When I started Innovation Dojo in Sydney back in 2016, together with Kaoru Nishinakagawa and Ayumi Mizoshiri, we fantasized about expanding to Japan, building Japan teams and running programs and projects that made a real impact in partnership with government, universities and corporations. Much of what we worked on up until 2021 was a fly-in, fly-out version of this, and whilst the work was meaningful and our partners repeatedly contracted us for new projects, it wasn’t until this past 16 months or so from the end of August 2021 until now that we have been able to realise a more optimised potential of Innovation Dojo, and to expand beyond just the Australia-Japan innovation corridor, but also secure our place as a relevant player in Japans innovation activities across many other country relationships.

Whilst our real year-end isn’t until the end of March, before we take a break we do have a lot we can reflect on, not as a series of random events and activities, but more so as to how Innovation Dojo has evolved and where we are going from here. For more context around this, it is worth explaining our business model and focus.

Image below: snapshot of the Innovation Dojo Japan platform

Unlike many innovation consulting firms in Japan, our small but talented team has professional experience working in leadership positions within government, universities, the private sector and tech startups, but all with a focus on innovation with a global perspective. These experiences have given us a unique position when designing and executing services to have a well-rounded and nuanced empathy based on our deep understanding across government, university and corporations that can only be derived from first-hand experiences as employees operating within such diverse organisations. It is this Innovation Dojo DNA that has informed our business focus, which can be divided across three core areas:

Talent Development - training and nurturing local and international talent which become critical human resources for the other focuses of our business. We mainly work with universities and educational institutions in this area.

Startup Ecosystem building - creating, incubating and accelerating startups, plugging them into the right people, organisations and resources as the founders and startups grow. We mainly working with governments in this area.

Global Startup Interface - sourcing, scientific Due Diligence, Business Matching and other startup programs. We mainly work with Japanese corporations in this area.

Image below: I have been very privileged to work closely with Naoya Yoshizumi and Moe Gotoda this year, and have learnt alot from their experiences as employees within large Japanese companies and both prefectural and national government organisations.

So, whilst it would be difficult to provide a complete list of all the initiatives and work we have done this year, below I am pulling out 7 domains of work and initiatives that reflect where Innovation Dojo is and where we are going in 2023.

7. Digital Hub and Startup Community Management (for Japanese governments)

Image below: A snapshot of our Kobe Startup Hub digital platform members, which reached over 1,000 people in December this year

In November, our Digital Portal we run on behalf of City of Kobe, Kobe Startup Hub surpassed 1,000 people as community members, including founders of 380 startups that we have been supporting in the associated Global Mentorship Program we power for the city.

Image below: A random selection of logos from the 350 startups supported by Innovation Dojo Japan these past 16 months

The startups we are working with are, on average, half based in Japan and the other half are from around the world including Europe, Asia, North America, the Middle East and more. The chart below shows a snapshot of the industries and technology areas a segment of these startups are focused on. AI, Health & Wellness, EdTech and Big Data were some of the more dominant focus areas.

Image below: a scene from our Global Mentorship Program sessions

Our Global Mentorship Program relies on the generosity and time of our valuable Mentors. So this is a huge thanks to all 65 mentors we have collaborated with during in 2022 so far! You know who you are!

Due to our position in the ecosystem working closely with Japanese startups, we were selected by J-Startup Kansai to be an official supporting organisation too.

Image below: Innovation Dojo Japan now an official J-Startup Kansai Supporter

6. Global Startup Ecosystem concierge

Whilst many assume because I am from Australia we must be focused on Australian networks, this is only partially true as our networks include partners across Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East too. This year we were thrilled to be collaborating with organisations and companies from around the world, and I will detail some of those activities below.

Germany

Image below: Our recent activities with startups from Germany visiting Japan

Germany is both an economic powerhouse and a powerhouse for innovation. Only recently has it been made possible to physically visit Japan on business, and in that short period of time we have welcomed two separate delegations from Germany to Kobe city.

Firstly, our new friends from International Startup Campus and Thüringer Hochschulgründernetzwerk, which are groups of universities in central Germany, visited Japan with some excellent startups in the areas of sportstech and biotech. Innovation Dojo Japan curated a program that brought these companies together with innovation departments of large local Japanese companies such as ASICS Corporation, Sumitomo Rubber Industries and Mizuno Corporation in addition to local Kansai based startups and together we conducted networking and pitching activities with a view of developing new business opportunities across the group.VC firms including Headline Asia and local universities, Kobe University and Kwansei Gakuin University also participated in the program.

Following this, we had a second group of German startups visit in November, this time from the German Accelerator cohort. Other than accompanying the cohort to KOBE Biomedical Innovation Cluster and connecting them with local deeptech specialists during a networking lunch, we also facilitated business development connections for the group with companies in Kansai looking for cutting edge solutions, including Otsuka Food, the foodtech focused subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd..

