8Creation of Innovation

8-1

Creation of Innovation⚫ Efforts are underway to promote open innovation between overseas and Japanese companies including startups, such as through“Japan Innovation Bridge (J-Bridge)” and “International Innovation Conference Hack Osaka.”⚫ Kansai is home to 1,387 companies that lead innovation (as of December 2022; “Kansai Venture Company List” by the Kansai Bureau ofEconomy, Trade and Industry). Industry-academia-government efforts to build a startup ecosystem are also in progress.

Japan Innovation Bridge “J-Bridge”
https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/j-bridge/

Focus Countries / Regions

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and JETRO
launched J-Bridge, a business matching platform to create open
innovation through collaboration between Japanese and overseas
companies, in 2021. It facilitates such collaboration in both thedigital and green fields by providing support for business matching,such as finding business partners and arranging meetings, and byorganizing events and other activities.
Service nameCollecting
information• Providing information through “J-Bridge Portal”
site, such as events, public applications fordemonstration subsidy programs, and somesuccessful collaboration cases

Events• Holding various events that lead to collaboration,such as seminars, pitches, and business meetings

Membership services

FindingCollaboration
partners• Providing a database of promising overseascompanies• Providing opportunities to promote your company tooverseas through “Japan Partner Finder”• Access to past events• Interaction among J-Bridge members

Meetup• Arranging business meetings with companies listedon the member-only portal• Providing information on bussines meeting offersfrom promising overseas companies

Individualsupportprogram• Providing sourcing support and spot advisory
services (permanent services)• Providing reverse pitch and integrated support
programs, etc. (intensive support services throughpublic application)

For companies that have decided on a partner
Finalizing thedetails ofcollaboration• Australia• Israel• Africa• JapanCollaboration aimed at reducing greenhouse gas
emissions through logistics efficiency improvements(Logistics and carbon neutrality)
Japanese company:

×
Overseas company:

Focus Fields

×Japanese company:

Main services

J-Bridge
PortalMembersonly forums• Southeast Asia
• India• U.S. & Canada• Europe

Example of the Collaboration CaseDemonstration • Subsidies for the implementation of PoC in thedigital field in Asia and other regions
subsidy* The demonstration subsidy programs are different from the Jprograms*DigitalGreen•••••••••

Mobility
Health Tech
Life Sciences
Agri Tech
Retail TechNAGASE & Co., LTD.
Import/export and domestic sales of chemicalsetc.
LOGIVAN VIETNAM TECHNOLOGY COMPANY,LTD.(Vietnam)
Operation of matching apps between shippers
and delivery companies
Zeroboard Inc.
Provision of GHG emissions calculation andvisualization services• Smart Cities

Outline of collaboration
LOGIVAN is engaged in platform business,
including the operation of matching apps that
• Information security
connect shippers and delivery companies.
etc.
Combining LOGIVAN’s logistics date digitization
service with Zeroboard’s GHG emission
calculation and visualization service, Nagase &Renewable energy• Smart infrastructure Co. will propose solutions for optimal logistics(offshore winde3fficiency and GHG emissions reduction to the• Greening andpower, biomass, etc.)
environmental
customers in Vietnam.
Energy conservationconservation
This project was selected by JETRO for its “Asiatechnologies
etc.
Storage batteries
Digital Transformation(AD ) program” in ASEAN
Hydrogenand Japan.
• Fintech• Robotics➢

Using J-Bridge’s pitch events and meetup services* J-Bridge provides services mainly in Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam in Southeast Asia, theU.K. and Germany in Europe, and Nigeria and Kenya in Africa.

Startup ecosystem base city
“The Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo–Kobe Consortium”
Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe is one of the four locations in Japan selected by the Cabinet Office as a global hubcity. With an emphasis on the healthcare, manufacturing, and information and communications fields,
the area is home to collaboration between universities, research institutes, and companies, centeredaround Osaka University, Kyoto University, and Kobe University. The area aims to create opportunities
for startups to develop new technologies and services by building a support system that encompasses
the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area, including the business community, for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.

Bridge program.

INVEST JAPAN, INVEST KANSAI

32

８ Creation of innovation

８-2

Examples of support for overseas startups
Large companies in Kansai welcome collaborationwith startups

Business matching pitch event (example)

The Kansai Association of Corporate Executives is committed
to promoting the ecosystem. In cooperation with the Kyoto
and Kobe Associations of Corporate Executives, They invitedcompanies and organizations that would sincerely respond toconsultations from would-be founders and startups, without
stating that they would be turned away if they did not have aproven track record of success.
The names and contact information of companies that haveendorsed the Declaration of Startup Friendly Kansai arepublished on the website.

Global Innovation Forum Osaka (GIF)

Organizer

OutlineOsaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Osaka Business andInvestment Center (O-BIC)
The purpose of the event is to realize “Osaka, a meeting place to createbusiness” through matching support for domestic and overseas startups withcutting-edge technologies and products in fields such as carbon neutrality,health tech, XR, and new materials.
At GIF2024, we will hold the GIF Meetup to introduce overseas startups toJapanese companies and the GIF Challenge to support the overseas expansionof Japanese startups.

“The Declaration of Startup Friendly Kansai”
https://gif.osaka.cci.or.jp/common/pdf/gif2024_en.pdf

The list includes 110 companies!
An English version is also available on our website.
(As of February 27, 2024)

International Innovation Conference "Hack Osaka"

OrganizerOutline

https://www.kansaidoyukai.or.jp/wpcontent/uploads/2024/05/18079df6e390a296c83ef
268578cff9f.pdf

Hack Osaka Executive Committee (Osaka City, Urban Innovation
Institute, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Osaka, andOsaka Business Development Agency)
Hack Osaka is one of the largest innovation festivals in Kansai. In order tomake Osaka a city of co-creation connected to the world, Hack Osaka isworking to provide a place and opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors,
large companies, students, and various other players to interact acrossorganizations, regions, nationalities and generations, through talk sessions,pitch contests, meetups with Japanese companies, and other programs. (Heldonce a year)

https://www.innovationosaka.jp/hackosaka/en/index.html

KGAP+ (Keihanna Global Acceleration Program Plus)
Organizer

OutlineAdvanced Telecommunications Research Institute International(ATR)
Keihanna Research Complex Promotion Council
A three-month support program for start-up companies in Japan and overseas.
Startups nominated by domestic and overseas innovation organizations(partner organizations) participate in this program held twice a year and seekout partners to collaborate on PoC. The total number of participants was 155
companies from 17 countries and regions, with 68% successful matches and aparticipant satisfaction rate of 4.3/5.
Partner organizations also host short-term special programs to help startups
not only expand into the Japanese market, but also establish a foothold for
expansion outside of Japan.

https://www.kgap.jp/

INVEST JAPAN, INVEST KANSAI３3