During the first half of 2026, our encognize G.K. Cross‑Border Innovation Partner Team, Brian and Bruno, continued to advance our mission of enabling global innovators to successfully navigate and validate opportunities in the Japanese market.
Through close collaboration with innovation ecosystem partners and hands‑on support to international startups, we delivered a diverse set of engagements designed to accelerate cross‑border expansion.
Key activities included:

• Joining in-person gathering with startups from South Korea, Thailand, and the broader APAC region as part of the Fukuoka Prefecture cross-border programme operated by Plug and Play Japan. Ahead of their market exploration trip, the startups and scale-ups were provided a tailored Japan market-entry briefing highlighting Fukuoka’s industrial landscape and key stakeholders to engage with.
• Delivery of a market briefing to Dutch startups visiting Kyoto as part of the Kyoto International Startup Nexus initiative. (more about the event here -Japanese only-)
• Presentation on the future of Japan’s startup ecosystem to global young entrepreneurs participating in the Japan Youth Summit 2026. (more about the presentation here)
• Interviews and hearing sessions of railroad operators and mobility solution providers at the Mass-Trans Innovation Japan Osaka 2026 to validate and fine tune business use cases around 「Inbound Tourism × Mobility DX」 in regional Japan.
• Delivery of a practical, recommendation-focused webinar for overseas companies seeking to enter the Japanese market, covering key considerations, common pitfalls, and actionable next steps, an initiative led by IBPC Osaka (International Business Promotion Centre OSAKA) and Invest Osaka.

As we enter the second semester of 2026, we will continue strengthening our support for innovators worldwide, with a particular focus on Japan, Southeast Asia, and South Korea. Our commitment remains unchanged: helping global companies turn cross-border ambition into measurable market traction.

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

Aligned with our primary mission to support innovative companies develop and grow their business internationally in a direct approach or through partner initiatives, our encognize G.K. team was involved in the delivery of the following engagements over this summer 2024 (among others):

• IMPACT - through our 「hyumpact ventures」 service line, we have provided direct support to Toy8, a Japanese/Malaysian EdTech・HealthTech startup offering a mobile, AI-based early childhood developmental screening and intervention solution. And we are very proud to share that the Toy8 team has won the ERIA 2024 One ASEAN Startup Award at the 2nd pre-event held in Kuala Lumpur! Congratulations to the Toy8 Team for this achievement that will for sure help increase their impact in ASEAN. Additional impact activities provided by our team also included for instance the contribution to the conceptual design of a Japanese project dedicated to Inaka Revitalization through responsible tourism.
• GROW - as part of our 「synaptik」 service line, we were proud to support SHE LOVES TECH, the world's largest acceleration platform for women and technology,  through the provision of mentoring sessions to four of their East Asia 2024 COMPETIT10N finalist companies offering solutions in sectors as diverse as FemTech, Circular economy, sustainability and Medical/Health DX. We also directly supported in their development journey a Singapore-based Alt. Material startup with a first product positioned at the intersection of textile and sustainability.
• EXPAND - beyond the on-going support to our current 「XBORDR」 portfolio companies, we helped NautilusLog, a German company focused on Maritime DX thanks to a smart data management and automation platform, shape their initial Go-To-Market Strategy for Japan through mentoring sessions organized as part of a Start2 programme. 

Please, do not hesitate to contact us here if you are interested in discovering more about our cross-border innovation activities!