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Japan is trending again. What do top US investors and innovators know that you should?
The Japan paradox
Japan has always been a paradox for outsiders. On the one hand it has a reputation for innovation with pioneering preeminence in hardware, consumer electronics and semiconductors, as well leading SaaS adoption in the APAC region.
On the other, there’s a traditionalism, isolationism and a resistance to technological disruption that has baffled or even deterred western champions of free-market innovation.
For some time the latter version of Japan has appeared to be in the ascendant. And yet scattered indicators suggest a different story is already unfolding.
Weak signals, strong indicators of change
Such “weak signals”from some of the world’s most influential and innovative players reflect a renewed interest in the country, and a new spirit of openness and determination from Japan itself. The first part of 2024 looks set to mark a turning point for Japan and for global sentiment about its future.
Warren Buffet, who has been investing steadily in Japan for the last few years, recently increased his holdings in Japanese trading houses, and expressed his belief that Japanese stocks are still undervalued. As the Japanese market is currently trading at a 34-year high, this is a massive vote of confidence in its future.
In April, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited his US counterpartto discuss collaboration and investment in “critical and emerging technology”, including AI. Japan is already the direct investor in the USA, and this would clearly signal a two-way exchange of innovation and investment.
Open to AI
Microsoft’s plans to invest “ $2.9 billion to increase its cloud computing and AI infrastructure in Japan, and open its first Microsoft Research Asia lab in the country”.
But it’s not just the institutional giants of US finance and technology that are blazing a trail Eastwards. OpenAI’s choice of Tokyo for its first office outside the English-speaking world, puts Japan firmly on the map for US-fueled expansion for this transformative technology.
Putting aside OpenAI’s own motives for this move (Japan is the G7 chair on generative-AI, so it makes sense to be up close to the policy formers), this development appears to conclusively challenge Japan’s reputation as isolated and protectionist.
Yet it’s not quite that simplistic. Historically, the outside innovations that have been embraced by Japan have been those that can complement rather than disrupt the existing ecosystem. While the innovations that Japan has pioneered are those that reflect or serve Japanese values and cultural norms.
We see both at work in OpenAI’s move, and Japan’s high-level encouragement.
Japan is the world’s leader in humanoid robotics, promoting the positive image of the machine as humanity’s friendly helper in familiar domestic contexts, in contrast to the more dystopian fantasies of the west. Humanoid hardware now meets its counterpart and complement in the software solution making the biggest advances in normalizing adoption of everyday artificial companions for the world’s digital citizens.
Responding to the call?
The US has taken the lead, AI has once more dominated the headlines, but that’s not the entire story. Nor should it be.
Just a month ago VivaTech named Japan the Most Innovative Country of 2024, recognising the government’s investment of $72.4 billion in nurturing innovative companies, as well as Tokyo’s bid to become: “the world’s most startup-friendly city”. While almost simultaneously Eurazeo announced its opening of a Tokyo office, to consolidate its Asian operations. .
Taken together, these “weak signals” appear to point to a renascent country open to innovation.
What could this mean for European startups getting ready to scale?
Should Japan now feature on your priority list for global growth?
To discover more about what Japan offers and demands for European tech read FastTrack’s Spotlight on Japanfrom our Asia Next series.
Strategic partnership between Hakudo and Botify!
Hakudo and Botify announced a strategic partnership on April 7th 2023
Very pleased to announce the partnership between Hakuhodo and Botify to support domestic and international Clients in Japan on Organic search, which is becoming the preferred channel by marketers in terms of profitability and sustainability.
Join Botify at AdWeek Asia Tokyo 2023 to understand and make friends with search engine bots!
Join Botify at AdWeek Asia Tokyo on Tuesday, June 6th at 16:35-17:10 (Expo Floor)
Making Friends with the Bots: Being Found in the Era of Tech Disruption
Okutani-san, a seasoned Omni-Channel and Marketing Specialist from Botify, will be sharing valuable insights on how businesses can be discovered through digital channels in 2023.
Through his talk, Okutani-san aims to equip his audience with the necessary knowledge and tools to improve their search engine optimization and effectively reach their target audience.
It’s a must-attend session for businesses who want to stay ahead in the game and secure their digital presence in the years to come.

FastTrack is now Proudly B Corp
FastTrack co-founders, Alexandre Olmedo and Ivan Bernard-Brunel share what this means to them personally.
FastTrack turned ten this year. Our anniversary is marked by another important milestone for the business – gaining #BCorp Certification.
