LPixel has a strength in image analysis for life science. The company is developing software and optimizing AI technology for image analysis in life science such as medicine, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. They continue to research and develop medical image diagnosis support using AI in cooperation with the National Cancer Center Japan and a number of other medical institutions. They have expanded into Cambridge, US to provide global services.

See also:

Skydisc

Yoshihiko Suenaga, Head of Overseas Strategy Division, Skydisc

Skydisc develops IoT sensor devices and services that allows users to analyze the data collected using AI. It has most often been introduced in the manufacturing industry, and contributes to creating smart factories by diagnosing abnormalities in machines, increasing yield rates, and improving the accuracy of inspections.

See also:

Umitron

Masahiko Yamada, Co-founder and Managing Director, Umitron

Umitron is working on solutions for food and environmental issues by using technology for aquaculture. The company has offices in Singapore and Japan and it provides services using IoT, satellite remote sensing, and machine learning. Umitron Cell, a smart feeder recently announced by the company, allows users to feed cultured fish on schedule and monitor their appearance autonomously or remotely.

Masahiro Yamada, Co-founder and Managing Director of Umitron, shared shared the following impressions regarding participation in Rock Thailand.

I’ve participated in many matching events, but I’ve never been to an event that left me so satisfied. Top class executives from the country’s top conglomerates gathered together, the interviews were set up, and I was able to meet the people I wanted to meet, so it was really great.

I was able to talk with nearly all the conglomerates (that participated), and my first order of business is to begin discussions regarding their on-site issues. As far as business partners in Thailand, I expect there is a good chance for collaboration.

See also:

SmartDrive

Retsu Kitagawa, CEO, SmartDrive

Telematic startup SmartDrive provides services to collect travel data from cars and other mobility devices and then visualize and analyze it. Their services include SmartDrive Fleet (real-time vehicle management for corporations), SmartDrive Cars (flat-rate connected cars for personal use), SmartDrive Families (monitoring of the elderly), and Public Service (mapping of dangerous areas and traffic sharing). The company has also focused on developing sensors, including drive recorders, and creating its own route for data acquisition.

See also:

Smart Shopping

Ryosuke Shimohara, VP of B2B Business, Smart Shopping

Smart Shopping is a price comparison site for daily goods and food and serves over 400,000 users. In October of last year, the company launched a new product called SmartMat, an IoT device equipped with weight sensors that enables automatic recurring orders and inventory replenishment for consumables. It is primarily desgined for corporations tand automates the task of always keeping the necessary amount of items that may be easy to forget to order. With Smart Shopping, the pre-consumption weight of the product is stored in the company’s product database and based on regular weight checks asks the user to authorize purchases when the remaining weight is low.

Ryosuke Shimohara, VP of B2B Business, Smart Shopping, shared the following comments about participating in Rock Thailand.

For WHA, a big name in Thai industrial parks and rental warehouses, we were able to propose added value for logistics facilities, solutions for their factory customers, and supply chain optimization using Smartmats. For the CP Group, Singha (beer brand), and Siam Makro (Thailand’s answer to Costco), we were able to propose the introduction of an automatic recurring ordering solution for retail stores using SmartMats. We hope this will lead to the acquisition of large customers when developing business in Thailand, and lead to partnerships in Southeast Asia, including Thailand.

Ground

Takatsugu Kobayashi, Chief Data Officer and Head of Global Innovation, Ground

Ground provides logistics solutions with “Intelligent Logistics” as its company slogan. Starting with picking operations in warehouses, the company has built a platform combining robots and AI software to optimize logistics.

Problems that companies often encounter include too many options for consumers, consumers becoming easily bored, and the inability to detect consumer behavior in advance (such as cancellations). Ground uses machine learning based on a customer database that can identify consumers’ behavior. Then, based on demand forecasts, it predicts the number of products to be made and the number of sales, and aims to improve the efficiency of all logistics operations.

Takatsugu Kobayashi, Chief Data Officer and Head of Global Innovation, Ground shared his impressions of participating in Rock Thailand.

We talked with several conglomerates, but we are especially considering whether we can provide solutions to the CP Group, Kasikornbank, and WHA. We believe that we can accelerate the development of our company’s AI logistics software ‘DyAS’ and aim for early market-in to Thailand.

