Japan is one of the countries reputed for being conservative, old-fashioned, and risk averse. However, many big companies are now looking positively towards the market. In a brand new series, we will introduce 11 Japanese corporates that are innovation-friendly.
The companies listed here will be based on the Morning Pitch Large Enterprise Innovation Award granted by Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support.
Morning Pitch is a pitch event held every Thursday, 7:00 am (JST), with the aim of creating a business alliance between startups and large companies. Morning Pitch has been an ongoing event since January 2013. As of December 2019, there have been over 300 start-ups, with a total participation of over 1,500 startups. Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support Co., Ltd. and Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. are the lead organizers of the Morning Pitch.
＊Due to the spread of coronavirus, Morning Pitch is currently being held online.
＃02 East Japan Railway Company
East Japan Railway Company is a major passenger rail-way company and has approx. 17.9 million passengers per day. It is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group, and has been a major infrastructure in supporting the growth of Japan since its founding. Its major business goes beyond transportation to lifestyle service businesses such as retail, restaurant, hotel and real estate, as well as the prepaid smart card business.
In addition, it has founded a corporate venture capital arm called JR East Start UP Co., Ltd., in order to create new businesses and services with the startups by utilizing East Japan Railway Company’s management resources. It also runs JR East Start Up Program to support the startups that has correlation with its businesses.
Its business is not only domestic. It is now expanding its business internationally, especially in Asia to seek further growth outside of Japan. Last year, East Japan Railway Company opened the co-working space One&Co in Singapore. The aim is for One&Co to become the central hub and community platform that would foster greater relationships between Japanese and Singaporean businesses. Singaporean startups are welcomed to visit One&Co to connect with them.
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