B Corp is a global movement started in 2006 to change business from within. By balancing profit with purpose it seeks to make business a force for good in the world. Patagonia, The Body Shop, Ben & Jerry’s, innocent drinks, The Guardian and WeTransfer are all #BCorp companies, B Lab. And now so is FastTrack.
Accreditation involves the voluntary auditing of our impact in terms of our people, our customers, our communities, our governance and the environment. It’s extremely rigorous and a lot of work for a small company, but it’s important to us and many like us. Why?
The journey to where we are today started a long time before we had even heard of B Corp. When we founded FastTrack we wanted to create a new type of company, founded on greater equity and inclusion for those involved. We’d been operating in the VC, Private Equity and Start Up worlds, and saw how value wasn’t as fairly distributed as it might be. From our first Joint Ventures, we put alignment through shared equity as a driver for business performance.
This is still core to our model, and over the years we’ve explored ways to build on it. We’ve elaborated ways to make employee empowerment and professional development central to team-building in the companies and cultures we establish in Asia Pacific. This emphasis explains why our strongest performance on our first B Corp assessment was for our “workers”, but this is just the start.
B Corp is a journey of continuous improvement, with accreditation encouraging us to ensure our impact expands to all stakeholder groups within the framework. Our new status is really an outward validation of what we’ve been doing since the start, and the encouragement to do it on a bigger scale for more people and greater impact.
As a small company, it’s with our Joint Ventures that we can have the biggest impact, and that’s the next chapter of the FastTrack story. Our focus in our core business as an investor is towards what we call “tech-for-better” companies. In some ways this is an interpretation of the B Corp ethos of continuous improvement across diverse stakeholder groups. Our next Joint Venture may very likely be from the B Corp global community, or on the road to accreditation. The B Corp stamp identifies companies that are prepared to walk the talk in terms of purpose. It’s a great match maker for companies who operate through partnership and want to scale with purpose.
The phrase “Balancing Profit and Purpose” is used a lot when talking about B Corp and Impact Investing more broadly. But the most inspirational companies, like Patagonia – whose visionary leader inspired us with his book Let my People Go Surfing – don’t just balance Purpose and Profit, in a spirit of compromise. They drive Profit FROM Purpose. That’s how business will change from within, and that’s why we want to be part of this paradigm shift.
In just a few years B Corp has grown from a group of inspired activists to savvy, future focused companies. Asia is the new global growth centre. B Corp is also growing as a global movement. We’re really excited to be there at the moment where these two paths align. That’s the road ahead for FastTrack.
Thanks to everyone who helped us get here, from the inspiration of #YvonChouinard #PierreRabhi Thierry PICK to Prisca L. for help gaining our status in Singapore.
Botify Partners with Fast Track to Expand Its Global Footprint in Asia Pacific
Botify Partners with Fast Track to Expand Its Global Footprint in Asia Pacific, Bringing Enterprise Organic Search Technology to a Fast-Growing Market
Through a strategic partnership with Fast Track, Botify is well-positioned to transform how Asian brands leverage organic search to drive online revenue in a post-Covid era.
SINGAPORE, September 28, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — Botify Partners with Fast Track to Expand Its Global Footprint in Asia Pacific, Bringing Enterprise Organic Search Technology to a Fast-Growing Market
Through a strategic partnership with Fast Track, Botify is well-positioned to transform how Asian brands leverage organic search to drive online revenue in a post-Covid era.
Botify, the leading enterprise software company for performance-driven organic search, today announced its expansion into Asia Pacific through a joint venture with Fast Track, the accelerator for innovative European scaleup in APAC.
Botify initiated its partnership with Fast Track in late 2019 when they sought to better serve and accelerate growth with a handful of existing clients in Asia. Following a positive response and early success, the two companies decided to solidify the partnership through a joint venture and fully establish Botify’s operations in the region, starting with Singapore, followed by Australia and Japan.
In 2020, Asia Pacific was the largest region in the global search engine optimization services market, accounting for 33%, while the market for cloud technology in Asia is expected to grow to $60 billion in 2023, according to Boston Consulting Group. This strategic partnership will enable Botify to scale its operations and meet this demand, specifically in e-commerce. It is the next chapter in the region’s digital transformation as a growing number of Asian companies seek to optimize their websites to drive sustainable revenue.