For startups that offer both hardware and software like ours, both the speed and scale axes are required–more so than regular startups. In terms of business expansion, if you don’t take the three big steps PoV (Proof of Value) > PoC (Proof of Concept) > PoB (Proof of Business), it is very difficult. In that sense, business development in mature markets tends to be expensive for explanation and introduction costs, and startups with weak capital capabilities are likely to struggle.

However, after talking with the representatives from the conglomerates, such concerns have been lowered. I felt like in the current age we cannot compete overseas (especially with Amazon and Alibaba) if we don’t market-in early (in Thailand) and support reverse innovation in Japan.

Souco

Kunehito Nakahara, Founder and CEO, Souco

Souco is a logistics sharing platform that has built an online database of warehouses and matches companies that want to lend warehouses with those that would like to rent them. The company simplified the procedures necessary to complete before using the space and made it easy to begin using warehouses with a “small lot” for a “short period” in 3 days minimum from the application date. Since the service launch, user growth has been steady and registered users have reached more than 300 companies.

See also:

Hacobu

Masaru Sakata, COO, Hacobu

Hacobu offers a shared logistics platform called Movo. Thanks to the cloud and hardware such as the IoT devices managing moving vehicles, the company solves problems like vehicle dispatch (as an integrated logistics management solution, solves the problem of the difficulty of finding trucks to dispatch), operation management (solves the problem of not knowing location information of the trucks), and berth management (solves the problem of using trucks efficiently because of waiting time).

From left: Polapatr Suvarnazorn (SVP, Thai Beverage), Takatsugu Kobayashi (Ground Chief Data Officer and Head of Global Innovation, Ground), Naoki Tonogi (Managing Director, Abeja Singapore)

Following their pitches, there was a networking opportunity where talks about collaborations between Thai conglomerates and Japanese startups were lively. Thai executives also had positive comments to share about joining Rock Thailand.

Pichairat Jiranunrat, Director of Robotics AI & Intelligent Solution at PTT, says:

Thailand has long established good relationships with Japan and Japanese companies, and I think of Japan as a “good friend”. Based on this trust, perhaps we can create something even more new?

I felt that it’s important to incorporate technology (like that introduced today) into our company.

Yojiro Koshi (center), CEO of TalentEX, also also participated in the networking party.

Translated by Amanda Imasaka
Edited by Masaru Ikeda

Related news

  1. Japan’s Thai Embassy holds 2nd batch helping startups connect with local conglomerates
  2. Insurance giant Sompo buys 21.9% stake in Google-backed deep learning startup Abeja
  3. Japan’s SmartDrive unveils DriveOps to help optimize work efficiency with automobile big data

Japan, Thai startups unite to support younger selves; Inaugural meeting held with ministers

The Bridge The Bridge
SHARE:

This is a guest post authored by Bangkok-based Japanese entrepreneur Kazuki Kamiya. This article was first appeared in Japanese on Bsearch News but translated and edited by The Bridge for republication. Since 2014, he has been running a startup called HubAsia in Thailand for offering crowdsourced translation and interpretation services. In June of 2016 he released Thai-focused Japanese-language business portal site BSearch. Additionally, all photos in this article were taken by photographer Fumi Tanaka aka Bunshow. On Friday, a group of Japanese and Thai startups responsible for generating new industries, along with their respective governments, established the Japan-Thailand Innovation Support Network (hereafter referred to as JTIS) in order to promote cooperation between startups and larger companies. 10 startups from each country participated along with more than twenty big names including Toyota Motor Thailand and Thailand’s largest supplier of raw materials, Siam Cement Group (SCG). The government of Thailand has been supporting startups as an essential means of economic growth by hosting events throughout the country and creating a fund of several billion baht (tens of millions US dollars). In order to reach the objectives for both countries, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) and the Japanese Embassy…

kazuki-kamiya-240x240
Kazuki Kamiya

This is a guest post authored by Bangkok-based Japanese entrepreneur Kazuki Kamiya. This article was first appeared in Japanese on Bsearch News but translated and edited by The Bridge for republication.

Since 2014, he has been running a startup called HubAsia in Thailand for offering crowdsourced translation and interpretation services. In June of 2016 he released Thai-focused Japanese-language business portal site BSearch.

