Innovation Dojo

Innovation Dojo Japan is proud to be an official Community Partner to IVS 2024! One of Japan's largest startup conferences, IVS 2024 KYOTO will bring Japan's rich heritage and latest innovation to a global platform. Under the theme "Cross Boundaries", the conference brings together business insights and cutting-edge technology, highlighting how Web2, Web3 and AI are shaping the world. IVS has provided Innovation Dojo Japan with a coupon code for a 20% discount on tickets, so please register and join us! Please use this Promo Code for a special discount: ivs2024idj Tickets avilable here: https://lnkd.in/gjYutMjm The conference takes place across the 4th, 5th and 6th of July 2024 and will be held in Dojo territory, at Kyoto Pulse Plaza. We look forward to seeing you in Kyoto soon! Innovation Dojo Black Belt™ (Corporate Innovation Consulting & Fund) Naoya Yoshizumi JUNIK BAE Moe Gotoda Kaori Sato Itaru U. Stephen Hartley Siddhant Bhatt Akihiko Okamoto Headline - Asia Marisa W.

神戸市・外国人起業家・海外スタートアップ企業等のビジネスサポート業務「Kobe Global Startup Support」の受託運営を開始（二期目） Innovation Dojo Japan合同会社は、昨年度に引き続いて、神戸市が実施する外国人起業家・海外スタートアップ企業等へのビジネスサポート業務「Kobe Global Startup Support」（以下、本業務）を受託し、支援提供を開始したことをお知らせします。 本業務は、神戸市が外国人起業家等の誘致と市内定着に向けた支援策の整備・拡充を進める中で、個社支援、イベント開催、海外訪問団の受け入れ等において、弊社が企画・運営を実施するものです。 ■昨年度参加企業からのフィードバック 「昨年の神戸市プログラムへの参加は、自社のビジネス拡大に極めて重要な機会となりました。Kobe Global Startup Supportから受けたアドバイスとサポートは、ビザ取得手続きやその後の事業拡大において効果的であり、特に日本市場進出に関する専門家ガイダンスと、ネットワーキング機会が素晴らしいものでした。彼らのビジネスインサイトとサポートのおかげで、我々はビジネス戦略を練り直し、重要な人脈を築くことができたと言えます。 本サポートに非常に感謝しており、日本での事業拡大を目指す他の企業にも、このビジネスサポートの活用を強くお勧めしたいと思います。」 （Ali Motohari氏・デジタルヘルス関連スタートアップ） → https://lnkd.in/gXUmTM-E Innovation Dojo Japan are very pleased to be working with City of Kobe and the Invest in Kobe team under a commercial agreement they have trusted us with as the delivery partner. This will be the forth consecutive year we have been trusted by the city, this time specifically to deliver the「Kobe Global Startup Support」initiative which has become part of the support infrastructure that the city offers global technology companies. Companies which are serious about Japan market entry and aligned with business opportunities that the city and greater Kansai region has to offer will be welcomed to the program, with a focus on matching technology capabilities with the current and real needs of corporations in the region. The project will be led by our newest talented member, JUNIK BAE, and we welcome him warmly to the team! More in the press release here (machine translated)→ https://lnkd.in/gh3J6n37 Innovation Dojo Naoya Yoshizumi Moe Gotoda Black Belt™ (Corporate Innovation Consulting & Fund)

The Black Belt™ (Corporate Innovation Consulting & Fund) team, Itaru U. and I are attending SusHi Tech Tokyo 2024 Global Startup Program Official Account May 15 and 16 and would love to see you there! The Black Belt Fund solves market entry and expansion challenges for global tech companies with high potential in Japan, and also plays an important role in revitalising Japanese cities and prefectures outside of Tokyo. We are leveraging the combination of Innovation Dojo Japan's experience and network across the local and global innovation landscape, and Japan Tech's hands-on experience designing and managing both VC and CVC funds in Japan for this unique "Black Belt" platform. Financial institutions and Japanese corporations interested in our fund, book a time with us here! → https://lnkd.in/geazYZcV (you need to be registered for the Sushi Tech Tokyo to access) Global startups and scaleups with a strong position and track record in your first market and interested in a new model for funding for your Japan market entry strategy, book a time with us here! → https://lnkd.in/geazYZcV (you need to be registered for Sushi Tech Tokyo to access)

