Tag - startups

 
 

STARTUPS

Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 5, 2020
SoftBank backs 29-year-old’s venture aiming to become Netflix for fiction
Radish's growing stable of in-house soap-opera scriptwriters conceive new episodes in various genres every four or six hours.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2020
Tech firms start to leave Hong Kong after Beijing enacts security law
About half of U.S. business people say they plan to depart from the territory, according to a recent survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 10, 2020
Japanese college dropout builds $560 million fortune through AI firm
AI inside Inc. has ambitious plans to expand outside Japan and into other business lines.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2020
SoftBank-backed DCM eyes China startups with $880 million fund
David Chao, a venture capitalist who has been on the ground floor of Asian companies worth a combined $206 billion, has raised money for a new fund with a China focus, a sign that rising U.S.-China tensions aren’t turning off foreign investors.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 27, 2020
Japanese startup creates 'connected' face mask for coronavirus new normal
As face coverings become the norm amid the coronavirus pandemic, Japanese startup Donut Robotics has developed an internet-connected "smart mask" that can transmit messages and translate from Japanese into eight other languages.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2020
SoftBank to invest in 14 startups run by minority founders
Companies will receive at least u00a516 million through an accelerator, with further capital available from a u00a510.6 billion fund for founders of color.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 11, 2020
Founder of software company who turned down SoftBank joins ranks of Japan’s billionaires
Masayoshi Son had offered to buy Shunji Sugaya's business idea for $2.8 million.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 4, 2020
SoftBank creates $100 million fund to back companies led by people of color
The effort stems from U.S. and international disgust with the death of George Floyd, who died after a white Minneapolis cop knelt on his neck for over eight minutes.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 1, 2020
E-ticketing platform Zaiko's livestream success sees unwelcome imitators
The ticketing company pivoted to livestreaming events when the coronavirus struck, a move that may change how we experience music in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Food Sustainability in Japan
Apr 11, 2020
To meat, or not to meat: The future of Japanese cellular agriculture
Would you notice if the cubed meat in your cup noodle wasn’t “real” meat? If you did, would you care? What if the future of our meat supply counted on it?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 12, 2020
Augmented reality startup Magic Leap to explore a sale
Magic Leap Inc., the startup that raised more than $2 billion to build an augmented reality device, is exploring options including a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2020
In Fukushima, a 'village' aims to lure young people back to disaster-hit town
In a deserted part of Fukushima Prefecture dotted with vacant lots, a sleek modern building stands out. In a workshop inside, a woman with a ponytail wearing purple protective eyeglasses carefully melts a tiny glass tube into the shape of a plum blossom.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2020
Masayoshi Son's big real estate venture with Oyo runs into real problems in Japan
Last March, months before the meltdown at WeWork, Masayoshi Son worked through the prospects for another one of his favorite portfolio companies — a startup from India called Oyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2020
SoftBank's Masayoshi Son considers new type of fund for startup investing
SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son said he is considering a new type of fund for startup investing, showing his determination to keep cutting deals after missteps with WeWork and several other companies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2020
AI startup digs up business opportunity in aging water pipes in Japan and elsewhere
When a fifth of the people living in the city of Wakayama faced a three-day water stoppage last month to fix a 60-year-old pipe network, they rushed to get ready, only to learn that the repairs could be made without a shutdown.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’