For the third consecutive year, Computer Futures has joined the Slush Tokyo movement – Japan’s largest start-up and technology (tech) conference with over 6,000 attendees, 600 start-ups and 300 media covering more than 70 countries and regions. No event has been the same and this year, we have seen a wider community of young tech enthusiasts, key industry players and different community builders come together in Tokyo. The increase in the number of participants along with the larger scale of the event meant that there is an incoming surge of innovative products being introduced on the market. As an advocate of Slush Tokyo 2019, we can definitely say how great it is to be part of this movement and see first-hand how the audience is becoming more engaged and responsive to the tech industry.
A quick recap on Slush Tokyo 2019
Our booth at Slush Tokyo 2019 welcomed many candidates looking for their next role, hiring managers looking for candidates to join their start-up firms and analysts conducting market research and assessing the scope for further business development in Japan. We also provided consultative solution-based sessions to IT professionals who are after a different career opportunity within the technology field.
Tommy Haviland, Manager at Computer Futures shared that “it was a very exciting experience to be able to sponsor such a major event like Slush Tokyo for the third year running. Our booth had a larger space right at the centre of all the action, hence having greater access to technology professionals throughout the day. In addition to the increased foot traffic to our booth, we had inspiring discussions and presentations from the likes of Yukiko Muto, President of Uber Eats Japan, and Chika Terada, Founder of SanSan. It was truly an inspirational event and a pleasure to be part of such a vibrant technology community in Japan.”
In the exhibition hall, we saw various venture projects led by many Japanese-established companies and start-ups from all over the world. The event highlighted different projects that are underway – an example being project Fichvita® which relates to a non-optical sensing system developed by Toyo Chem. Through the Fichvita® motion-sensing panels embedded within the flooring structure of an enclosed space, businesses would be able to extract data, analyse their customers’ behaviours and identify patterns in their shopping habits. Previously, businesses have typically used surveillance cameras to observe their customers’ shopping habits and this has significantly raised privacy concerns from the public.
Slush Tokyo 2019 – Ready to Call for Action
In line with the "Call for Action" theme, speakers and founders coming from different corners of the globe, reunited under the same roof to provide their insights about the industry. Mr Terada shared an interesting story about the development of his brand on a global scale, outlining different advertising strategies between the United States and Japan. He drew emphasis on the importance of adopting a culturally-relevant strategy in each region whilst offering a universally-accepted service or product.
Also drawing a crowd at Slush Tokyo 2019 were Jason Smith, Vice President of Business Development at Fundbox – a fintech company optimising the cash flow of small businesses and freelancers with outstanding invoices; and Firat Isbecer, a Turkey-based entrepreneur and angel investor. Both speakers emphasised the importance of raising awareness of innovation within the community as many people go about with their life without being aware of the potentially life-changing products that go to market in the Fintech industry.
Slush Tokyo 2019 addresses the lack of job opportunities for women
A major component of Slush 2019 is the annual Pitch Contest which invites 40 start-ups onstage to pitch their product within 3 minutes to a judge panel consisting of active investors, successful entrepreneurs and industry experts. The winner of the year was Clarity K. K. – the developer of a matchmaking tool designed to assist women in finding a new job that provides them with work-life balance and welfare benefits after having kids. The focus on the lack of job opportunities for women in Japan was further addressed in the opening speech of the event, delivered by Ms. Yuriko Koike, Governor of Tokyo. In her speech, Ms Koike emphasised that women are indispensable key players in Japan’s current job market and are today even more relevant and needed in the workforce – especially with the increased shortage of labour. In her speech, Ms Koike also visualised Tokyo as a gateway and a technology hub to many start-ups across the world.
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Computer Futures has significantly contributed to the growth of many start-up companies in Japan. Our consultants at Computer Futures are all experts within their respective specialised markets such as e-commerce, FinTech and Adtech. Through their knowledge, we are able to offer the latest insights of the industry and recruiting solutions that best suit our clients’ business needs.
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