The JETRO CES2024 Dispatch Program Results Reporting Session was held on February 2024, 2. CES, one of the world's largest technology festivals, will be held in Las Vegas from January 29, 2024, and two companies, INNOPHYS Inc. and TECHMAGIC Inc., traveled to the venue. Two representatives from the two companies, INNOPHYS Inc. Overseas Business Manager Yu Yaji and TECHMAGIC Inc. CEO Office Manager Sekiya Mariko, took to the stage and discussed their impressions of CES, behind-the-scenes stories, and support provided by the Tokyo Consortium Secretariat.
At the opening of the event, Mr. Yoshiki from Tokyo gave a speech to everyone gathered at the venue.
Yoshiki:This year, in cooperation with JETRO, Tokyo Metropolitan Government supported business matching at the CES2024 Dispatch Program Results Report Meeting held in the United States for promising startups that are expected to grow rapidly with an eye on overseas expansion in the future. CES is a very large-scale event that not only attracts more than 13 participants from all over the world, but also includes executives from major overseas companies. Tokyo Metropolitan Government implemented this program with the hope of introducing such opportunities and having them actually travel to the site, so that they would have the opportunity to enter into capital and business alliances and collaborative projects with overseas companies in the future. I think it was a very good program, thanks to the support of the Tokyo Consortium Secretariat, which supported the program this time.
I also traveled overseas to CES and observed the business negotiations. The negotiations were conducted in a way that allowed participants to experience the products on the spot, which I believe resulted in highly in-depth business negotiations.
The aim of this program was to make overseas expansion more accessible and strengthen the ecosystem by providing feedback on the knowledge gained at CES. We hope that this report was a meaningful experience for the startups who participated.
A roundtable discussion was held with Yu Yaji from Innophys Co., Ltd., Sekiya Mariko from TECHMAGIC Co., Ltd., and Date from the Tokyo Consortium Secretariat (Deloitte Tohmatsu). The discussion covered two topics: "Support before traveling to CES (knowledge sharing, business negotiation coordination, etc.)" and "Support during traveling to CES (business negotiations with promising companies, support for business negotiations on-site, etc.)."
Date：We supported matching and business negotiations outside of the exhibition. While general support involves going to the site and doing a hands-on session, this time we supported matching with business partners in advance. We also provided an explanation of what CES is like and held a study session beforehand. What was good about this study session?
Yu Yaji, Overseas Business Manager, Innophys Corporation (hereafter referred to as "Overseas Business Manager"):Before traveling, a consultant from the Tokyo Consortium Secretariat (Deloitte Tohmatsu) shared with us the knowledge that it is important to clarify the purpose of attending CES. Rather than just going because CES is a big event, we were advised to make our exhibiting purpose clearer before attending. CES 2022 was Innofys' second time exhibiting. We participated in this year's CES with the goal of increasing our company's name recognition, product name recognition, brand power, and media exposure.
Date:It was important to achieve results in a short period of time, so we shared that knowledge.
Mariko Sekiya, CEO Office Manager, TECHMAGIC Corporation (hereafter, titles omitted): Our company has some experience with domestic implementation, so our purpose in participating this time was to narrow our target down to the US and find a foothold for expanding overseas. The Tokyo Consortium Secretariat mainly provided us with the opportunity to negotiate with other companies. Although we have previously exhibited at small-scale exhibitions in New York, unlike Innofys, CES was our first opportunity to exhibit at a large overseas exhibition. At that time, we were extremely grateful to them for sharing tips on exchanging contact information and knowledge on business negotiations in advance.
Date: This time, we arranged your business meetings in advance, but we had some issues with the fact that the replies to the messages we sent to the companies at the end of the year would not come until the beginning of the new year, and it was difficult to match the right companies. However, by persevering until the end, I think we were able to create an opportunity for you to meet the companies you wanted to meet. What did you think of our down-to-earth approach?
to：I think it was a very meaningful time to be able to meet with the head of a large company. As a startup alone would not be able to set up such an event, the support was very much appreciated.
Sekiya: In our case, we had communicated the companies we wanted to approach, given that it was a consumer-oriented exhibition. As Date-san mentioned earlier, they were stumped at the pre-matching stage, and no business negotiations were finalized until the last minute, but they changed course and recommended marketing companies and casino companies in Las Vegas, even though they were not supermarkets or other companies with a high affinity to our business. They persisted until the very last minute, looking for as many related companies as possible, and in the end, many appointments were confirmed, so we are very grateful.
Date：As a result, a considerable number of business meetings were scheduled during your stay, so you were so busy that you didn't have time to take a lunch break. I think it was a happy stress-free time. Members of the Tokyo Consortium Secretariat were actually present at the local business meetings to provide support, but what kind of support do you think we provided that led to this outcome?
toBefore I answer, I want to tell the startups who are actually going there that physical stamina is important. During my time at CES, I had business meetings with about six companies every day, and I also had to deal with the CES exhibit, and participated in two other events. With such a tight schedule, I strongly felt that physical stamina was necessary.
One of the support provided by the Tokyo Consortium Secretariat was that they created an atmosphere in which we could speak freely during business negotiations. Although the business did not develop immediately during the actual business negotiations, we are very grateful for the thorough follow-up after the negotiations. In addition, we received knowledge on how to say "no" without being rude to the other party at exhibitions such as CES. For example, INNOPHYS does not have plans to raise funds for the time being, but there are investors and others at business negotiations, and they taught us how to say "no" at those times while still maintaining our connection with them. This advice was very useful and can be utilized for the next opportunity.
Date：As you said, physical strength is very important. Spending four days at CES overseas is very tough, so I felt that you needed to be tough enough to get through it.
SekiyaSpeaking of "stamina," we participated as a group of six, including the president, and we conducted cooking demonstrations and business negotiations, which I recall being very hard. As for the business negotiations, although we were basically made up of members who could speak English, there were times when we couldn't keep up when the content got complicated. In those cases, the Tokyo Consortium Secretariat stepped in and supported us in terms of language, which was extremely helpful. Also, although things were hectic at the site, the Tokyo Consortium Secretariat supplemented us with information about the business partners, gave us advice, and also arranged transportation.
Tokyo Consortium Secretariat Morimoto:Finally, since JETRO is expanding its business overseas, we would like to hear some examples.
JETRO：Thank you to Mr. Yu of Innophys Co., Ltd. and Mr. Sekiya of TECHMAGIC Co., Ltd. for sharing your experience at CES. We are pleased that through your support in this project, you were able to build connections with many companies and achieve great results such as increasing your awareness. We would also like to thank everyone at the Tokyo Consortium Secretariat for their support.
JETRO is working to support startups in expanding overseas through various programs. Today, I would like to introduce three of them. The first is support for participating in overseas events. This year, we are supporting 3 companies to participate in CES, and next year, we plan to support about 1 companies in VIVA TECHNOLOGY. The second is the acceleration program. Through lectures by a wide range of accelerator lecturers and matching with overseas investors and partners, you can expect to gain a high perspective and overseas connections for global expansion. Finally, there is the Global Acceleration Hub (GAH). At GAH, we can introduce the local business environment, provide advice on fundraising and pitching from mentors of partner accelerators, and introduce potential partner companies and venture capitalists. If you are interested, please visit our website or Facebook.
Morimoto:Thank you all for joining us today.