Tokyo Vice Governor Manabu Miyasaka took the stage at the kick-off event.
“I think Tokyo is a city with real potential. However, I don’t think there is a startup system that matches that potential. I think we can do much more.”
Tokyo Vice Governor Manabu Miyasaka talked about Tokyo’s potential as a startup city at the kickoff event for the startup acceleration program “Techstars Tokyo” held at Tokyo Midtown Yaesu on February 13th.
Grow your global startup 10x in Tokyo
Maëlle Gavet, CEO of Techstars, also visited Japan. He shared his expectations for Japanese startups.
Techstars Tokyo is a program that aims to foster global startups by inviting Techstars, a global seed accelerator in partnership with Mitsui Fudosan, to Tokyo. This is also the first project in an effort to attract overseas VCs being promoted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Cabinet Office, and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).
In the program, 12 seed-stage startups were selected from domestic and overseas companies aiming to become global startups. After investing $120,000 (approximately 18 million yen) per company from a fund created by Techstars, the company will implement an acceleration program of about three months.
To date, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has continued various activities to support startups. According to Deputy Governor Miyasaka, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has now established a department related to startup support with around 80 people.
The goals are to increase by 10 times the number of people starting businesses, government procurement of startups, and startups expanding globally. Among them, this initiative with Techstars is said to be the most important forum for increasing global startups tenfold.
Vice Governor Miyasaka has until now”The government hasn’t made any efforts to connect Japanese and overseas startups.”pointed out. The government hopes to accelerate the growth of Japanese startups by acting as a liaison and creating a growth environment with an eye on the world from the beginning.
Kazuya Nakajo, a JETRO director who helped attract Techstars, also said:
“It can be difficult to develop products for the world in Japan. In order to resolve these bottlenecks, we are telling players in overseas ecosystems to ‘look at Japan.’ We have been telling our players to take a look at Japan. This time (Techstars Tokyo) is one of the results of that.”
He talked about the significance of this project.
Deputy Governor Miyasaka points out that Tokyo is a city with great potential from a global perspective.
Bringing startup talent from around the world to Tokyo
Also, Vice Governor Miyasaka,
“From now on, moreA world where it is common for overseas VCs and global accelerators to work in TokyoI want to create
He also says that he wants to make Tokyo the start-up center of the world.
We have listed some examples of efforts underway to achieve this goal. For example, we are working on human resources.
“Until now, when university students who graduated from top universities abroad wanted to work in Japan, they could not come to Japan unless they had decided on a place to work.There was no so-called HPI visa (High Potential Individual Visa).Tokyo The capital approached the national government to make this happen.
If you graduated from a top overseas university, I would encourage you to come to Tokyo even if you are not sure where you will work. And now I can ask to work at a startup in Tokyo.”
In addition, we are currently working on creating a “digital nomad visa.”
Digital nomads are people who work from place to place, regardless of location. By relaxing visa requirements for digital nomads and making it easier for them to stay in Japan, the aim is to stimulate domestic consumption and make it easier for them to get jobs in Japan. The government is currently soliciting public comments.
Vice Governor Miyasaka,
“I think it’s important to create an environment where digital nomads from overseas can work in Tokyo. Working in Tokyo is normal. Until now, they have gone to other countries. I want you to come to Tokyo more and more.”
He points out the importance of creating a system to attract talented people to Tokyo.
From April to May 2024, the global startup event “SusHi Tech Tokyo” is also scheduled to be held, which is an “upgraded version” of the startup event City-Tech.Tokyo held in February 2023 (Deputy Governor Miyasaka).
City-Tech.Tokyo was held at the Tokyo International Forum about a year ago from February 27th to 28th, 2023.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is currently working to form partnerships with government agencies and private companies around the world.
“I want Tokyo startups to be supported when they go overseas, and I want to be properly supported when overseas startups come.Also, I want to create an environment where startups from various countries around the world can cross borders and do new work.” I really want to make it.
Our vision is for Tokyo to become a place where challengers are born, people from all over the world gather, and where challengers are supported. We want to become a city that attracts challengers in all kinds of fields, not just startups.” (Lieutenant Governor Miyasaka)
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Source: BusinessInsider
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