“With Fast Track’s help, we were able to quickly establish ourselves in APAC, attract high-caliber talent, and begin forging relationships with major brands in the region,” said Adrien Menard, co-founder and CEO of Botify. “The fact that this happened at the pace it did and amidst a global pandemic is not only impressive, but also indicative of the market demand and appetite for reliable technology to drive online traffic and revenue.”
“Asia has shown an ability and appetite to leapfrog the West in creating and adopting new technologies. And with Botify, it feels like the right place at the right time with a solution that is set to accelerate e-commerce by revolutionizing organic search,” said Alexandre Olmedo, Co-founder at Fast Track. “Fast Track is thrilled to partner with Botify at this exciting time. We genuinely feel they are ‘Asia-ready,’ understand the opportunity ahead of them, and have put the necessary foundation and strategy in place to make the most of what Asia uniquely offers,” added Ivan Bernard-Brunel, Fast Track co-founder.
About Fast Track
Fast Track was founded in 2013 to help ambitious and purpose-driven scaleups thrive in Asia. Acting as a bridge between Europe and Asia Pacific, we build deeply connected partnerships with like-minded founders seeking accelerated growth in the new continent. Those who also believe performance should be driven by purpose, and value gained through values shared. We are honoured to have partnered with outstanding teams at Unruly (now part of NewsCorp), StickyAds (now Comcast/FreeWheel), Clicktale (ContentSquare), SUBLIME, and MOBKOI (part of You&MrJones).
About Botify
Botify is an enterprise software company that helps brands turn organic search into an efficient, measurable, and sustainable channel for both traffic and revenue growth. Powered by a unique unified data model, prescriptive insights, and automated processes, Botify delivers an end-to-end SEO management solution that enables customers to unlock the true growth potential of their website.
Botify is used by 500+ leading global companies across industries including e-commerce, travel, media & publishing, classifieds, and more, including Expedia, Macy’s Farfetch, Marriott, L’Oréal, Crate & Barrel, Conde Nast, Groupon, Github, Carvana, FNAC Darty, and The New York Times. Botify also partners with leading technology and services companies such as Salesforce Commerce Cloud, WordPress VIP, Google Cloud, Microsoft Bing, Jellyfish, Chameleon Collective, Foresight Digital, Contentsquare, and iPullRank.
Botify is a fast-growing, VC-backed, SaaS company with $82M in funding and offices in New York, Seattle, Paris, London, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney.
Fast Track has bolstered its advisory team in Australia & New Zealand securing Rebecca Tos as senior advisor
Tos, who won the B&T 2016 Women in Media Awards award for marketing and the highly acclaimed Woman of the Year award, takes on the new role in the Australian and New Zealand market as Fast-Track expands its Asian ventures locally.
She will work closely with the Fast-Track team of partners and advisors to accelerate the growth of its existing ventures in Australia, while also advising on its go-to-market strategy of its new tech venture, set to launch in Q2 2021.
Fast-Track helps companies accelerate their digital transformation by “curating” innovative and market leading scaleups and investing in local resources to deploy their respective solutions. With a track record in ad-tech and mar-tech, Fast-Track has partnered with European companies to launch and scale their activities across Asia.
Fast-Track co-founder Ivan Bernard-Brunel said Tos’ appointment is timely as it expands further into the Australian market.
“We are very fortunate to have Rebecca join us as Advisor in the region. As Fast-Track is committed to expand in ANZ, her market insights will help us provide clients with innovative solutions from global scaleups.”
Fellow Fast-Track co-founder Alex Olmedo added: “We are excited to onboard Rebecca to accelerate Fast-Track’s impact in Australia and recruit the best talent for our joint-ventures’’.
Tos brings more than 20 years of experience launching and leading innovative offerings in the Australian marketplace. In her previous roles as managing director of Merkle, CEO of Columbus and general manager of Reprise, she was responsible for shaping the vision, strategy and delivery of relevant expertise and products to solve client problems.
More recently, Tos launched her boutique consulting practice, Rebecca Tos Consulting, in June 2020 amidst the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her practice scaled quickly offering advisory, consulting and coaching services to investors, founders and executives across a range of growth sectors, predominantly SaaS technology, service based industries and e-commerce.
“I’m truly excited to be working with the Fast-Track team who are ethically focused on purpose-based ventures in the tech space,” Tos said.
“I was seeking partners whose core fabric was about impact both socially & environmentally – and Fast-Track shares those values in spades. This is an exciting opportunity to help shape the Australian footprint with a number of scale ups set to bring great value for Australian brands”.
Fast-Track was founded in 2013 with the aim to “accelerate innovative and purpose-based” enterprises in Asia.
