SXSW

Many events were held all over the city of Austin during SXSW. In addition to networking events for startups and investors, each participating country created “houses” throughout the city to showcase their art, innovation, music, and technology.

The SXSW events featured an area where attendees could immerse themselves in the world of the new drama series “Fallout”. There was also the XR Experience Exhibition, showcasing XR startups from around the world and allowing visitors to test their products. Meanwhile, the Creative Industries Expo presented cutting-edge creative products from across the globe.

We had the opportunity to meet and talk with some of the 50 startups selected as finalists in the annual pitch contest at SXSW, try out their products, and introduce them to SSS and the startup ecosystem players in Japan. The event was also a great opportunity to meet many entrepreneurs participating in SusHi Tech Tokyo, or startups interested in expanding their business to Japan.

Visits to Los Angeles, San Diego, and Austin

During our trip, we had the chance to visit various organizations across different cities. In Los Angeles, we went to UCLA, Launch Star Z, and ShibuLA Ventures. In San Diego, we visited Startup San Diego and the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur at the University of California San Diego. Finally, in Austin, we met with people from Q-Branch, the JETRO Los Angeles Office, and the KDDI Open Innovation Fund. These visits facilitated exchanges with local ecosystem builders and startup support organizations from Japan and abroad who were also involved in SXSW. Throughout our tours, we explored collaboration opportunities to support overseas startups entering the Japanese market and potential partnerships for enhancing support systems within the local startup ecosystem.