FKI and Keidanren Come Together To Help Korean Startups Enter the Japanese Market

•  10 Korean startups including AI, smart logistics, pharmaceuticals, tourism companies pitch to Japanese conglomerates

•  “Very meaningful for the leading Korean and Japanese business organizations to support startup cooperation” - FKI

•  “Startup cooperation will broaden the scope of industrial cooperation between Japan and Korea” – Keidanren Chairman

•  FKI facilitates 1:1 business matching between Korean startups and Japanese venture capitalists and pitching to investors

  Recently, startup cooperation between Korea and Japan has been on the rise, and the two countries' leading business organizations, The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and Japan's Keidanren, have stepped up to help Korean startups enter the Japanese market.

  The Korea-Japan Future Partnership Foundation (chaired by FKI Chairman Jin Roy Ryu) in conjunction with the Japan-Korea Future Partnership Foundation, held the Korea-Japan Startup Cooperation Forum on April 2 at Keidanren Hall in Tokyo. At the forum, 10 Korean startups showcased their products and technology to attract investors and presented their plans for entering the Japanese market and bilateral business cooperation.

FKI and Japan’s Keidanren do their part for Korean startups entering the Japanese market

  Last year, the FKI and Keidanren established the two Partnership Foundations to promote future-oriented bilateral relations and industrial cooperation in various fields. As part of this, the FKI and Keidanren launched an exchange and cooperation project between Korean startups recognized for their innovation and large Japanese companies.

Partnership Foundation selects 10 Korean startups including AI, logistics, pharmaceuticals and tourism companies 

  To this end, the Korea-Japan Future Partnership Foundation opened applications at the beginning of the year and selected 10 outstanding startups 1 to participate in the forum. The startups participating in the forum were selected from a field of diverse applicants who underwent rigorous screening from third-party experts 2. Those included leading companies in AI, smart distribution, pharmaceuticals and tourism, with some having won awards on the global stage such as at CES 3.

1 Alicorn, Inc., Colosseum Corporation, Inc, Creatrip Inc., EVAR, INEEJI Corp., Law & Company, Navifra, Pharm CADD, Wrtn Technologies, ZKRYPTO

2 Composed of experts from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Korea Venture Business Association, Korea Startup Forum, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, venture capital companies

3 CES Innovation Award Winners: Wrtn Technologies (2023), ZKRYPTO (2023, 2024)

Korean startups pitch to Keidanren member companies

  The Korean startups were given the opportunity to pitch the departments responsible for new business development and Korea at Japanese companies who are on Keidanren’s Committee on Startups, and also presented plans for cooperation through investment and entering the Japanese market.

  Among the participating startups, Navifra, recognized internationally for its autonomous robotics driving and navigation software, took the opportunity to sound out prospects for entering the Japanese market which is showing increased demand for logistics automation. Another participant, ZKRYPTO, said that its security technology will be well received in the Japanese market, which emphasizes personal privacy and security and is expected to be especially effective in finance and voting systems.

EVAR, an electric vehicle charging startup, announced plans to expand its charging infrastructure in Japan, where the market penetration of electric vehicles and chargers is lower than in Korea, based on its full lineup of slow, fast, and mobile chargers. Law & Company, a legal tech startup, expressed its ambition to test its platform overseas based on its successful experience in Korea and chose Japan as the first export destination for K-Legal Tech as it has a similar legal system to Korea.

"Startup cooperation will broaden the scope of industrial cooperation between Korea and Japan" – Keidanren Chairman

  In his opening remarks, Masakazu Tokura, chairman of Keidanren, said, "Korea and Japan need to promote economic and social development together through healthy competition and close cooperation." He pointed out the importance of startup cooperation between the two countries, saying, "The main role will be played by enterprising startups, and cross-border cooperation will broaden the scope of industrial cooperation between Japan and Korea."

"It is significant that large companies from the two countries have started to cooperate with startups more " – FKI Vice Chairman

  In his remarks, Chang-beom Kim, vice chairman of the FKI, said, "As the FKI and Keidanren have major conglomerates from both countries as members, this forum is very meaningful for the startup cooperation between the two countries." "The innovativeness of Korean startups is recognized on the world stage," Kim said, adding, "Korean startups armed with innovative ideas and Japanese conglomerates with their technology development, business know-how, and financing, are the best partners to grow together."

Japanese Conglomerates Seek New Growth Engines in Korean Startups 

  "Korean startups are accelerating their local expansion based on their trust in Japan's rule of law and market economy, and Japanese conglomerates are finding new growth engines in Korean startups which have both great technology and adventurous and flexible thinking," said Sangwoo Han, chairman of the Korea Startup Forum, in his keynote presentation at the event.

1:1 Business Matching between Korean Startups and Japanese CVCs 

  Following the forum, on April 3, the FKI will host a one-on-one matching program for Korean startups that have completed their pitches to visit large Japanese corporations and corporate venture capital (CVC) 4  firms to attract investment. Shinhan Bank Japan, Samsung Ventures Japan and Lotte Ventures Japan helped make it possible for the startups to visit the Japanese companies and organizations. Thanks to their support, the 10 startups participating in the forum will visit Japanese startup-related companies and organizations such as Rakuten Mobile, KDDI, Rakuten Ventures, SBI Group, Asahi Chemical, JETRO, and SoftBank to discuss investment and entering the Japanese market.

4 Venture capital invested by large corporations. It refers to venture capital invested by corporations in independent ventures for financial benefit and in line with strategic objectives.

  Last year, President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a meeting with Korean and Japanese startup leaders at Stanford University and announced that the governments would actively support the development of the Korean-Japanese startup ecosystem. In this regard, a foundation official said, "The Korea-Japan Startup Cooperation Forum will be an opportunity to further promote cooperation between the two countries." "In order to ensure that this forum is not just a one-time event, we will take the lead in startup cooperation between Korea and Japan through economic organizations such as the FKI and Keidanren."

[Attached]

1. Korea-Japan Startup Cooperation Forum Program 

2. 1:1 Matching Between Korean Startups and Japanese Venture Capitalists

3. Pitching Korean Startups