Additionally, all photos in this article were taken by photographer Fumi Tanaka aka Bunshow.

jtis-mou-1

On Friday, a group of Japanese and Thai startups responsible for generating new industries, along with their respective governments, established the Japan-Thailand Innovation Support Network (hereafter referred to as JTIS) in order to promote cooperation between startups and larger companies. 10 startups from each country participated along with more than twenty big names including Toyota Motor Thailand and Thailand’s largest supplier of raw materials, Siam Cement Group (SCG).

The government of Thailand has been supporting startups as an essential means of economic growth by hosting events throughout the country and creating a fund of several billion baht (tens of millions US dollars). In order to reach the objectives for both countries, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) and the Japanese Embassy in Thailand also recently held (August 31st) Embassy Pitch, a separate event that helps connect Thai startups with Japanese and Thai large corporations.

After attending Embassy Pitch, the Thai Minister of Science and Industry, Dr. Pichet Durongkaveroj shared his impressions on social media.

I’m with (Japanese) Ambassador Sadoshima in thinking that ‘innovation’ is what will drive the economic development of our country. We believe by connecting startups and big business Thailand will be able to continue its economic growth.

Dr. Durongkaveroj described the event as, “an event that should be admired” and reportedly rushed to be a part of the inaugural JTIS event on Friday.

JTIS is served by Omise’s CEO and founder Jun Hasegawa, who took the position of President, working on fostering an environment to aid the growth of Thai startups, and will continue to play a role in recommending the relaxation of regulations and the development of laws to the government.

See also:

On the same day, the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Hiroshige Seko, Thailand’s Minister of Science and Industry Dr. Durongkaveroj, and Japanese Ambassador Sadoshima oversaw the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Thailand Tech Startup Association (TTSA), as well as entered into cooperation.

jtis-mou-3

In addition, prior to the signing ceremony Minister Seko had an opportunity to exchange opinions with Japanese entrepreneurs working in Thailand, with the entrepreneurs explaining the current state of the Thai startup scene to the minister. Participants were also able to make demands for deregulation and support measures.

The minister himself actively questioned the entrepreneurs, and conveyed that he recognizes it is in the national interest for the government to boost Japanese big business and startups abroad, encouraging them.

JTIS intends to prepare for the next Embassy Pitch event by strengthening their call for large companies and startups from both countries and recruiting broadly for interested parties.

jtis-mou-2

JTIS executives:

  • President: Jun Hasegawa (Omise)
  • Administration officers: Shinsuke Wakai (BuzzCommerce), Hiroyuki Okamoto (Withfluence)
  • Secretaries: Secretary-General Yojiro Koshi (TalentEx), Kazuki Kamiya (HubAsia)

JTIS secretaries:

  • Secretary-General: Yojiro Koshi (TalentEx)
  • Deputy secretary: Kazuki Kamiya (HubAsia)

Startup members:

Supporting companies and organizations:

  • Japanese companies: Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi Electric, Sharp, dmLab (Dentsu Media Laboratory), Panasonic, NTT Communications, Fuji Film, Mitsui & Co., Itochu, Sumitomo Corporation, Nomura Research Institute, ABeam Consulting, etc.
  • Thai companies: Siam Cement Group (SCG), ThaiBev, Saha Group, AIS, True, Singha Group, Amata Group, Charoen Pokphand Group, etc.

Translated by Amanda Imasaka
Edited by Masaru Ikeda

Related news

  1. Japan Embassy in Bangkok, CP Group help Japan startups digitalize Thai conglomerates
  2. Bangkok-based Flare pays drivers in the heavy traffic city to wrap their car in ads
  3. How Japanese startups can help digital transformation efforts of Thai enterprises

Thai handmade marketplace Blisby raises $300K from DeNA, East Ventures, 500 Startups

Masaru Ikeda Masaru Ikeda
SHARE:

