1. ASCENSION2021 Vol. 1

"San Francisco Unicorn Company Notion Labs Inc. x Fukuoka City Mayor" Talk!

What is ASCENSION?

Fukuoka City has been holding ASCENSION, a global event to expand Fukuoka as a startup city to the world.
This year, the mayor of Fukuoka City and guests are having a passionate discussion about the theme of "Challenge"!

The theme of the first talk: "COVID-19 Changed the Startup Ecosystem in San Francisco and Fukuoka”.

In the first talk of ASCENSION 2021, Akshay Kothari, COO of Notion Labs Inc.*, a unicorn company in San Francisco, the US, and Soichiro Takashima, Mayor of Fukuoka City, Japan, talked along the theme of the talk and delivered to the viewers the importance of "Challenge," the theme of this year's ASCENSION.
To be more specific, Akshay Kothari talks about how he expanded globally under the COVID-19 pandemic and became a unicorn company, and why Notion Labs Inc's services spread in the Japanese market, and Fukuoka City Mayor Soichiro Takashima talks about the challenges of Fukuoka City under the COVID-19 pandemic and how Fukuoka City came to pay attention to startups.

The first volume is archived at the following URL, so be sure to watch if you are interested.
The archive is here => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jJ3_dlfWMQ

​​The second volume will be a talk between Kenji Kohashi, CEO of The Human Miracle, who was the creative director of the world-famous music festival ULTRA JAPAN and the general director of the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympics, and Fukuoka City Mayor Soichiro Takashima.
Under the theme of "A Challenger's Mindset amidst COVID-19," we will ask Kenji Kohashi, who is active on a global scale, about the challenges he faced in the COVID-19 and his views on "events" in the future.
The talk will be held on December 10th from 5:00 to 5:40pm JST
Please click the link below to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1RMcHgnIpE

*What is Notion Labs Inc.
Founded in 2013 by Ivan Zhao and others, Notion Labs Inc. is a San Francisco-based startup that became a unicorn company in 2020. As an all-in-one workspace, it operates Notion, a tool for centralized management of everything from notes and projects to files.

Last year's ASCENSION, the first of its kind, featured a number of volumes under the theme of "Beyond Coronavirus," featuring Audrey Tang, Digital Minister of Taiwan, and entrepreneurs from Japan and abroad.

Click here for the archived stream of ASCENSION2020
⇒ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUihxFsgjwpfkZvc7oO8CJA/videos

2. Featured in "e27"!

Fukuoka City was featured in one of Asia's largest startup media, "e27"!

“e27" is a media platform focusing on Asia, and is one of the largest startup media platforms in Asia. Fukuoka City's ASCENSION and startup ecosystem were featured on the top page of such media platforms.

Articles about ASCENSION
Without the ability to adapt quickly to unpredictable market changes and trends, startups are eventually left behind under the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is important to establish a support network in order to overcome challenges and realize business goals. This is where ASCENSION comes in as a useful network that can be utilized.

Article on Startup Ecosystem
The article mentions that Fukuoka City's support for startups (support measures such as Startup Visa and Startup Corporate Tax Reduction, and support organizations such as Fukuoka Growth Next and Global Startup Center) will be one of the key elements in the future of global startups.

Click here to read the article on the top page of "e27".
⇒ https://e27.co/how-startups-can-foster-resilience-and-break-barriers-20211017/

3. Fukuoka City and St. Petersburg

- Mutual Cooperation on Startup Support!

Fukuoka City has been mutually supporting startups through MoUs and other arrangements with 15 bases in 11 countries and regions overseas. This time, we will have Technopark, a startup support facility in St. Petersburg, which started its cooperation in May 2018, to introduce the startup ecosystem in St. Petersburg.

Stay up to date with the latest news on St. Petersburg and its startup ecosystem!
The Ingria Business Incubator – Saint Petersburg, Russia

The Ingria Business Incubator is a subdivision of the St. Petersburg Technopark. Ingria provides support for the high-tech projects necessary for their further growth. The business incubator was launched in 2008. Since then, over 700 projects have received assistance in taking their first steps in the market, building a professional team, obtaining investment and finding customers.

The project has been underway since 2008 with the support of the Government of St. Petersburg and the Committee for Industrial Policy and Innovations.

Ingria Business Incubator’s residency program is aimed at small-sized high-tech companies seeking to commercialize their innovative products and developments. Program is aimed for both projects taking their first steps in the market and those, who have already identified their business model and are ready for investment and scaling, can become residents.

Residents of the Ingria Business Incubator get access to a network of contacts of experts, investors and large companies, educational programs, as well as consulting support, equipped workplaces and all the infrastructure necessary for work in the central part of St. Petersburg.

To become a resident of the Ingria Business Incubator, projects can apply to enter the incubator online or present their project at the monthly event Startup Lynch.

Want to get in contact or find out more?

Email: o.fedorova@spbtech.ru
Web: https://en.ingria-startup.ru/