Japan: May 2021

Japan’s technology news in May

Japan’s technology news headlines in May 2021 touched on subjects including the launch of Shibuya’s Startup Welcome Service, the country’s startup funding in 2020, digital-only banking services, e-sports developments, and more.  We’ve also included some of April’s tech news, to provide a wider range of reference points, particularly around fintech and central bank digital currencies.

The tech headlines gathered below outline May 2021’s news, providing Startup News Asia’s readers with:

• an at-a-glance overview of the month’s tech news;
• instant insights into tech and startup ecosystems; and
• 1-click access to the online tech articles behind the headlines.

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• Video pitch made by Ginkan, an AI-driven social restaurant discovery platform, at the recent Unicorn Battle South East Asia & Oceania event
• Tokyo to open country’s first ‘gym for esports’, facility for competitive video gaming tuition
• Major infrastructure firms to discontinue use of Chinese-made drones in favour of domestic firms, citing data security concerns
• Download: FinTech Market in Japan – Blockchain, via FinCity Tokyo (pdf)
• An intro to Shibuya Startup Support’s Startup Welcome Service, led by Tokyo Shibuya City, to help founders and entrepreneurs start a business in Japan
• ICYMI: Japan Startup Funding 2020 report is online, looking at investors, startups, sectors and IPOs

• A brief intro to 5 firms working in the ‘buy now, pay later’ market, touching on virtual credit cards, point of sale financing and more
• Japan-HQ’d CyberAgent closes CA Startups Internet Fund 3, raising $55.5M to invest in globally-focused, seed stage Asian tech startups
• An interview intro to Minna Bank, gearing up for launch as an app-based digital-only challenger bank
• Download: Project Bakong CBDC Case Study – The National Bank of Cambodia, Hyperledger Iroha and Japan’s Soramitsu (pdf)
• Singapore/Japan research develops method converting Wi-Fi signals to electricity to power small LEDs, aiming to wirelessly power medical wearables and consumer devices
• SAP unveils 6 startups selected for B2B accelerator, focusing on energy and natural resources industries in Australia and New Zealand

Japan’s tech news in April 2021

• Minna Bank, digital banking arm of Fukuoka Financial Group, expected to launch in May, partnered with Accenture and running on Google cloud infrastructure
• A look at how some municipalities are embracing digital currency, launching community-focused digital money initiatives to boost local economy and identity
• Bank of Japan launches first phase of experimenting with a central bank digital currency, testing technical feasibility of core functions and features
• Paidy buy-now-pay-later provider completes Series D, raising $120M with more than 5M consumer accounts and 7K company accounts