See the original story in Japanese. Blisby, a Thailand-based handmade marketplace focused on serving the Southeast Asian region, announced today that it has raised $300,000 in a recent round. This round was led by Japan’s DeNA and East Ventures with participation from 500 Durians and 500 Tuk Tuks, regiocentric funds focused on Southeast Asia and Thailand by 500 Startups. Since its launch back in November 2013, Blisby has acquired 1 million pageviews and 350,000 monthly active users as of March, increasing a user base in a month-over-month growth rate of 20%. The company will use the funds to expand their business beyond Thailand to other neighboring markets in the Southeast Asia region. Blisby’s founder Phuvadol Thongthavorn was born and raised in the U.S.; prior to launching Blisby, he worked at Yahoo and Sony in California. In 2010, he decided to move from California to New York but stopped for a short break in Thailand to ordain as a Buddhist monk, where his experience during the visit prompted him to launch Blisby in Thailand without going back to the U.S. by establishing a business of Thai contemporary arts that Thongthavorn had been looking at for a long time. There are many players fiercely competing in…

blisby_screenshot

See the original story in Japanese.

Blisby, a Thailand-based handmade marketplace focused on serving the Southeast Asian region, announced today that it has raised $300,000 in a recent round. This round was led by Japan’s DeNA and East Ventures with participation from 500 Durians and 500 Tuk Tuks, regiocentric funds focused on Southeast Asia and Thailand by 500 Startups.

Since its launch back in November 2013, Blisby has acquired 1 million pageviews and 350,000 monthly active users as of March, increasing a user base in a month-over-month growth rate of 20%. The company will use the funds to expand their business beyond Thailand to other neighboring markets in the Southeast Asia region.

Blisby’s founder Phuvadol Thongthavorn was born and raised in the U.S.; prior to launching Blisby, he worked at Yahoo and Sony in California. In 2010, he decided to move from California to New York but stopped for a short break in Thailand to ordain as a Buddhist monk, where his experience during the visit prompted him to launch Blisby in Thailand without going back to the U.S. by establishing a business of Thai contemporary arts that Thongthavorn had been looking at for a long time.

There are many players fiercely competing in this space, including Etsy and Fab in the U.S., Pinkoi in Taiwan, in addition to Anders/Creema,Tenote and Minne, not to mention Iichi in Japan. Particularly, Etsy will be listed at NASDAQ next Wednesday, which may be the largest for a New York-based technology company in 16 years.

Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Related news

  1. Handmade item marketplace Anders brings new Japanese-flavored designs every Monday
  2. Meet the Japanese entrepreneur trying to disrupt the Thai cosmetics market
  3. Japan’s handmade item marketplace Creema fundraises $1 million from KDDI

Inside Bangkok’s growing startup scene

Masaru Ikeda Masaru Ikeda
SHARE:

See the original article in Japanese, posted earlier this year I recently had a chance to visit Bangkok, and the following is a conversation with many locals who have unique insights into the Thai startup scene [1]. Oranuch Lerdsuwankij (Mimee) from ThumbsUp Mimee is the cofounder of ThumbsUp, a partner media for The Bridge with whom we often exchange articles. ThumbsUp was founded in 2011 by a team of five, and currently there are seven members who run the Thai and English editions. While Mimee works as a consultant at another company, she operates ThumbsUp, organizes startup events, and hosts an IT-focused TV program call Thailand Can Do. Thailand has three telecommunications carriers: AIS, DTAC and TRUE. And all of them have startup programs. But the problem is that there is little difference among these three programs, and consequently the same startups tend to occupy the programs. So Mimee thinks it is necessary to expand the startup community, and she focuses on helping startups in Thailand expand overseas. Vincent Sethiwan & Permsiri Tiyavutiroj from Launchpad Tokyo-based Animation Crowd Funding platform, Anipipo was launched in 2013. The board members, Vincent Sethiwan and Permsiri Tiyavutiroj (Sam) are in Thailand most of time,…

See the original article in Japanese, posted earlier this year

Skyscrapers from Chong Nonsi station
Skyscrapers from Chong Nonsi station

I recently had a chance to visit Bangkok, and the following is a conversation with many locals who have unique insights into the Thai startup scene [1].

Oranuch Lerdsuwankij (Mimee) from ThumbsUp

mimeeMimee is the cofounder of ThumbsUp, a partner media for The Bridge with whom we often exchange articles. ThumbsUp was founded in 2011 by a team of five, and currently there are seven members who run the Thai and English editions. While Mimee works as a consultant at another company, she operates ThumbsUp, organizes startup events, and hosts an IT-focused TV program call Thailand Can Do.

