The Diplomat
The Spain Japan Council Foundation will hold from today until July 7 the first edition of the Japanese Leaders program, which will focus on entrepreneurship and the startup ecosystem.
Under this visitor program, the Foundation will invite a group of Japanese professionals to Spain for a stay in our country around an agenda of meetings with institutions and companies.
The first edition of the program will focus on entrepreneurship and the startup ecosystem. To this end, a delegation of four Japanese professionals from this sector will visit Madrid and Barcelona with the aim of establishing a solid network of contacts that will result in exchanges and opportunities for collaboration.
During their stay in Spain, the participants will have the opportunity to meet with important players in the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Madrid and Barcelona. Among other institutions, they will visit Wayra, the accelerator of the Telefónica group; La Nave, the innovation center of reference of the Madrid City Council; or Pier 01, the headquarters of the Tech Barcelona association. They will also meet with the local investment and development agencies of both cities, Invest in Madrid and Barcelona Activa, and visit companies such as Fujitsu and Astara.
The program will also include institutional meetings, such as a meeting with the State Secretary for Foreign and Global Affairs, Ángeles Moreno Bau; a meeting with the Spanish Ambassador to Japan, Fidel Sendagorta; and a reception at the residence of the Japanese Ambassador to Spain, Takahiro Nakamae. Precisely, Ambassador Sendagorta received last Thursday three of the four Japanese Leaders who will participate in the first edition of the visitors program.
In 2021, Japanese start-ups received just over $7 billion in funding, according to Statista. The first half of the year, in particular, was a record six months. Although, according to the consulting firm McKinsey, the Japanese ecosystem cannot yet compare in size to that of the United States or China, the fact is that it is growing rapidly. FinTech, robotics, healthcare or Saas (Service as a software) are some of the most popular sectors among Japanese start-ups.
Program participants include Mariko McTier, founder of the startup Mymizu, a platform dedicated to reducing the use of single-use plastic bottles by mapping drinking water refill points around the world. She is also at the helm of Social Innovation Japan, an innovation, consulting and training platform for socially conscious entrepreneurs. She was named by Forbes as one of Japan’s 50 rising stars in ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance). She is an advisor to various organizations, including the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Japan.
The second participant is Sorato Ichiji, CEO and founder of Creww, a Tokyo-based incubator and accelerator. He operates Creww Growth, one of Japan’s leading open innovation platforms; and STARTUP STUDIO by Creww, an incubation program. Previously, he was a founder of four companies in the United States and Japan. He is a board member of the Japan Association of New Economy and also serves on the recommendation committee of J-Startup, the largest statewide startup accelerator program in Japan.
Also participating in the program will be Memori Yamato, head of business at Alt, a startup specializing in artificial intelligence products and solutions that develops AI applications for SaaS and is working on commercializing digital clones for personal and professional use. After a twelve-year career in the financial sector, he started his own company to create job opportunities for sick COVID artists. Subsequently, he joined ALE, an aerospace startup where he was Chief Business Officer and CEO of its US subsidiary.
The other participant is Masaru Nagura is General Manager at Cambridge Innovation Center Tokyo (CIC), a global network of innovation centers that supports entrepreneurs and startups. In 2015, he was a researcher of innovative ecosystems at MIT, and participated in the international expansion of CIC in Japan. He was also a director of Beyond Next Ventures, an accelerator and venture capital fund with a focus on technology innovation. He is a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
