1. Overview

On March 26, 2024, the "Greater Tokyo Startup & Government Pitch: Exploring Local Government Initiatives and Startup Potential" was held at Tokyo Innovation Base, featuring presentations by local governments and six startups recommended by them.
This event was organized to share information on local government initiatives aimed at fostering the startup ecosystem in the Tokyo metropolitan area and to facilitate matchmaking with startups. The event began with local governments presenting the current status of their respective municipalities and their startup support measures, followed by pitches from the startups.

2. Event Implementation Overview

[Part 1: Government Pitches by Local Governments]

The Tokyo Consortium implements measures to support startups in collaboration with local governments. In Part 1, representatives from three Tokyo municipalities (Shibuya Ward, Minato Ward, Sumida Ward ※in order of appearance) took the stage and introduced their respective startup support initiatives in a panel discussion format.

Shibuya City Industrial, Tourism, and Cultural Affairs Department Global Hub City Promotion Office

Shibuya City aims to build an ecosystem where entrepreneurs challenging the world gather, as a district where people from diverse backgrounds come together.
We are working on "environmental development" through initiatives like launching consortia and deregulation; "internationalization" through measures such as the Startup Visa program and hosting community events primarily in English; and "pilot projects" including B2C demonstrations with the cooperation of over 2,300 resident monitors.

Minato City Industrial Promotion Center

Minato City aims to foster international community development by leveraging its strengths as a hub for foreign embassies and corporations, attracting both people and capital.
Based at the Minato City Industrial Promotion Center—which offers registered coworking spaces, a business support factory for manufacturing, and rentable spaces for commercial use—the city provides learning opportunities, creates networking events, and runs entrepreneurship programs.

Sumida Ward, Industrial Promotion Division

Sumida Ward is a manufacturing hub with the second-highest number of factories in Tokyo.
In 1979, it became the first municipality nationwide to enact a Basic Ordinance for the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises, positioning business support as a key ward priority and implementing various initiatives.Currently, under the "Hardware Startup Hub Initiative," the district focuses on fostering co-creation between local manufacturing companies, universities, and other entities through startup support, centered around the Sumida Innovation Core facility opened in October 2023. This effort aims to achieve an "updated industrial cluster."

[Part 2: Startup Pitches by Startups Recommended by Each Municipality]

In Part Two, startups recommended by each municipality took the stage to introduce their respective businesses and initiatives. During the Q&A session, we received various questions regarding each company's business model and collaboration with local governments.

NERON Inc. Representative Director and CEO Yasuhisa Nagasaki (Recommended by Shibuya Ward)

We are developing gut-based cocktails that directly act on the nervous system, aiming to elevate mental health worldwide and realize well-being.
By harnessing stress-relieving gut bacteria, we envision applications ranging from assisting war refugees to utilizing them in space.

LOOVIC Co., Ltd. Representative Director: Toru Yamanaka (Recommended by Shibuya Ward)

We are developing LOOVIC, a voice-based navigation and guide service anyone can create. By providing unmanned navigation guides using human augmentation technology that feels like someone is right beside you, we offer safe, secure, and well-being-enhancing support for outings, simultaneously addressing staffing shortages in the tourism and welfare industries.

APTO Co., Ltd. Representative Director Ryo Takashina (Minato City Recommendation)

We provide "harBest," a solution that enables rapid, low-cost, and high-quality data creation—a common bottleneck in AI development. While data preparation often stalls AI development, we support projects by consistently handling this critical task.

Kaoru Naito, Representative Director, CHAOSRU Co., Ltd. (Minato Ward Recommendation)

We are a new-era creative company that combines cutting-edge technological prowess in XR and virtual technologies with generative AI, alongside exceptional design capabilities. We propose new frameworks for video and graphics that enable high-end expressions—previously difficult to produce within conventional workflows—to become achievable.

MOVeLOT Inc. President and Robot Pilot Hiroi Kento (Recommended by Sumida Ward)

MOVeLOT.Inc aims to become a global leader in the rideable robot field by moving people's hearts through the power of rideable robots. We design and build spaces enabling entertainment experiences unique to rideable robots, and expand these globally.

Serapia Co., Ltd. Representative Director: Kei Tanaka (Recommended by Sumida Ward)

Leveraging our proprietary no-code technology, we provide digital talent development services. Centered around operating the intensive no-code coaching program "Aprel Dash," we offer no-code technology-based contract development and DX talent education for small and medium-sized enterprises.