Central Japan Startup Ecosystem Holds Symposium on Homeland of Mobility 5.0 - Leading Society to the Next Generation
07.08.2025 - 18:00:39Panelists:
Hans GREIMEL
Hans Greimel is an award-winning American business journalist and book author who covers Asian automakers as the Asia Editor at Automotive News. He attended Carlos Ghosn's first press conference in Beirut, Lebanon after his escape from Japan in January 2020. Greimel's coverage led to the book Collision Course: Carlos Ghosn and the Culture Wars that Upended an Auto Empire, published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2021.
Kyoko YOKOTA
Kyoko Yokota is Chief Executive Officer of Colabolabo Co., Ltd, Tokyo. In 2006, Kyoko Yokota started Colabolabo which provides business support for female entrepreneurs. It also manages website, "Women Presidents.net", where a database of female entrepreneurs is made available to whoever is interested in their businesses. Yokota was selected as one of Forbes Japan's "10 Japanese Women Who Will Create the Future! She has served as a member of the JST Startup Ecosystem Formation Support Committee and other committees in the fields of gender equality and local government.
Akira ODOI
Akira Odoi is the General Manager, Innovation Promotion Department, Value Creation Division of the Central Japan Economic Federation. Before taking this position, he worked for the Marubeni Corporation. Since taking the post, he has actively been engaging in activities that contribute to the economic development of the Chubu region, such as stimulating innovation and promoting start-ups.
Background on Central Japan
Located in the Chubu region, also known as Central Japan – right in the middle of Japan's main island, Honshu, this region is proud of playing a vital role in the history of Japan's manufacturing craftsmanship. It was where Toyota first began, and as a tech pioneer, it is now the home to a wide range of sectors such as automobiles, photonics, and aerospace, using advanced, cutting-edge technologies.
Central Japan continues to invite entrepreneurs and capitalists from all corners of the world to facilitate state?of?the?art open innovation by infusing new ideas with local craftsmanship. And as a result, take part in playing a crucial role in paving the path towards the Homeland of Mobility 5.0 –the future of mobility.
Central Japan Startup Ecosystem provides everything a startup needs – from highly trained workers in many specialized fields to opportunities to conduct feasibility studies with leading companies in various industries including the mobility sector. There are also accelerator programs, financial support systems, innovative university seeds, and collaborative partnerships with ecosystems outside of Japan and also attract a wide range of entrepreneurs to this region. ??
About the Central Japan Startup Ecosystem
In July 2020, Aichi prefecture, Nagoya City and Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka-prefecture became one of the four regional Startup Ecosystem Global Base Cities groups designated nationwide by the Japanese Cabinet Office.
There are 371 startups in Central Japan, of which 150 are university-launched. An estimated 18,615 billion yen (as of July 2022) of funds have been raised, in addition to accelerator programs, financial support systems, and innovative university seeds.
Collaborative partnerships with Station F, INSEAD, BLOCK71, Paris &Co, Bpifrance, Venture Café, Plug and Play, Israel Innovation Authority, Tsinghua University, China Medical University, National University of Singapore, the University of Texas at Austin, Stanford University, North Carolina State University, University of Nebraska and the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad attract a diverse range of entrepreneurs to the region.
For more information, please visit https://central-startup.jp/en/
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