Thailand has three telecommunications carriers: AIS, DTAC and TRUE. And all of them have startup programs. But the problem is that there is little difference among these three programs, and consequently the same startups tend to occupy the programs. So Mimee thinks it is necessary to expand the startup community, and she focuses on helping startups in Thailand expand overseas.

Vincent Sethiwan & Permsiri Tiyavutiroj from Launchpad

Launchpad entrance

Tokyo-based Animation Crowd Funding platform, Anipipo was launched in 2013. The board members, Vincent Sethiwan and Permsiri Tiyavutiroj (Sam) are in Thailand most of time, founding a co-working space called Launchpad in November of 2012. The space is about a 10-minute walk from Chong Nonsi station, only two stations away from the downtown Bangkok. While many co-working spaces often use a room in a small building, Launchpad has its space on the first floor Sethiwan Tower, a fairly large building. I was quite surprised to see such a great location, and Sethiwan tells me that it’s a property owned by his family, as we might have guessed from the name!

Permsiri Tiyavutiroj (left) and Vincent Sethiwan (right)

Vincent previously participated in Alpha Lab, an accelerator program in Pittsburg. After he came back to Thailand, he got to know Sam while he was working at a Japanese consulting firm. They explained:

Although the three telecom carriers have startup programs, the startups participating in those programs are the same. What Thailand’s startups scene needs is not a pitch contest. Thai startups don’t really know how to do business. Then we got the idea of starting an incubation program. We’d like to offer hands-on training, and we will first accept only around three startups. […] We have a two-hour time difference between Tokyo and Bangkok though, and it would be great if we can do networking or share our pitches over Skype or something.

Amarit Charoenphan from Hubba

hubba_entrance

Another co-working space, Hubba is a renovated house with a garden located in the east of Bangkok, at Thong Lo, an area where many Japanese and western people live. The co-founder and director of Hubba, Amarit Charoenphan (pictured below, left), said he wanted to create a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere. Hubba is operated though organized events and paid membership. In the past, it was the organizer of Echelon Ignite, a localized vesion of the Singapore-based Echelon tech conference.

amarit_and _masaru

Hubba even has a shower, so for long events like the 54-hour Startup Weekend Bangkok, participants can refresh themselves. There are many Japanese restaurants and pubs around this area, a taste of home for any Japan’s startups who would like an office in Thailand.

hubba_backyard
Hubba’s backyard

Jon Russell of The Next Web & Paul Srivorakul from Ardent Capital

Jon Russel on the right, Photo by Elisha Ong

The last time I met Jon Russell was at Echelon, a tech conference held in Singapore. He often reports on Asia-based startups from his base in Bangkok. He referred us to Paul Srivorakul as a key person in the city. Paul is the founder of Ardent Capital and he co-invested in Asian tech media site e27. He founded NewMedia Edge, Admax Network, Ensogo Group and sold each business to STW Group, Kimil Media and LivingSocial respectively.

Most entrepreneurs in Thailand have little knowledge of management. So Paul sends those who have management experience in major companies to be startup board members and let entrepreneurs learn from them. He focuses on Southeast Asia’s fast-growing market, and has shown interest in meeting Japanese startups who are willing to do business in Southeast Asia.

khaosan
At Khaosan Road

Even though I spent just a weekend there, I met so many key people in Bangkok and learned a lot from them. My overall impression is that Thailand’s startup scene is just beginning. Startups like Oakbee, Wangnai or Builk are often mentioned as success stories. But success for Thai startups, according to Vincent Sethiwan, is to fundraise in Singapore and expand overseas. The mindset is very far from that of Silicon Valley’s startups and might be closer to the outlook of Japanese startups.

I found that many people have a good impression of Japanese people and products. While there are 18.3 million Facebook users in Thailand, Line has already attracts 12.3 million [2]. There are some great examples of implementing Japanese apps such as the case where Thailand’s police started using LINE for sharing investigation information with members.

For Japanese startups looking to do business in Asian countries, I hope they can consider Thailand as a possible choice.

