Exploring Japan with the Nordic Innovation House Tokyo delegation
- Blogi
Kirjoittaja: Viera Karam
Earlier this month, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Japan as part of the Nordic Startup Ecosystem Delegation hosted by Nordic Innovation House Tokyo, representing Oulu along with other cities, startups and investors from the Nordics. Over the course of five days, we visited Osaka and Tokyo, participated in major events like EXPO 2025 Osaka and SusHi Tech Tokyo, and connected with key players across Japan’s startup ecosystem.
Day 1: Soft Landing Insights in Osaka
We kicked off the trip in Osaka at the Osaka Innovation Hub (OIH), where we learned about their soft-landing program for international startups. With a network of over 1,500 players and 450 partners, OIH offers a robust launchpad for newcomers. Programs like Osaka Springboard and IBPC Osaka provide legal advice, market matching, and even free office space for up to six months, which is a valuable support system for startups entering Japan.
We also heard from Encognize on the essentials of expanding to Japan, including the importance of patience, relationship-building, and aligning your go-to-market strategy to local expectations. One great example of this is SaaS business models being scarcely popular among Japanese clients compared to the western markets.
After the sessions, my colleague Takako Uchida and I visited the Osaka World Expo 2025 site, especially the Nordic Pavilion, where Oulu is hosting its own program on June 4th: Expo 2025 Osaka – Oulu
Day 2: Startup Day at the Nordic Pavilion
The second day focused on Nordic Startup Day at the Nordic Pavilion with four sessions:
- The secret sauce of Nordic Startup Ecosystem
- University’s roles as Innovation Catalysts
- Nordic Cleantech startups pitching session
- Investment opportunities in the Nordics for Japanese companies.
I had the pleasure of joining the last panel discussion moderated by Tobias Mathiasen, with speakers including Shwetank Verma from Leo Capital, Helgi Hermannsson from Nordurver, and Marek Kiisa from NordicNinja VC. We discussed why the New Nordics are a strategic region for Japanese investors: shared values, high digitalization, government support, and a collaborative business culture.
After the event and some networking, we hopped on the bullet train to Tokyo to prepare for the next chapter of the journey.
Day 3: Pitching Oulu in Tokyo
in Tokyo we started with SusHi Tech side event at the Tokyo Innovation Base. “Japan’s Gateway to the New Nordics”. I pitched Oulu as the coolest startup city, sharing the stage with 7 cities and 4 universities from across the Nordics, presenting to a crowd of over 140 attendees.
A highlight of the event was the presentation of the report summary, created by NAVA (Nordic Asian Venture Alliance) with JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization), on current Japanese investment activity in Nordic countries. A great finding to hear was that Finland has shown to be most consistently significant investment choice for the Japanese VCs investing into companies or VC funds in the New Nordics between 2013-2024.
The full report will be soon available for public, so follow them on LinkedIn.
We wrapped up the day at the Tokyo Venture Capital Hub, where we met with local investors and explored potential future collaborations, including some exciting leads for Polar Bear Pitching 2026.
Day 4: SusHi Tech Tokyo Opens
At SusHi Tech Tokyo, I had the chance to present Oulu’s Smart City initiatives at the Kiraboshi Bank Group booth and existing cooperation between Oulu and Japan. Great examples of those are Oulu TestBed and MoU between Oulu University and University of Tokyo on 6G technology: Finland and Japan agree on 6G technology cooperation | University of Oulu
Read more about Smart City Oulu here: Smart City Oulu
It was also a joy to reconnect with old friends and partners from JETRO, Startup Hokkaido and Sendai City, exchanging updates and ideas for future cooperation. The latter has been especially worm as Oulu and Sendai have recently renewed agreement between the cities: The 20-year cooperation between the city of Oulu and Japan’s Sendai will continue until 2030 | City of Oulu
Day 5: Wrapping Up with Old Friends and New Ideas
On our final day, we visited the Japan Area Stage, where we gained valuable insights into the country’s diverse regional startup ecosystems. One of Japan’s key strengths lies in how its regions specialize in industries reflecting their unique assets. Which is why it’s worth exploring these regional hubs based on your sector. Tokyo stands is a powerhouse for technology, finance, and digital innovation; Osaka is a leading centre for life sciences, and health tech; and Hokkaido for example focuses on FoodTech, AgriTech, and sustainable innovation.
A big discovery from this Japan Area Stage was also the Black Box newsletter, aimed at bringing all the information about the Japanese ecosystem and soft-landing services in English: blackboxjp.com.
We ended the trip at the BIRTH Lab co-working space, catching up with our friends and organizers of Polar Bear Pitching Satellite Event in Tokyo from Takagi Building Co. Ltd., CEO Hidekuni Takagi, Yuta Aoki (also alumni for Polar Bear Pitching 2019), Tatsuya Kondo, and Dai Horikawa. We hope to establish a long-term cooperation making BIRTH Lab the leading organizer of Polar Bear Pitching in Japan.
Final Reflections
While Japan is a challenging market for foreign startups, but what I saw on the ground was huge network of regional and government programs as well as private player ready to provide structured support for international companies. If you approach it with open mind, commitment, and respect for how trust is built in Japan, your will be rewarded with immense loyalty and often faster-than-expected growth.
Massive thanks to everyone who made this journey so impactful, especially Nordic Innovation House, our hosts in Osaka and Tokyo, and the many new friends and partners we met along the way. Looking forward to seeing many of you again in Oulu or Japan soon!