It was a huge week for the Innovation Dojo Japan team, with the "Bridging Kyoto and Singapore Ecosystems" program and events, powered by Mizuho Bank, over the last two days. Yesterday Kyoto was the location for this gathering of startups, universities, government, corporations and VC's. Everyone was there to hear from the successful South East Asian investors from Insignia Ventures Partners, Vertex Growth and Vertex Ventures, as well as listen to pitches from some of the most promising deeptech startups from across the Kansai region. One of the highlights was the key note speech from Yinglan Tan from Insignia Venture Partners, in which he highlighted "Southeast Asia momentum seeing emergence of new trends in the way companies are being built". There was a concept of the "innovation trifecta" explained, including the evolution of talent growth, economic growth and digital adpotion and how they are intertwined and impacted by trends such as Generative AI, Global Strategic Interest (and investment including from Japan) and China talent entering South East Asia among other factors. We also heard interesting perspectives from Vertex Growth Fund, and a strong message from Mizuho Bank itself, that made clear that there is no choice but to invest more time, effort and resources into global technologies and startups as part of the company strategy in 2024. This event follows our management of the Global VC invitiation program to Kansai in January (under Kansai Startup Mashups by JETRO), and Innovation Dojo are determined to continue building on these activities, which attempt break down some of the misconceptions and barriers which slow down cross-border technology investment and business development in Japan and across the Asia Pacific. A huge thanks to the Mizuho team for this leadership, our hard and smart working Innovation Dojo team, the visiting VC's for sharing your insights and wisdom and the excellent technology companies that presented what Kansai and Japan has to offer. Here is a short article covering the initiative from the Nikkei this morning: https://lnkd.in/gYD_EeQN Naoya Yoshizumi Moe Gotoda Marisa W. Stephen Hartley Siddhant Bhatt

Innovation Dojo Japan is proud to be working closely with the 3rd largest financial services company in Japan Mizuho Bank, on this new initiative that brings top South East Asian venture capitalists to Japan this month. The event, "Bridging Kyoto and Singapore Startup Ecosystems" will feature Yinglan Tan from Insignia Ventures Partners, Yuki Hayashi, CFA from Vertex Growth Fund and Steven Vanada from Vertex Ventures and a cohort of top startups from the Kansai region together to share and discuss learnings from Singapore and South East Asia, global market trends followed by a showcase of technology and startupss from Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe areas. Southeast Asia is experiencing remarkable economic growth. As the center of this ecosystem, the Singaporean government has actively formed one of the world's leading ecosystems, and currently has more than 200 venture capital firms, boasting the world's highest amount of venture capital transactions per unit of GDP. A well-organized business environment including social stability, established legal and financial systems, innovative culture, regional connectivity, generous government support, English as an official language, and excellent human resources form one of the best ecosystems in the world. We look forward to welcoming Japanese corporations, CVC's and other interested investors to the event! Naoya Yoshizumi Moe Gotoda Marisa W. Stephen Hartley Siddhant Bhatt Kaori Sato

Last call to register for our Innovation Dojo Japan Summit event happening next Tuesday, March 26th (3pm start Japan time)! Come along and listen to a unique panel of three overseas organisations, a Venture Capital firm, an R&D and innovation focused university and a foreign led AI startup share insights into their strategies, intentions and experiences collaborating with corporations in Japan. We are lucky enough to have Antler Japan, UNSW Innovation Community and Veritus who all have initiatives recently launched in Japan represented on the panel and the wonderful Shion Seino from LIAISON moderating the panel this time. Following this, we will have presentations from startups, scaleups and technology groups from three of our portfolio initiatives, including a German leader in robotics and factory automation, and an Australian cutting edge quantam computing company that have raised just under 40M Euros and US$23M venture funding respectively within the last few months. We have opened additional seats for both in-person participation at ANCHOR KOBE（アンカー神戸） or online are open and Japanese corporate innovation departments, Business Unit heads and CVC representatives are encouraged to attend! Register here (Japanese): https://lnkd.in/gn5ewW9R (Machine translated English): https://lnkd.in/gUf53Ad4 LLEAF Greenhouse Film Technology Diraq MAOLAC Decoding Nature RobCo RoboAI Veritus DigitalX Technology Group Ryo Umezawa Marisa W. Manas Kala Anh Ngo David N. Maya Ashkenazi Otmazgin UNSW