  1. This article was first published back in February, and has been slightly modified to create this English version. ↩
  2. The Facebook data is according to research data by Cereja Technology, released on Januarty 8th, 2013. Line’s numbers are based on an infographic from Line’s blog, released on Januarty 18th, 2013. ↩

Related news

  1. Inside Luxembourg’s startup scene
  2. Inside Beijing’s startup scene: TechTemple nutures up-and-coming Chinese startups
  3. Japan’s Quan invests in Thailand’s mobile game startup Magic Box Asia

Line’s new ‘Neko Copter’ game is the top iPhone app in Thailand

Rick Martin Rick Martin
SHARE:

This week Japan’s Line Corporation released a new game in cooperation with Square Enix. It’s called Neko Copter, and like most of Line’s mobile games it’s a pretty casual with easy-to-use controls and social integration with Line’s chat app. We’ve seen many of Line’s games rocket to the top of the app ranking charts here in Japan upon their release. But what’s interesting about the first few days of Neko Copter is that it has first reached the top of the charts in Thailand, while in Japan it is still only in 69th spot overall. This is a strong indication that the Line chat app platform is working well as a game distribution channel in Thailand too, where the company has already racked up more than 15 million downloads. If you’d like to get a closer look at the gameplay for Neco Copter you can check out our quick video demo above. If you want to try it for yourself, you can get it over App Store or on Google Play. This is not Line’s first collaboration with Square Enix, as the two companies previously worked together on Slime Shot which was released late last month. For more information on…

This week Japan’s Line Corporation released a new game in cooperation with Square Enix. It’s called Neko Copter, and like most of Line’s mobile games it’s a pretty casual with easy-to-use controls and social integration with Line’s chat app.

We’ve seen many of Line’s games rocket to the top of the app ranking charts here in Japan upon their release. But what’s interesting about the first few days of Neko Copter is that it has first reached the top of the charts in Thailand, while in Japan it is still only in 69th spot overall.

This is a strong indication that the Line chat app platform is working well as a game distribution channel in Thailand too, where the company has already racked up more than 15 million downloads.

If you’d like to get a closer look at the gameplay for Neco Copter you can check out our quick video demo above. If you want to try it for yourself, you can get it over App Store or on Google Play.

This is not Line’s first collaboration with Square Enix, as the two companies previously worked together on Slime Shot which was released late last month.

For more information on the growth of Line and its vast repertoire of apps, including Line Neko Copter, please check out our interactive Line Timeline which chronicles its growth from its launch back in 2011 up until the present day.

neko-copter-2 neko-copter-2

Related news

  1. line-wind-runner Line’s ‘Wind Runner’ game for iPhone tops App Store charts in Asia
  2. LINE reports solid Q2 earnings, aims for 300M users by year’s end
  3. Now with 200M game downloads, Line Corporation adds MapleStory title

How a small Japanese startup is helping Thailand’s biggest telco win new 3G subscribers

Masaru Ikeda Masaru Ikeda
SHARE:

Thailand’s largest mobile operator, AIS, recently launched a new 3G service offering peak download speeds of up to 42Mbps in the country’s urban areas. To promote the service, the telco has been looking for new content to grab consumers’ attention. Quan, the Tokyo-based startup behind the Lounge messaging app, recently partnered with AIS, launching a new sticker app to help bring in new 3G service subscribers. I was curious to know if maybe this sticker app was a deviation from its regular business. A new direction perhaps? Is there any specific strategy behind it? In order to find out more to, we spoke with the startup’s CEO Kazuhiro Mizuno. When we last talked back in January of 2012, you were not focusing on Thailand nor were you doing any of this sticker app stuff. What happened since then? We first started marketing the app all around the Asia region, and we found it was especially popular with users in Thailand. The sticker function used to be part of the Lounge app, but we spun it off and launched it as an independent app. It’s called myStickerShop, and it has seen 500,000 downloads since first launching on Google Play. I fly…

quan_logoThailand’s largest mobile operator, AIS, recently launched a new 3G service offering peak download speeds of up to 42Mbps in the country’s urban areas. To promote the service, the telco has been looking for new content to grab consumers’ attention.