The company has been helping scaleups in Asia for over eight years with previous successful ventures with Unruly acquired by NewsCorp, StickyAds acquired by Comcast and MOBKOI acquired by You&MrJones.
Fast-Track Appoints 2016 Woman of the Year, Rebecca Tos, To Advise ANZ Ventures
Former CEO of Hearst Fujingaho Co., Ltd., Yves Bougon, has been appointed as Senior Advisor of MOBKOI JAPAN Co., Ltd. In addition, Philip Tabet, the representative of the Asian region, is resident in Tokyo
MOBKOI JAPAN Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo Management Director Philip Tabet, hereinafter “MOBKOI”), the largest premium mobile advertising company affiliated with the world’s leading luxury brands, announces future steps in business strategy , Management reorganizes its Japanese branch to further accelerate commercial activities and services in Japan, Asia’s most important market.
Yves Bougon is appointed Senior Advisor to MOBKOI Asia. He has previously served as CEO of Condé Nast France and CEO of Hearst Women’s Pictorial Company from 2006 to 2018, supporting the company’s team and Philip Tabet with his expertise in the Japanese market and deep knowledge of the publishing industry. Become.
In doing so, MOBKOI APAC Managing Director Philip Tabet will move from Hong Kong to Tokyo to oversee the operations of the Japan branch and the operations of Asia as a whole.
Since 2018, Philip Tabet has established multiple markets in Asia for Mobkoi, opening branch offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Tokyo and Seoul. Philip Tabet wants to accelerate its presence in Japan by leveraging MOBKOI’s global mobile advertising expertise and implementing personalized, customer-centric solutions.
Former Managing Director of MOBKOI Japan, Ikkei Arai will support Philip Tabet and Yves Bougon while taking a more active role in developing stronger partnerships with domestic publisher networks. With his abundant marketing expertise in Japan and ability to build long-term customer relationships, Ikkei Arai can be said to be the right person to support MOBKOI as a new solution director in the next growth period of our company.
An important element of MOBKOI’s business expansion in Japan and Asia is the Tokyo-based Brand Tech Creative Studio, which is run by Miki Kimura as the creative studio director. This will be the first studio outside of the London headquarters to extend the creative, bold and original experience on mobile with cutting-edge technologies like augmented reality and e-commerce solutions for brands such as Dior, Burberry and ASICS. Work on.
Quentin Le Pape, CEO and co-founder of MOBKOI, said, “Japan has been a part of us ever since we came up with the name MOBKOI. We invented the art of polite advertising and are very pleased to expand our business with the support of Yves Bougon and Philip Tabet’s activities in Tokyo! ”
Philip Tabet said, “We want to create customer-centric solutions tailored to Japan’s sophisticated market, MOBKOI’s international expertise and custom approach to media buying, and my over 15 years experience. ”
Yves Bougon commented: “I am delighted to be part of MOBKOI in Asia and looking forward to work with Philip Tabet and Ikkei Arai to provide innovative solutions to advertisers who are rapidly adopting digital-centric solutions. I want to support the expanding online audience so that publishers can generate revenue. ”
MOBKOI achieves 10% of global revenues in Asia in the first year thanks to Fast Track
MOBKOI achieves 10% of global revenues in Asia in the first year thanks to Fast Track
One year after launching in the APAC region, MOBKOI Asia represents 10% of the company’s sales and employs more than 15 people.
In 2019, the scale-up opened 4 offices: Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney. · Fast-Track has accelerated MOBKOI’s establishment and development in Asia thanks to its network and its perfect knowledge of the market.
Paris, March 3, 2020 – MOBKOI Asia, subsidiary of mobile advertising specialist MOBKOI Ltd, had plenty to celebrate as it reached its one-year anniversary. After rapid development in Europe followed by international expansion into the United States in 2017, supported by the brandtech group You & Mr Jones, MOBKOI decided to turn to tackling the challenges of the Asian market in 2018. In order to break into the market and build up a lasting presence, MOBKOI called on Fast Track, specialised in helping European start-ups scale up in the APAC region. In just one year, the company has enabled the AdTech gem to launch and expand in Asia by becoming a reference for luxury brands in the field of mobile advertising.
A gem of a scale-up with the qualities of an AdTech giant Asia has become a key territory for AdTech companies wishing to grow internationally. Thus, at the end of 2018, MOBKOI seized the opportunity to conquer a new market with high potential.
