9.282021
Global Corporate Venturing writes an article about Japanese Innovation Ecosystem
”Ikkei Matsuda, CEO of accelerator operator SARR – which stands for Science, Art and Research for Reconstruction – and the Japan advisory partner of US-based venture capital firm Benhamou Global Ventures (BGV), and Shiyo Takeoka, vice-president of professional and innovation services firm Ignition Point and an investment professional at its IGP X unit, pointed out several characteristics of the Japanese ecosystem:”
Japanese innovation ecosystem on the rise
Innovative region: Japan
Japan is the world’s third-largest economy, with a gross domestic of nearly $5 trillion, the country has been home to some of the most successful electronics and automotive businesses, such as Canon, Casio, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, Nintendo, Hitachi and Fujitsu for electronics, and Yamaha, Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Honda, Suzuki and Mazda for automotive, to name a few.
Many of these have conducted strategic investments, and some have their own specialised corporate venture capital (CVC) vehicles. Japan Venture Capital Association (JVCA) has some 90 CVC members, most of whose publicly disclosed deals have been tracked by Global Corporate Venturing Analytics.
Ken Asada, Japan head for Salesforce Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of US-headquartered enterprise software provider Salesforce, said JVCA only had a handful of CVC members five years ago but has grown considerably. “It is estimated that over 300 companies in Japan are currently involved in some form of corporate venturing activity,” Asada said.