Quan, the Tokyo-based startup behind the Lounge messaging app, recently partnered with AIS, launching a new sticker app to help bring in new 3G service subscribers. I was curious to know if maybe this sticker app was a deviation from its regular business. A new direction perhaps? Is there any specific strategy behind it? In order to find out more to, we spoke with the startup’s CEO Kazuhiro Mizuno.

When we last talked back in January of 2012, you were not focusing on Thailand nor were you doing any of this sticker app stuff. What happened since then?

quan_mizuno

We first started marketing the app all around the Asia region, and we found it was especially popular with users in Thailand. The sticker function used to be part of the Lounge app, but we spun it off and launched it as an independent app. It’s called myStickerShop, and it has seen 500,000 downloads since first launching on Google Play.

I fly a lot to Thailand now, about once a month. And we’ve been discussing and exploring collaborative work [with AIS]. They knew myStickerShop has been a great success, and were interested in releasing it under the AIS brand as to attract potential subscribers to their new 3G service. So we decided to work on it with them using a revenue-share model [1].

There are many mobile carriers and MVNOs in Thailand. Why did you choose AIS? And why Thailand?

ais_mystickershopAIS is not only on top of the country’s mobile industry […] but it is also a Thai subsidiary of Singtel group. That group has many companies and subsidiaries all over Asia, which means it may help us market and expand our business in the future.

By providing our app to AIS on a white-label basis, they handle it as their own app and market it to users using their promotion channels – so we don’t need to [do so much afterwards].

As for why we’ve chosen Thailand, the country is less competitive and it’s easier to make business profitable than in places like Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Furthermore, content goes viral among Thai consumers very rapidly. In terms of consumer mentality, it’s very similar to Japan, meaning when you see your friend with some attractive or interesting items, you also want to have them. This consumer mindset can yield better viral marketing results, and that’s especially good for app developers like us.

Are you interested in expanding to other Asian countries?

Not right now. From my perspective, if you have a Japanese-style fashion app and want to market it somewhere in Asia, you can easily jump into the Taiwanese market. For Japan-made ‘Kawaii’ (cute) apps, maybe the Thai market is best right now. The market seems receptive to common Japanese trends, and local people are very friendly even for Japanese startups.

Many sticker and messaging apps are competing in this space in Asia. How do you differentiate from competitors?

Other cute Japanese apps such as Snapeee or Decopic are trending in places like Taiwan or Hong Kong. What they have been doing is bringing Japanese style to local markets, where they have not made any localization efforts in terms of exporting the apps outside Japan.

I believe what’s most important is a combination of Japan-made designs and local designs. In our case with the AIS MyStickerShop, we actually provide them with our original stickers by our Japanese designers, but they also add some local Thai designs. That might work to create favorable good results.

Most popular sticker and message apps are Japan-made. Are any developers from other Asian countries on top of this space?

This is because of highly sophisticated designing in Japan’s mature design market. Our country is well known for creating manga or anime, creating a market where cartoonists or illustrators can make a living. Perhaps many people designing our stickers are also very well trained.

In addition to the Lounge messaging app and myStickerShop, are you working on any other projects now?

unblock.me_screenshotWe’ve been bringing our app to the Thai market, and we also started helping Thai startups market their apps in the Japanese market in return. We recently partnered with Kiragames, a gaming startup in Thailand’s second largest city, Chiang Mai. We developed the Japanese version of their smash hit puzzle game Unblock.me. We’re also helping them market it in Japan, by getting itlisted on KDDI’s Smartpass or NTT Docomo’s Sugotoku — both are monthly subscription-based app purchasing programs. This is a good way to give Japanese consumers easier access to apps from foreign developers.

I was pretty impressed that Mr. Mizuno has been so active helping other Japanese or Thai startups work collaboratively in such a way. Quan received an undisclosed amount of investment from NetPrice.com and East Ventures in August of 2012.

  1. Note that the customized AIS version of myStickerShop is only available using AIS handsets on the telco’s high-speed 3G service in Thailand.  ↩

Related news

  1. Japan’s Quan invests in Thailand’s mobile game startup Magic Box Asia
  2. mr-egg-wide WeChat turns to Japanese startup Quan for mobile sticker content
  3. emotipon Puzzle & Dragons not cute enough for you? Try Emotipon

Recent Articles

Trends