For Asian startups with growth plans, international expansion is certainly one of the key priorities. Most businesses tend to look at China or the US due to the sheer size of the market but Japan is often overlooked. As the third-largest market in the world, Japan represents a significant opportunity. Not only is it a highly stable economy with enormous purchasing power — a population of 127 million with a per capita GDP of around $41,000 — the Japanese economy is also expected to pose a healthy 4% growth in 2021, showing signs of strong post-pandemic recovery.
Overseas companies have traditionally had concerns around cultural and language differences that have made them averse to building a presence in Japan. Companies have also found it hard to hire Japanese talent with international experience in the past since Japanese entrepreneurs predominantly stuck to business within Japan. However, things have changed significantly over the last decade or so.
Japan has always been a hotbed for tech and innovation with the many legacy brands that dominated in automotive, electronics, and industrial hardware. As a society, the Japanese people are technologically advanced and receptive to innovations. With the use of AI becoming increasingly common, Japan is poised to once again be a tech leader thanks to its advanced expertise in deep tech manufacturing and robotics. Particularly noteworthy sectors in Japan’s innovation ecosystem are manufacturing & robotics where Japan is producing over half of the world’s robots and fintech where Tokyo ranks amongst the world’s most competitive financial centres.
Why Japan is a great market to build your company’s presence
Faced with an ageing, declining population, the Japanese government has laid out its vision to become the first country to prove that it is possible to develop and grow your economy through innovation. Japan is committed to building what it calls “Society 5.0” — a new ultra-smart society where all things will be connected through IoT technology and all technologies will be integrated. To realise this vision the Government of Japan knows that various players including startups, SMEs and enterprises, will all need to contribute and create new innovative solutions such as intelligent robots or digital agriculture.
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Japan recognises that it will need international collaboration if they are to become a leader in the next wave of technological innovation and digital transformation. “The Japanese large corporates — while they have strength in certain areas — require and are looking for collaborations with foreign startups with certain technologies that Japanese corporates are lacking in expertise,” explained Khoo Kiewai, Director for JETRO’s Business Dev & PR. She added that these collaborations can also be brought to a third country for global expansions.
The willingness of Japanese companies to consider international solutions is now much higher than before, as the country shifts from the old mentality of trying to build everything in-house. For startups operating in Asia today, the opportunities to form strategic partnerships with Japanese companies represents a significant avenue for international expansion.
JETRO: making collaboration with Japanese companies possible
Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) is a government arm working to support overseas companies looking to form partnerships and collaborations in Japan for innovation. There is a wide variety of support that the organisation offers global startups, covering all levels of tech and with varying stages of maturity. This includes introducing startups to potential investors and clients, providing translators and local experts when needed, promoting companies in media, as well as connecting them to conferences and workshops.
“JETRO provides many opportunities for startups to present their products and technologies to Japanese corporates, either through webinars, pitching events, or direct one-to-one business matchings,” discussed Khoo Kiewai. “We have many free supporting services by providing market information, professional consultations by legal and tax experts, different business matching or pitching events for participation, connections to regional governmental bodies for incentives, among others.”
These services support startups of all different business stages, from the initial market research stage to the final incorporation stage. JETRO also continues to support them after incorporation, on their further expansion in Japan to other regions of the country.
Below we look at three cases where JETRO support has resulted in strong collaborations and alliances in Japan for overseas startups.
SWAT Mobility: bringing smart mobility solutions to Japan
A recent Proof of Concept (PoC) has applied international routing technology to freight delivery in Japan. SWAT Mobility was selected for the HIKYAKU LABO Accelerator 2021 program run by Sagawa Express Co. Ltd. Applying its proprietary routing technology, SWAT Mobility developed a freight dispatch route optimisation service for Sagawa. The cargoes collected and delivered by Sagawa Express in Tokyo were dispatched using SWAT’s route generator and driver app to perform vehicle allocation, route generation and driver navigation for the deliveries.
The project has confirmed the potential for a significant reduction of the number of vehicles and costs through maximisation of the floor area usage by vehicles. SWAT’s routing technology localised for the Japanese market has built-in Zenrin’s highly accurate and fresh road network data which is complete with complex road regulation information specific to Japan, such as intricate narrow roads and one-way/time zone regulations. The technology will also derive the optimum driving speed for each time zone and each road, through machine learning using vehicle GPS data.
