TECH PLANTER Asia Final 2022 happening this Saturday in Singapore.

On 20th August 2022, 12  outstanding teams (Leave a Nest Award winners and Grand winners from six Asian countries) that stood out from 186 applicants, will be pitching and presenting their ideas and technologies physically in Singapore this Saturday. TECH PLANTER Asia Finals will be a great chance for the start-ups to showcase their work and how closely knitted they are within this ecosystem together with the corporations and government sectors. This event would also provide  teams from Asia to understand how Japanese companies would like to explore deep tech startups coming from Southeast Asia. The panel of 9 judges from mainly are from Japan and would be able to bounce off ideas during the session. Most of the judges present physically during the Demo Day. 

Panel of Judges

Dr. Ryuta Takeda, Executive Officer,  Leave a Nest Co. Ltd.

He received Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, and trained as a pure scientist in a biotech field. After joining Leave a Nest, he initiated “TECH PLANTER” in Japan, and managed to spread it to 10 countries to explore Deep Tech to match Deep Issues. As well as managing international teams and businesses in Leave a Nest, he also developed a lot of international PoCs and collaborative researches between MNC and startup and different startups, so called international co-creation activities.

Mr. Hiromu Kaneyoshi, Managing Director, Mitsui Chemicals Singapore R&D Centre Pte. Ltd.

Mitsui Chemicals Inc. is one of the diversified companies in Japan and providing wide variety of chemicals and polymers globally. It will help build a better future society across four business sectors, Life & Healthcare, Mobility, ICT and Basic & Green Materials. Singapore R&D Centre plays an important role for exploring both cutting edge technologies and seeds of new business from Asia Pacific. Mr Kaneyoshi is looking for opportunities making best use of open innovation in connection with Mitsui Chemicals proprietary technologies.

Dr. Kumiko Shirai , Corporate Officer of Global Business, BIPROGY Inc.

As Corporate Office of Global Business of BIPROGY Inc., Dr. Shirai is managing various international activity of BIPROGY. She is involved in Southeast Asian companies such as Axxis Consulting Pte. Ltd. In Singapore and PT Indivara Sejahtera Mandiri in Indonesia as Outside Director. She is trying to find a business that can solve Southeast Asian issues by using the power of IT assets that BIPROGY has.

Mr.Kenji Minefuji, Manager at Business innovation & DX Strategy Div., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Kenji Minefuji has led various open innovation activities with his business strategy and venture finance expertise. Since 2016, he has provided hands-on support for many startups in over 10 countries as a mentor. During his communication with startups, he developed novel collaboration schemes/concepts between startups and multinational corporations. He started his career as a research scientist of optical communication technology at the Information Technology R&D Center. In his mid-career, he planned the R & D strategy of the R&D center, and was in charge of resource allocation and project management, too. His deep understanding and experience of both cutting edge science & technology and business strategy made him launch unique open innovation activities with startups at the Center for Future Innovation. He plays a key role in running “ME Innovation Fund” established as a CVC fund in 2022.

Mr. Norio Asahara, Regional R&D Director, Ezaki Glico Company, Limited

Glico manufactures not only confectionery and ice cream, but also a wide range of food categories such as beverages, dairy products, processed foods and baby milk powder. Mr. ASAHARA is the director of research and development in Glico Asia Pacific. He is looking for new research partners as well as technical support, investment and opportunities for various collaborations such as buying of new ingredients. He is responsible for new business in Asia Pacific.

Mr. Koji Suzuki, Division Manager –  Global Business Alliance, Rohto Pharmaceutical Co.,LTD.

Mr. Suzuki is an experienced professional with a demonstrated history of working in the FMCG / OTC pharmaceutical industry. Skilled in Launching New Business, Business Development, Turn Around, Manufacturing, Negotiation, Business Planning, Market Analysis, and Market Research.  He is currently working at Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in Osaka, Japan, serving to establish and develop business alliances with various corporations around the world including the emerging markets.

Mr. Yasunori Takamatsu, General Manager, Ferry and Maritime Associated Business Division, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (MOL) 

He joined MOL in 1993 and gained various experience in maritime business through his career including working in the Chinese companies in Shanghai and Hong Kong of MOL group. His current responsibilities cover “New business creation unit” and “Global recruiting & Consulting business unit”. He studied in Fudan University of Shanghai (1990-91) and graduated from Waseda University (1993) majored in Letters (B.A.).

Mr. Yoshiaki Kuramochi, Researcher, NIPPON SHOKUBAI CO., LTD. ,

Since 1941, Nippon Shokubai has grown up its business with unique catalyst technology and has supplied, for example, ethylene oxide, acrylic acid, automobile catalysts, process catalysts and so on. In Singapore, a collaborative research project with Nanyang Technological University started in 2017 to develop new technologies and products. Mr. Kuramochi has been involved in polymer synthesis and its application development for more than 10 years, including polymers for optical materials and latex for coatings by solvent polymerization and emulsion polymerization, and joined in the collaboration project in 2019. Currently, in addition to collaborative research at NTU, he is exploring opportunities for business development that contributes to a circular economy.

Mr. Akitaka Wilhelm Fujii, President, Real Tech Holdings Co.,Ltd.

As President of Real Tech Holdings, Mr. Fujii drives the company’s mission to solve societal and environmental challenges through innovative deep-tech technologies. The company has four venture capital funds under management, with one specifically focusing on South East Asia. Prior to joining Real Tech Holdings, Mr. Fujii worked for EIT Climate-KIC, EU’s largest organization fostering climate innovation. He was involved in setting up several business units, led a company-wide change management program focusing on people management and managed the company’s effort to assess its climate impact. Mr. Fujii holds a Master's degree in International Studies from the University of Tokyo.

Program Overview:

• Date and time: 20th August 2022 (Saturday), 13:00 – 18:00 (SGT) 
• Venue: The Meeting Point, 73B Ayer Rajah Crescent, Singapore 139966.
• Language: English 
• Organiser: Leave a Nest Co. Ltd. and Leave a Nest Singapore Pte. Ltd 

Programme Timeline:

We sincerely hope that all the innovative technologies that are being developed in ASIA will find their way to solve global issues soon.

To know more about team who are pitching this Saturday, please kindly click here

To learn more about TECH PLANTER, kindly visit: https://en.techplanter.com

For more information or any inquiries or concerns, please send an email to Mr. Siva at [email protected]