Vietnam & India

Vietnam and India are very different markets from each other, but at the same time both exciting source countries for talent and startups, with thriving startup ecosystems, but it is difficult to find the right type of partner that can effectively identify great startups which are heading towards being “Japan ready” and at the same time, have the capability to support outbound startups from Japan as they expand into these exciting Asian consumer markets.

For this reason we are extremely excited about our new partnership with Business Startup Support Centre (BSSC) in Vietnam, and Lemon Ideas - An ecosystem ! in India, which both have an enormous footprint in their respective ecosystems. As you can see below, promotions of our collaboration programs have already began and we look forward to deepening these partnerships and welcoming great technologies and startups from Vietnam and India in 2023.

Image below: Our partnership activities across Vietnam and India

Australia

Back in my home country, we were invited by the Australian Information Industry Association and Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) to give a talk to 100 registered members of the association on B2B sales and business development in a Japan context, particularly regarding innovation and startup related business development strategies and tactics. It was an honour to be alongside one of Australia’s most successful startups, the now unicorn, Canva during this talk and exciting to see so much interest from technology companies in Australia to enter the Japanese market now.

We cannot say much now, but we do expect to have much more to announce regarding Australia in early 2023!

Image below: Our AIIA event focused on Australian entrepreneurs coming to Japan

Singapore

If you know the movers and shakers working between Singapore and Japan, then you must know the JR East backed One&Co Singapore who together with Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) gave us a great opportunity to share Japan Go to Market strategies and tactics for Singaporean startups and academics,

Image below: Got to Market Strategy Session for Singaporean startups

We also invited one of the startups we have been supporting, our Kobe Startup Hub & Global Mentorship Program participant, Denise Zujur from Smart Tissues who gave the most interesting insights from a founder perspective, on utilising the university ecosystem for Japan market entry.

Tokyo

We were stoked to have spoken at the Japan Startup Ecosystem Career Connect event this year hosted at CIC Tokyo. Our panel will be focused on how international minded people, whether they be from abroad, returnees to Japan or other, can add value to Japan's startup ecosystem. We were alongside Mark Bivens from Shizen Capital and the conversation will be facilitated by Hiromi Karahashi from JPort by SPeak corp.

5. Scientific Due Diligence for Japanese Corporates & VC’s

Over the last 5 years, the participation in the startup ecosystem from Japanese corporations has steadily increased, meaning opportunities for startups to collaborate with corporations has increased, but it has also become more competitive as more and more consulting firms, accelerator companies and other intermediaries are entering the market. From a service provider perspective in this space, it is also increasingly difficult to differentiate from competing offerings.

Regarding the needs of Japanese corporations during the process of selecting startups to collaborate with, Proof of Concept design and management, CVC investment, M&A and other related activities, we noticed a gap to be filled in the area of scientific based Due Diligence of technologies. With this in mind, this year we have partnered with a unique organisation of 6,000 Japanese, bilingual researchers, scientists, academics and other university based experts and are offering unbiased scientific Due Diligence services to Japanese companies and Venture Capital firms that are frustrated with the restrictions of Due Diligence offered on businesses without true scientific know-how, rigor or scientifically informed opinions.

We are excited to have launched our first initiative in this space with a large Japanese electronics company, with a focus on the future of Industrial Automation. If you know any great startups operating in this space (see keywords below) let us know!

4. Business Development

Before launching Innovation Dojo’s Japan operations, our team has had significant experience in introducing Business Development services to startups and innovation related projects in Japan. We have been chosen by foreign governments to provide business development services on their behalf in Japan, with success resulting in multiple renewal of contracts and most recently we had the pleasure of designing and operating the business development segment of the Australia Japan Business Co-operation Committee (AJBCC) led Australia-Japan Innovation Forum, hosted at the Google HQ in Tokyo.

The program was focused on a specific group of Australian universities, startups and Venture Capital firms that were looking to open up new doors and relationships in Japan, particularly with Japanese corporations and investors, so we leveraged the Innovation Dojo network to invite such organisations and to provide communications and other support as necessary throughout the process. Some of those Japanese companies that had representatives attend from our network included Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Marui Group, Bandai Namco, JR East Start UP Co., Ltd., dentsu Japan, NTT West, Mitsubishi Corporation, NEC, ENEOS Holdings, OMRON Group, Woven Capital, MUFG Innovation Partners Co., Ltd, Hirac Fund, DNX Ventures and more.

Back in Kansai, in collaboration with the Swiss government officers in the region, our team has also supported the business development activities of multiple startups looking for business partners in the area of sports related Images below show one such meeting we made happen in the last few months.