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Masashi Suehiro, SWAT Mobility Country Manager (Japan) says that Japan’s ageing population has made it expensive to maintain public transportation, increasing the need for sustainable transportation solutions in low ridership areas. “Many organisations in Japan have a sustainability or digital transformation/innovation agenda and want to implement smart mobility solutions that help to reduce the number of vehicles on the road,” he remarked on why Japan was a promising market for their technology.
Suehiro described the challenges in working in Japan: “the unique road conditions in Japan “made it challenging for us to integrate road information and provide accurate routing in Japan. JETRO has supported us greatly by connecting us with relevant municipal governments that may require our system. For example, JETRO introduced us to the Kitakyushu city government, with whom we are working on a trial right now. JETRO also provided a platform for us by organising online events where we presented our services to city governments.” The potential for Japanese cities to optimise bus services is a major target market for SWAT.
Crown Digital: world’s first robotic barista
Keith Tan, CEO and Founder of Crown Digital is a wealth manager turned entrepreneur who started Crown Digital in Singapore as a team of baristas and coffee lovers. With their first product — ELLA the robot barista – it pivoted to a technology company that addresses the challenges of high rent, inconsistent quality, and labour shortages for the retail coffee market in Japan.
Tan says that ELLA proved that technology can reinvent user experience, as they began with the goal of delivering a gourmet experience to the world’s growing community of grab-and-go commuters. In the ongoing pandemic, their mobile ordering and contactless solution allow the business to operate without compromising the health and safety of people.
Speaking of their entry into Japan, Tan says it was a proud moment to launch ELLA outside of Singapore: “We are delighted to partner with JR East on this exciting test marketing collaboration and be the first foreign company to integrate the SUICA payment system into our offering. ELLA is serving quick and efficient cups of coffee to the time-pressed commuters at Tokyo and Yokohama Stations – this is a huge milestone for Crown Digital.” As ELLA deploys across major Asian transit hubs, Crown Digital is implementing solid expansion plans backed up by sector leaders such as JRE and Stellar Lifestyle.
Tan believes the support from JETRO was key to their expansion into Japan, saying: “Japan is an innovation powerhouse however, it’s not easy for foreign companies to enter the market largely due to barriers such as culture and language. It’s all about working with the right partners and getting a foothold in Japan. JETRO played a vital role in introducing us to JRE and played the role of a catalyst in this partnership. JETRO assisted us to overcome the cultural challenges and maximise this partnership.”
Brain Pool Tech: assessing the risk of natural disaster
Brain Pool Tech provides an easy-to-use software-as-a-service product that integrates drones and satellites to assess location risk for natural disasters. Derived from high-resolution geolocated map data, environmental sensors, and movement patterns of assets on the ground. Dr Cullen Owens, Chief Business Officer and co-founder, started the company with Dr Voges in 2019. Through unique artificial intelligence, algorithms to provide real-time insights their technology can assess the risk of locations from natural disasters.
Japan’s geography leaves the country highly prone to natural disasters making Japan, a natural go-to-market for expansion for BrainPool tech. Dr Owens feels that while language is a major barrier, “specific differences in cultural and business expectations were also sometimes conflicting. We have learned to be patient and thoughtful as we continue to gain traction in Japan.”
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JETRO has been an important partner in their journey: “JETRO has done everything from introducing us to potential investors and clients to providing translators when needed to the promotion of our company both in media as well as through conferences and workshops. Our CEO, Dr Kai Voges was featured as a speaker at the geospatial conference which resulted in several new, international partnerships thanks to JETRO,” explained Dr Owens.
Dr Owens said the company is ready to “launch our MVP software ecosystem to our first client in Q2 of this year. We also look to capitalise on an opportunity with the World Accelerating Tomorrow Challenge with Tokio Marine and potentially other large Japanese Multinationals through the Plug and Play Japan accelerator. Finally, we are currently raising seed money to incorporate in Japan and Australia and to carry us into a ‘scale-up’ company status through multiple recurring revenue contracts in Japan, Australia, and now potentially the United States.”
Interested in finding out how you can expand to Japan, what support is available to you, and what opportunities await you? Schedule an exclusive one-on-one consultation with JETRO!
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Photo by Ben Cheung from Pexels
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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by JETRO
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