1. ASCENSION2021 Vol. 2

Distribution of the second ASCENSION2021 talk session which includes a pitch event

At the ASCENSION 2021, an international business matching event held in Fukuoka City, we held an online pitch event by startups with which Fukuoka City has overseas partnerships, and the second online talk session between Fukuoka City Mayor Soichiro Takashima and globally active entrepreneurs.

Startup pitch event for the overseas partners of Fukuoka City

This event was held on November 10, 2021 to support startups that are interested in expanding their business to Fukuoka City and Japan. Startups from 15 bases in 11 countries/regions applied for the event, including 4 from Israel, 3 from Helsinki, 2 from Singapore, and 1 from St. Petersburg and Bordeaux. A total of 11 partner startups from 5 countries participated in the event, and 6 leading VCs from Japan attended the event as audience members and listened to their pitches.
During the Q&A session, questions about business contents and advice about the future were actively discussed. After the event, VCs and startups were matched and interacted with each other. Fukuoka City will continue to provide support to overseas startups by matching them with Japanese companies and VCs and helping them to expand their business in Japan and Fukuoka.

Talks between Mayor Takashima and globally active entrepreneurs

In this second event, Kenji Kohashi, the creative director of the world-famous music festival ULTRA JAPAN and the representative of The Human Miracle, who was in charge of the general direction of the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympics, and Soichiro Takashima, the mayor of Fukuoka City, had a talk on the theme of "Challenger Mindset amidst COVID-19" to convey the significance of taking a pinch as an opportunity to challenge the world. The event is archived on YouTube, so if you missed it, please click here to watch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAZQtlfBjMo

We are also continuing to broadcast the first volume of the talk between Mayor Takashima and Akshay Kothari, COO of Notion Labs, a unicorn company in San Francisco, so if you haven't checked it out, please make sure to watch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jJ3_dlfWMQ

2. Other startup events

Introduction of other startup events held in Fukuoka City

There are many startup events being held in Fukuoka, and here we introduce two of them. Startup Go! Go! 2021", a pitch event organized by "Startup Go Go", a leading accelerator in Fukuoka, was held at Hybrid on November 30.
Now in its 8th year, "Startup Go! Go!" is one of the largest pitch events in Japan for seed and early stage startups with a cumulative funding of less than 100 million yen.
This year, a total of 33 companies, including participants from 4 foreign countries, participated in the event and pitched passionately for the first prize of 1 million yen.
From Fukuoka's partner companies, Selfit Medical from Israel and FACIL'iti Japon, the Japanese subsidiary of FACIL'iti from Bordeaux, France, participated in the event, and FACIL'iti Japon won four supplementary prizes.

On the same day, an online event called "X-Tech Matchup 2021" was held with the aim of matching local companies and startups in Fukuoka and other areas of Kyushu. This event was organized by Fukuoka Financial Group, one of the largest regional financial institutions in Japan, and its subsidiary VC firm FFG Venture Partners. 150 local companies and 41 startups participated in the event. These events and Fukuoka City's "ASCENSION2021" jointly promoted the event, which greatly boosted the startup scene in Fukuoka.

3. Fukuoka City x Bordeaux

Introduction

Fukuoka City is mutually supporting startups through MoUs and other means with 15 bases in 11 countries and regions overseas. This time, we would like to introduce Bordeaux, France. Fukuoka City and Bordeaux became sister cities in 1982, and have deepened various ties in culture, education, economy and more. In May 2017, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Directive Council (FDC), Bordeaux Metropole, and Bordeaux Technowest signed a MoU for startup support. This time, we have "Bordeaux Technowest", a public-private organization for industrial promotion, to introduce Bordeaux's startup ecosystem.

Find out what Bordeaux has to offer and what's new in the startup ecosystem!

Bordeaux Technowest is a major innovation hub in the Bordeaux area thanks to its 8 business incubation centers for the development of innovative projects. 80 startups from FrenchTech are currently incubated and accelerated by the Bordeaux Technowest team.

Bordeaux Technowest supports start-ups in 7 major innovation areas with 8 experienced startup coaches:

• 4.0 Industry, Aero, Space and Defense (ESA European Space Agency BIC)
• Smart City
• Green Tech
• Food and Wine Tech
• Smart Building
• E-commerce and digital
• Energy

Since 2019 we launched 4 new business incubation centers inside the Bordeaux Metropole.

In 2022, 3 new BICs are expected to open on the themes of HealthTech and Sport Tech, Silver Economy, and in the Maritime sector.

Bordeaux Technowest has 35 major French corporate partners in order to facilitate open innovation and proof of concept for all start-ups.
These partners are currently looking for innovative start-ups in the space sector and could be interested in Japanese startups solutions.

With its international experience and historical partnerships forged over the past few years, Bordeaux Technowest has been chosen to manage the international program for the entire Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in the southwest of France. This program brings together the 9 major innovation clusters and is called “Sirena Start-up”.

Sirena Start-up offers its international MOU partnerships (Canada, South Africa, Portugal, Tunisia, Spain and of course Japan) to all the companies accelerated by the 9 innovation hubs of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

As part of the historical partnership and twinning between Fukuoka and Bordeaux cities, Bordeaux Technowest has visited Fukuoka in Japan several times. This year in 2022, we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of twinning between Fukuoka and Bordeaux. In September 2022 we will organize an acceleration program for all our MOU’s partners and their startups in the Bordeaux region, which is open for the startups supported by Fukuoka Global Startups.

The last visit was in October 2019, where 6 startups from Bordeaux met the incredible innovative ecosystem of Fukuoka. The start-up Facil'Iti even received an award at the WARAKU SUMMIT.

Bordeaux Technowest and the Sirena Start-up program are expected to come to Fukuoka in the last quarter of 2022.

Bordeaux Technowest has a certified French Tech Visa and is therefore able to support all Japanese start-ups, with the possibility of the company hosting and coaching in English.

If you want to know more about Bordeaux Technowest innovation news:

- Last October, the largest European drone show, UAV SHOW, took place: 9 international exhibitors and 4 foreign delegations, from 10 different countries (Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Poland, Singapore, Niger, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Togo). A show that brought together many key players in the drone industry. There were more than 2500 attendees and 110 exhibitors. Bordeaux Technowest has developed a strong experience in the drone industry in Europe and offers test facilities in a dedicated center, certified by the French sky regulation authorities (DGAC). Any startup from anywhere in the world can perform trials through Bordeaux Technowest and test in conformity with the European rules.

- Every year, Bordeaux Technowest organizes the annual event that celebrates entrepreneurship and technological innovation in the heart of the Bordeaux region, called Bordeaux Tech'Day. It’s a friendly, free event for professionals to learn more about the innovations offered by the 80 startups that are invoived. Bordeaux Council and all the major Bordeaux Technowest corporate partners are supporting this event that brings together more than 600 visitors (VCs., customers, prospects, incubator partners, etc.).

Bordeaux Technowest’s 2022 agenda:

• Space4Port Congress - April
• TechDay - July
• International Startups Boot Camp - September
• UAV Day - September
• MediSpace Congress - December

https://technowest.com/
https://www.sirenastartup.com/foreign-entrepreneurs