In a similar way, we have been working with overseas Venture Capital funds, connecting them with potential LP’s, partners and many great Japan based entrepreneurs and founders as they build their pipeline of Japan related deals and consider more significant market entry. If you are working in such a globally focused VC and do not yet have a footprint in Japan, please let us know!

3. Venture Capital and Angel Investing

Speaking of Venture Capital, in March 2022 we held the Demo Day in Tokyo for our Global Mentorship Program participants and of the 9 startups we selected to pitch at the event, three of them were offered venture capital investment soon after their pitches from Japanese Corporate Venture Capital funds. Three out of nine isn’t bad!

Besides these CVC investments, another function we play is connecting early stage startups to Japan based angel investors, and, whilst the details are still confidential we can confirm that IDJ has facilitated the investor preparation and introduction that led to a successful investment round for one of the startups in our Kobe City program. More details on this coming soon!

2. Accelerator Programs for Japan Market Entry

Having built multiple accelerator teams and programs in both Australia and Japan before, we were very happy to work closely with the New South Wales government in April this year on their niche program, Cybersecurity to Japan, which selected six mature cybersecurity technology companies for which we co-designed and managed the venture market entry accelerator program.

Compared with other industries, how different are the challenges for cybersecurity technology companies entering the Japan market?

During the program, with a selected group of expert mentors and industry partners, we dug deep into the intricacies of contract negotiation as a foreign cybersecurity tech company doing deals with Japanese corporations, how the new changes in Japan Data Privacy and Breach Laws are creating new opportunities and the Japan perspective of handling cross-border data breaches.

Our partners for the program included Squire Patton Boggs,  NTT DATA,  ORIX Group , the security department of  Amazon Web Services (AWS) and  Incubate Fund who provided workshops and mentoring in the lead up to business matchmaking events where companies were able to put into practice. Participating companies on the Australia side included Dreamlab Technologies, Huntsman Security, Janusnet, PassMark Security, Secure Code Warrior and ThreatDefence.

Another program we played a role in in Tokyo is Founder Institute Japan, where we were invited as mentors for their 2022 cohort of startups. Given Innovations Dojo’s strength in the area of Go-To-Market tactics, we shared our experiences with the startups and some of them decided to join our other programs as a result.

1. Talent Development

Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe

One of the big challenges for those working to support startups in Japan, often mentioned, is the difficulty of finding talent that not only has skills and know-how related to business, technology and language but at the same time is motivated enough to follow a career path in entrepreneurship or innovation related fields. This is one of the reasons Innovation Dojo Japan includes this challenge among the key problems we are trying to solve, by creating and nurturing the most diverse talent and technology pipeline for the future of the country.

Below: The organising Committee for the 2022 Health x Digital program in Osaka

We have been very active in this space, participating in programs with partners across Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe. We were honoured to be part of the organising committee for the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan - Kansai owned Health x Digital program, aiming to solve problems associated with Japans ageing society with digital solutions. We enjoyed connecting Innovation Dojo’s friends from Osaka City, Prefecture and Kobe City to the project, as well as guest speakers from Kobe University too.

Some of the student participants are continuing with their startup ideas beyond the program, and we are mentoring them to further develop their concepts into reality.

Image below: SIIEJ Conference talk hosted by Kansai University

Also in Osaka, hosted at Kansai University in August, we were invited to give a presentation to attendees of the SIIEJ conference, and it was a pleasure to partner with Terumasa Matsuyuki from the Co-Creation Bureau of Osaka University at the time. It was Matsuyuki-san who has also been our partner for our work with KSAC (Keihanshin Startup Academia Coalition), a network of 22 universities across Kansai focused on entrepreneurship and startup support.

Perhaps our largest initiative in the area of talent development is the new program we are co-designing with universities across Kobe, Miyazaki, Canada, India, the UK and Australia called “Nurturing a Global Entrepreneurship Mindset” which we have secured funding for the next 5 years from Japan’s Ministry of Education. This program has just kicked-off this week, and excitingly, over 100 students have already applied to participate from Australia alone.

Besides the educational aspects of the program, our goal is to plug the participating student talent into work experience, internships and other relevant opportunities to boost the global and innovation talent pool of startups in the Kansai ecosystem.

We will reach into this pool when we are supporting startups in the startup program work and corporate innovation work we do as the program progresses.

Final words

I would like to thank our amazing team, Moe Gotoda, Naoya Yoshizumi, Zi Jian Yong, Muhammad kenzo baskoro, Masahito Okunishi and Ayumi Mizoshiri. Thanks to our partners, and to all of the mentors who have given their precious time this year for the further development of the ecosystem.

Only two years ago, I found myself sick and bound in hospital for months unable to work or to live the way I wanted. Since then, I have recovered well and been very focused on family, friends and health.

Please do the same as no success is worth anything without those three.

Happy New Year and see you next year!!!

Cheers,

Josh and the Innovation Dojo team

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