encognize G.K. Cross-Border Innovation Partner and COO, Brian Lim, has welcomed with the Osaka Innovation Hub (OIH) team a Nordic delegation composed of startups, investors and ecosystem multipliers, all eager to explore collaboration opportunities with Japanese stakeholders, on Day 1 of their 1-week Osaka-Tokyo tour.

Alongside Sho Enokido, Brian and the delegation discussed the 5 pillars of success for international expansion, focusing specifically on the Japanese innovation ecosystem and how to build successful collaborative engagements with domestic organizations.
The afternoon was dedicated to the startups for refining and practicing their pitches, including feedback and peer learning sessions, so that everyone could get fully prepared for their week in Osaka, at World Expo and in Tokyo.

More about the Nordic delegation and Japan Tour here

We are excited to welcome the Taiwanese MedTech company MoleculeX to our X.HEALTH JAPAN 2025 Q1 edition!

What issues is MoleculeX addressing?
Oral Mucositis, a severe side effect of cancer treatments, causes painful ulcers that hinder therapy.
MoleculeX's MuCover® Patch and MuCoat® Glue provide the world's first large-area wound dressing for oral mucosa. Licensed in Taiwan in 2023, it is now in post-market clinical trials at major medical centers and preparing for FDA and CE Mark applications.

As part of our X.HEALTH JAPAN initiative, MoleculeX will benefit through Q1 from a 「Team Extension」 composed of both cross-border Expansion and Japan Medical Sector fractional experts who will support the design of a tailored, actionable Go-To-Market Strategy for their medical solution to enter the Japanese Market.

X.HEALTH JAPAN is an initiative co-delivered by XBORDR, an encognize G.K. Service Line, and xCare Inc., designed to specifically help HealthTech/MedTech companies de-risk and accelerate their Japan expansion through an expert-guided, pragmatic and customized approach.

Should you wish to know more about MoleculeX or the X.HEALTH JAPAN initiative, please do not hesitate to contact us!

As we enter 2025, let me first thank all our business partners: entrepreneurs, startups, scale-ups, Small & Medium Businesses, corporations, innovation service providers and government entities for riding the innovation and impact journey with us in 2024.
More than ever, we are committed to delivering more value to all of you throughout 2025.

2024 Q4 has not been short of activities, guiding and advising many of you directly and in programmatic approaches in defining and achieving your innovation objectives and expansion goals.
Non-exhaustively, here are some activities to which we contributed to in 2024 Q4:

• providing market entry guidance to 15 startups focused on accessibility and technology solutions addressing the needs of impaired, disabled and differently-abled individuals as part of the 2024 Korea-Singapore IR & Business Meeting organized by DEBC (Disabled Enterprise Business Center),
• delivering strategic guidance and feedback to 7 early-stage Austrian FinTech startups seeking to expand into Singapore and the broader Southeast Asia as part of the GIN Austria Go Singapore 2024 program powered by Austria Wirtschafts Service and supported by Advantage Austria, 
• providing practical recommendations for Japan market entry to 12 Asia-HQ'd startups preparing their visit to Fukuoka as part of a Plug and Play Japan initiative,
• advising on Southeast Asia market entry strategies to 15 growth-stage Korean startups participating in SWITCH 2024 as part of KSC IR Day organized by KOSME (Korea SME and Startups Agency),
• acting as selection jury and final jury members for during HACK OSAKA 2024 for both JETRO Global Startup Pitch and GET IN THE RING pitch competition,
• acting as a trusted-advisor and providing actionable recommendations on specific business growth and impact enablement matters to a focused group of Asia-based women-founded ClimateTech startups selected for the UN Women - CLIMATE TECH ACCELERATOR, a program implemented with the support of SHE LOVES TECH and funded by the Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Of course, our encognize team will not stop here...
This year, we will continue to support entrepreneurs across the globe, focusing primarily on cross border expansion support and impact enablement support through our 「XBORDR」 and 「hyumpact ventures」 service lines respectively.

Watch out this space for more announcements soon!

Bruno & Brian
encognize G.K., Cross Border Innovation Partners