Top Three Tips to Scaling a Startup in Southeast Asia
Get some helpful tips if you are planning to scale in Southeast Asia.
Read articleJapan has a rapidly growing startup scene, driven by the collaboration of corporations and startups. The inception of the economic growth policy ‘Abenomics,’ Japan’s prime minister Shinzō Abe’s suite of fiscal policies in 2013, has been a significant force behind transforming Japan into a world-leading startup and technology ecosystem.
Traditionally, Japanese corporations have been known to be slow-moving and risk-averse. However, in more recent years, they have shifted their attention and invested more capital into nimble and fast-moving startups to accelerate innovation processes. This is highlighted by the fact that 25 of Japan’s 44 companies ranked in the Forbes Top 500 are engaging with startups in one way or another, such as Toyota Motor and Panasonic.
Another key driver in this shift is the amount of corporate venture capital investments that have been flowing into the country, especially in the deep tech fields. According to Tech.Eu, this also led multinational corporations from Europe, such as Airbus and Deutsche Bahn, to fund Japanese startups in this sector, opening up the possibilities for European and Japanese collaboration.
Germany and Japan have been central partners for industrial digitization since 2016 and have collaborated on the Platform Industrie 4.0 and the Robot Revolution and Industrial IoT Initiative to set the international standards in smart manufacturing. With several government-led projects to foster the advancement of Japan’s tech industry, there are a number of opportunities for German startups facilitated through many well-known similarities between Germany and Japan: due to the excellent engineering skills and leadership in manufacturing and craftsmanship, both countries heavily rely on the manufacturing of exports which are in demand globally. From a cultural perspective, collaboration is favored as well: both nations are serious about their work, prompt in timekeeping, and precise in execution.
In 2019, 87 percent of companies surveyed by the AHK in Japan stated high sales potential as the main reason for their business activities there. Almost nine out of ten (89 percent) said the number one benefit of doing business in Japan is the stability and reliability of business relations.
Society 5.0 addresses a number of key pillars, such as infrastructure, fintech, health tech, and logistics. It also envisions a new social contract and a sustainable socio-economic system powered by the incorporation of digital technology from Industry 4.0, such as AI, IoT, and data analytics. The goal is to embed these innovations into every corner of society in order to overcome the country’s aging population, falling birth rate, and poor rural infrastructure.
In its own words, Japan wants to create a “super-smart” society that will serve as a road map for the rest of the world. Here are some of the key industries under which Society 5.0 will drive innovation and offer significant opportunities for German startups.
There are many opportunities to promote cashless payments and security in global business transactions.
Japan is known to have a “high context” culture as Japanese people are relatively homogeneous, and share a long history of common values and assumptions. This means that for foreigners communicating with Japanese organizations, communications tend to be less explicit and are harder to understand.
As you embark on your expansion journey into Japan, keeping the following tips when it comes to Japanese business culture in mind is essential:
While navigating in Japan’s business environment may take more time and understanding compared to other markets, the opportunities in Japan’s strong innovation ecosystem, as we have outlined, are substantial and timely for German deep tech startups to pursue.
If your startup is considering Japan in your expansion journey, find out more about how we can help you with our German Accelerator Next Step program.
Get some helpful tips if you are planning to scale in Southeast Asia.
Read articleCEO of German Accelerator Southeast Asia, Claus Karthe shares his personal insights on how Next Step Asia supports German startups with the right starting point in their Asia expansion.
Read articleA curated list of articles on why Southeast Asia should be your next destination for international expansion.
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