SBVA hosted the inaugural ‘2024 SBVA Tokyo Forum’ on the 2nd of this month at the Trunk Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. The event was organized to foster networking between promising Korean startups and leading Japanese venture capital (VC) firms and corporations, with the goal of boosting the startup ecosystems in both Korea and Japan.

The forum featured eight SBVA portfolio companies—Spoon Labs, Doctornow, Upstage, Visual, Gaudio Lab, Mathpresso, Marq Vision, and Law&Company—aiming to expand into the Japanese market. Around 150 industry professionals attended, including major domestic and international investors, local Japanese VCs, and entrepreneurs.

The first part of the event kicked off with a keynote speech by SBVA CEO Lee Jun-pyo, who introduced the company and outlined its global investment strategy. This was followed by presentations from SBVA Executive Director Choi Ji-hyun, KREAM CFO Kim Young-ki, and SODA CEO Yuta Uchiyama, who joined a Fireside Chat discussing ‘SBVA’s Successful Korea-Japan Investment Collaborations.’

During the roundtable discussion, Managing Director Choi Ji-hyun shared valuable insights gained from SBVA’s investments in prominent C2C (consumer-to-consumer) platforms across Korea, China, and Japan—such as Cream and Soda, which originated from China’s resale platform ‘Nice.’ He also highlighted SBVA’s strategic efforts in building partnerships and expanding into global markets.

Part two of the forum featured a keynote by Miki Fukazawa, Vice President of SoftBank Corp, on ‘SoftBank’s Open Innovation and Partnership Strategy with Startups.’ This was followed by a panel discussion on ‘Industry Trends and Investment/Exit Strategies through the Lens of Japanese VCs.’

The panel included notable Japanese VCs, such as SAMURAI INCUBATE, Global Brain, CyberAgent Capital, JAFCO, and PKSHA CAPITAL. They discussed the impact of the Japanese government’s ‘5-Year Startup Development Plan’ on the market landscape, as well as strategies for investing in international startups, drawing significant interest from the audience.

The final segment began with a keynote speech on ‘Global Development in the AI Era’ by Taejang Son, Chairman of Mistletoe and co-founder of ‘The EdgeOf’. The event wrapped up with a pitching session where SBVA portfolio companies introduced their ventures to local investors, followed by closing remarks from SBVA Managing Director Jeong Ji-woo, who expressed optimism about strengthening Korea-Japan cooperation.

SBVA CEO Lee Jun-pyo noted, “Global expansion is becoming a crucial focus for Korean startups, and Japan’s startup development policies are creating new investment opportunities. Leveraging SBVA’s strong global network and expertise, we will continue to drive global growth and play a key role as a facilitator for startup success and expansion.”