Japan’s technology news headlines in August 2024 captured items in areas including the metaverse, EV batteries, self-driving vehicles and more. Items covered included: Japan’s moves to safeguard tech supply chains; the new Tokyo office of a16z venture capital firm; Rapidus’s 2025 test of 2 nanometer semiconductor manufacturing process; and more.
Plus: Asia’s tech news, weekly newsletters >
KPMG: Q2 2024 Venture Pulse Asia Report
- Japan’s NTT and Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom launch all-optical communications network between Tokyo and Taipei, achieving transmission across 3000km in 17 milliseconds / full item
- Japan: Toyota partners Idemitsu Kosan oil refiner for mass-production of solid-state batteries for EVs, aiming to market by 2027 / full item
Video: ‘Japan Startup Ecosystem with Shibuya Government’, a 30-minute discussion from July’s EDCON2024 Ethereum Development Conference / watch here
- Japan: Isuzu Motors partners software firm, Applied Intuition, to jointly develop self-driving trucks capable of full automation, targeting Japanese highways for 2027 / full item
“Yamakoshi [village] has attracted 1,700 ‘digital citizens’ through the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in an initiative aimed at supporting and sustaining its aging population.” / full item
- NVIDIA rolls out 4 Japan-focused microservices, enabling developers to build and deploy high-performing generative AI applications based on local languages and culture / full item
- Japan: Silicon Valley’s 500 Global VC rolls out Cohort 2 of bespoke Venture Capital Unlocked program for Japanese VCs, partnering with Tokyo Metropo Gov’t & JETRO trade organization / full item
- Japan: Vietnam’s FPT expands in Japan with $200M for cloud AI services and solutions for businesses, looking to launch in 2025 and building on NVIDIA partnership / full item
- Download: ‘Say Watt Now? Can Bitcoin mining accelerate the rollout of renewable energy in Japan?’ from Yuri Group / full item
Japan: “…workforce re-engagement of just 10% of the economically inactive hikikomori group through the metaverse could add at least $240 billion to the Japanese economy by 2050…” / full item
- Japan’s Toshiba to make corporate VC investment in Europe-US Quantonation II fund, aiming to boost R&D and development of quantum-based services / full item
- Japan: Government to apply foreign trade regulations to wide range of technologies, including chip-making equipment, in bid to secure stable supply chains into the future / full item
- Japan Southeast Asia Innovation Platform and Okinawa Institute of Science & Tech ink MOU to boost startup communities in Okinawa, targeting wider Asia growth / full item
“…Japan can inject about $10BN a year into its economy if even 10% of the nation’s 1.5M hikikomori re-engage in the workforce via the metaverse.” / full item
- Japan: Techstars Tokyo accelerator unveils 12 startups selected for the 3-month program, which culminates in a November pitch event / full item
- Japan: “VC investment by overseas players totaled 22.5 billion yen ($152 million) in the first half [of 2024], up 69%…” / full item
- Japan: Sakana AI’s ‘The AI Scientist’ research system found unexpectedly attempting to modify its own code to extend time needed to work on a problem / full item
“Of the 1,729 local municipalities in Japan, 744 are ‘likely to vanish’ by 2050, according to a report released [in April] at a symposium by the Population Strategy Council…” / full item
- Innovation Leaders Summit, Asia’s largest open innovation matching event, is set for December, matching Japanese firms with businesses and startups / full item
- Japan: Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm to establish its first Asia office in Tokyo / full item
- Japan: Interstellar Technologies raised new $21M round for rocket and communications satellite development, moving to vertical-integration model used by SpaceX / full item
- Japan: Rapidus preps for April 2025 test production of 2-nanometer semiconductors, backed by IBM as investor and client / full item
Critical technologies, globally: August 2024
- Taiwan-Japan firms launch CDIB Cross Border Innovation Fund, raising $62M towards $75M-$100M target for investments in tech and lifestyle sectors / full item
- SoftBank, SK Networks, LG Electronics, Hanwha Financial and Thai conglomerate join for $130M Alpha Intelligence Fund, focusing on East and SE Asia / full item
“15 Japanese companies including Isuzu Motors and trading house Sojitz will receive government funding to create supply chains in Southeast Asia…”; semiconductors a key element / full item
- Japan’s Incubate Fund Asia VC firm closes 3rd fund with corpus of $30M, with 80% focus on India’s early-stage startups / full item
- Real Madrid Next Accelerator for Asia unveils 7 startups selected for collaboration / full item
- Philippines: Japan’s Zip Infrastructure approved for feasibility survey for ‘sky tram’ autonomous aerial tramway in mountain resort city of Baguio / full item
Cushman & Wakefield: Asia Pacific Data Center Market H1 2024
Asia Tech newsletters:
August 2024
- August 28th: Digital banking in Thailand, quantum computing in India, crypto mining & electricity in Laos…
- August 21st: Flying cars in China, Taiwan partners Microsoft for AI, Australia’s sustainable lithium extraction…
- August 14th: Indonesia and EV batteries, HP backs away from China, Vietnam’s EV charging subsidies…
- August 7th: Vietnam’s digital business goals, crypto trading in Hong Kong, Australia’s space launch opportunities…
