‘Global’ a key word in Forbes Japan’s selection of top startup entrepreneurs for 2016

With a rather broad choice of old-school politicians and business conglomerates, Japan has long been reminded that things need to change and that the future lies in the hands of the young, educated and daring individuals who are willing to step out of the status-quo. That the traditional business style so dearly cherished in the past may no longer be efficient today and that young entrepreneurs should be encouraged, inspired and supported financially to launch services that may bring not only financial growth, but also social change.

While up to now we have somewhat gotten used to hearing empty promises and see little change, the recent announcement of Forbes Japan’s top start-up Japanese entrepreneurs for the year may be hinting that the Wa-business mindset may finally be starting to change.

In an award ceremony held in Tokyo on Tuesday, Forbes Japan presented trophies to 13 young individuals who have launched companies that look ahead of the time — in a very global way. The ceremony was titled “Japan’s Startup of the Year 2016” — foreseeing that the 13 will further expand their influence over the next year. It was the very first ceremony of its kind in the history of Forbes Japan. The atmosphere was surprisingly international, including even the presence of guests from foreign companies and foreign media.

According to Forbes Japan, the selection process, led by the magazine’s editorial team and eight outsourced prominent entrepreneurs, focused on four main concepts: the startups’ project feasibility, growth potential, team structure global mindset. Selected from an initial list of some 55 startups, Forbes Japan’ s top 3 awards went to the following young entrepreneurs.

1. Shintaro Yamada — Founder and CEO of Mercari, a free mobile marketplace that allows users to sell used items instantly and safely — everything from electronics, clothes, jewelry to branded items. Launched in Japan in 2013 and in the U.S. the following year, as of 2015, the company observed a total of 25 million app downloads altogether in Japan and the U.S., has a total of 200 employees in its three offices — Tokyo, Sendai and San Francisco, and has a capital of over 4 billion yen.

Yamada, 38, a very laid-back, softly spoken and casual man, is a serial entrepreneur, who formerly owned Unoh, a gaming studio, which he later sold to Zynga. After selling Unoh, Yamada took a break to travel around the world and founded Mercari upon his return to Japan. Yamada said his next goal is expanding the company to the EU and Asia, and he dreams of one day launching his services in Africa as well.

1. Yasukane Matsumoto. When this 31-year-old Keio University graduate said he was launching a printing business in the digital era, everyone thought that he was out of his mind. Now everyone points at him with admiration, for what this man has done in the six years since he launched RakSul, is basically change the whole concept of printing in Japan — and help small printing businesses on the edge of bankruptcy return to the black. RakSul acts as a mediator between users who have printing needs (everything from business cards, photo books and leaflets) and printing companies around Japan. It uses a unique algorithm to find the best printers in the area where the clients are based, therefore cutting both prices and time.

Thanks to RakSul, many printing firms — 90% of which are minor companies with less that 100 employees — have been able to cut sales and PR costs, and expand their business. Matsumoto, always guided by his motto “If you change the business structure, the society will change as well,” is now looking to expand his company to other Asian countries, in addition to its already existing Singapore and Indonesia-based branches.

1. Satoshi Sugie —  Co-founder and CEO of Whill, a new generation wheelchair-manufacturing company, based in Silicon Valley. Sugie launched the company in 2012 along with two co-founders and worked 24/7 on producing a new kind of wheelchair that physically-impaired people would be comfortable sitting in. “People used to think that wheelchairs make them embarrassed and uncomfortable. They would be hesitant to go even to a convenience store nearby their house out of such negative thoughts,” Sugie recalls. Now the company’s wirelessly-connected 4WD wheelchair Whill-Model A, which can clear obstacles in the way, climb steep hills, last for a 12-mile tour on a full-battery charge, and is app powered, among other features, is changing the global mindset of mobility — not to mention changing lives.

The wheelchair has attracted enormous attention in 2015, including the receipt of the Good Design grand prix, and a highly anticipated participation at the Tokyo Motor Show. Sugie, 33, is a former Nissan employee, who also used to work as a Japanese teacher in China. With a capital of just 7 million yen, Sugie and his team are still at the very beginning of the road ahead, but he believes that there will come a day when even non-physically disabled people will use the Whill model.

The fourth place was awarded to Yusuke Umeda, 34, and Ryosuke Niino, 38, the founders of Uzabase, the startup behind Speeda — a corporate profile and analysis research database and the app NewsFeed, followed by Ken Suzuki, 40, and Kaisei Hamamoto, 34, who launched the massively popular news app SmartNews, in fifth place. In sixth was Taro Fukuyama, 28, another U.S.-based Japanese entrepreneur, known for founding AnyPerk (in fact at a Taco Bell parking lot), the platform helping businesses of all sizes deliver perks and discounts to their employees — a good example of how the little things that bring comfort and smiles to employee’s faces can boost companies’ profit and productivity.

Yosuke Tsuji, 39, an extremely humorous and positive man, came in seventh for founding Money Forward, an app for keeping track of your finances and daily expenses. The app is observing over three million downloads, just over three years since the company’s launch.

The healthcare business was represented by Toshihiko Honkura, 41, and Masateru Taniguchi, the co-founders of Quantum Biosystems, a Tokyo, Osaka and California-based venture which focuses on the application of quantum mechanics to the development of innovative DNA sequencers. The last on the Forbes Japan’s list were Ken Tamagawa, 39, the co-founder and CEO of Soracom, a 2015-established IoT platform startup, and Daisuke Sasaki, 35, the founder of Freee, the well-known online accounting software.

While these startups are indeed just at the very beginning of entering the business market and causing changes, they show hope that Japan is starting to change. 2015 may well be the year when young entrepreneurs are starting to attract attention and finally be praised — not so much for achieving a lot already, but for initiating a change and for bringing fresh ideas to the market — globally.

© Japan Today