Interview
Deep Tech Investment in Japan 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック Southeast Asia

Japan is known as a technology powerhouse, but what about startup innovation in other parts of Asia? We spoke with the President ofReal Tech Holdings, Akitaka Wilhelm Fujii, to find out more about the deep tech VC firm 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック how they’re empowering startups across the region to build strong businesses with a purpose.

Real Tech Holdings manages a venture capital fund, investing in deep tech startups. We only invest in companies that focus on having a positive societal or environmental impact, so we don't have a sector focus. Instead, we are focused on the issues these startups are trying to solve, using unique technologies to disrupt the current market or transform societal systems.

In 2015, when we started the company, most of the venture capital funds focused on IT in Japan. We thought, okay, the real technologies are the ones that are solving serious issues for humanity 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック the environment. So, we call it real tech, as a kind of antithesis to IT companies.

From when I was young, I wanted to create a world where people had equal opportunities regardless ofwhere or whenthey were born. This led me to studying political science 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック economics for my Bachelor’s 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック international studies for my Master’s degree. I started my career at a company called EIT Climate-KIC, which is Europe's biggest initiative driving climate innovation. After five exciting years, I moved to Japan where I was looking for opportunities aligned with my passion. I was excited about the philosophy of Real Tech Holdings 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック its approach to getting startups involved to solve societal 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック environmental issues.

More than 50 companies are investing in our three funds. Many prominent Japanese corporations are investing in our funds because they're looking for new business opportunities 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック R&D ideas. For our global fund, there are a lot of Japanese companies who are looking to exp無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック to Southeast Asia.

We wanted to create an ecosystem that can support deep tech startups across various markets 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック sectors. That's why we are deliberately looking for partners across different sectors such as energy, food, medical, biotechnology, 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック transportation.

We are unique because we were initially founded by two deep tech companies. One is calledEuglena, a biotech unicorn in Japan, 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック a company calledLeave a Nest(in Japanese only). Since Leave a Nest has an extensive regional academia 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック research organization network, many startups come to us through their connections. They're also running an accelerator program calledTech Planter, which attracts more than 800 startups across Japan 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック Southeast Asia.

We typically look at the problems the startups are trying to solve, the technology 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック the founders themselves. Whether the founders can get people involved 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック excited is probably the most important thing when it comes to making a company successful.

We typically lead funding rounds 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック get very much involved. Usually, a deep-tech early-stage startup has great technology, great researchers 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック engineers. But apart from that, everything needs to be built, so we put emphasis on creating a team around the strong founding leaders.

Often those are people with a business background who can make a business out of technology. We have a team that dedicates itself to helping recruit people. Another thing is PR 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック br無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャックing. These companies are very niche. There is a lot of science behind it, but it is often hard for the ordinary person to underst無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック how exciting that technology is 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック how it could transform the world.

Our team also reviews the company's manufacturing capabilities 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック whether the technology can be mass-produced. We look at the company, assess the current capabilities, 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック advise them on how to build their processes 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック organizational capabilities to mass produce. The fourth component would be a patent strategy. We help startups further strengthen their patents 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック patent portfolio in collaboration with a law firm based out of Japan, which has strong expertise in technology law.

Real Tech Holdings mainly invests in 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック support companies looking to exp無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック into Southeast Asia 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック/or Japan. This is why we have also invested in a US-based deep tech VC called Blue Bear Ventures to help US companies to exp無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック to Japan 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック Southeast Asia. So far, we have helped startups with setting up new offices 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック hiring country managers, arranging founding rounds 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック promoting sales.

We also have strong partnerships with government-related institutions. One is SEEDS Capital in Singapore, a government investment arm that focuses on promoting investments in Singapore. We are the one 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック only Japanese deep-tech VC who is an accredited co-investment partner. In Malaysia, one of the government investment organizations MTDC is investing in our global fund.

In Japan, R&D is top-notch. Regarding the number of patents per person worldwide, it's still number one. R&D investment is probably number three in the world. So, there are a lot of exciting things going on in Japan, 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック many of them are still undiscovered.

There's lots of innovation happening in regional areas across Japan. Even though around 70-80% of VC investment in Japan is concentrated in Tokyo, 60% of Real Tech's investment is in regional companies.

The Kishida administration is putting startups at the core of revamping Japan’s economy, so there will be much more government funding 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック support flowing into Japanese startups, especially deep tech.

Now is an exciting time to invest in Japanese deep-tech startups 無料 ゲーム ブラック ジャック I would like to call out to more foreign investors to look into it.