Launched in London in 2014 by two brothers, Quentin and Guillaume Le Pape, MOBKOI is establishing itself as the specialist in mobile advertising for luxury brands. Now established in Asia, the company wants to restore the reputation of mobile advertising. To achieve this, MOBKOI relies on four fundamental pillars – agility, operational excellence, customer focus and transparency – to offer their customers the best mobile ad placements through innovative, full-screen advertising.
By engaging mobile users through a full-screen advertising format, MOBKOI has generated a new momentum in the world of mobile advertising. Combining creativity and editorial context, the company has been able to provide a format based on quality for brands, publishers and consumers alike. Consumers can browse their applications and mobile sites without any intrusive advertising and decide for themselves, straight away with one tap or swipe, whether or not they want to view it.
The company also offers its clients complete and transparent reporting on the performance of each publisher per campaign. Today, MOBKOI’s client list includes prestigious French, Italian and Swiss luxury brands.
Over the last few years, the AdTech and MarTech ecosystem has grown exponentially for the French companies in Asia as has been seen with Critéo and Neolane. Thanks to the support of Fast Track, MOBKOI Asia was able to open 4 new offices – Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney – in just one year. MOBKOI Asia already has more than 15 employees and represents 10% of the company’s turnover.
In Asia, MOBKOI enjoys three major advantages: an 80% mobile market, the sound expertise of the French in the luxury sector and the company’s ability to produce tailor-made advertising campaigns.
In 2019, MOBKOI Asia even received an award in the “Next Big Thing” category at the GroupM Media Awards in Singapore, less than a year after their launch in the region. The scale-up has become the No. 1 reference in full-screen mobile advertising, earning the trust of more than 400 premium and luxury brands worldwide.
“We chose Fast Track to scale-up our business in Asia because we have the same DNA. We are perfectly aligned on the idea of growing our business for the long term in this booming market. And our current success here cements our intention to continue hand in hand with Fast-Track,” explained Quentin Le Pape, CEO of MOBKOI.
“MOBKOI is a company that has experienced strong growth, first in Europe and then in the United States. It is one of the gems of the AdTech world which have been profitable since their beginning and is in line with our values – humility, confidence, pushing yourself – which made us sure that we would be able to successfully support them in a market which is challenging and heterogeneous but which offers great opportunities,” said Alexandre Olmedo, co-founder and Managing Partner of Fast Track.
Asia, the next opportunity for the French Next40 scaleups
Dès qu’un·e entrepreneur·e français·e envisage d’étendre son activité vers de nouveaux horizons, son regard se porte presque automatiquement vers l’Ouest. Débouchés, financement, culture… tout est réuni, en effet, pour faire de l’Amérique la destination privilégiée d’une expansion extra-européenne. Mais ce tropisme atlantique est trop souvent exclusif et les plus belles startups françaises ont tendance à négliger les marchés asiatiques, pourtant aussi riches encore de promesses.
Dans une récente étude, le McKinsey Global Institute a mis en évidence la vitesse et l’importance du déplacement du centre de gravité planétaire vers l’Asie. De l’Inde à l’Australie, la région représente désormais près du tiers des échanges commerciaux mondiaux contre environ un quart il y a dix ans. En 2040, elle devrait générer plus de 50 % du PIB et 40 % de la consommation mondiale. Pour les auteurs, si le XIXe siècle était européen et le XXe américain, il ne fait aucun doute que le XXIe sera asiatique. Et qu’aucune réussite économique n’est donc possible sans passer par l’Orient.
Des opportunités pour les entreprises technologiques françaises
Pour les entreprises technologiques françaises, la destination offre d’autant plus d’opportunités que le territoire est vaste et qu’il est encore largement à conquérir. En Chine, en Inde, en Indonésie, émerge une classe moyenne friande d’innovation et avide de consommation. Des secteurs comme le luxe, l’éducation et les technologies marketing apparaissent particulièrement propices car les entreprises françaises peuvent s’appuyer sur un certain savoir-faire. C’est aussi un environnement extrêmement dynamique et innovant où s’inventent les usages et les pratiques appelées à se mondialiser. Les capter à la source peut donner un temps d’avance, y compris sur d’autres marchés.
Des conditions encore imparfaites…
Pour se lancer à l’international, les startups cherchent en général à réunir cinq éléments : un marché porteur d’une taille adaptée à leur activité, des compétences locales, des sources de financement, des perspectives de sortie et des exemples de réussite aussi rassurants pour elles que pour leurs investisseurs. Or, aux États-Unis, ces cinq éléments abondent : vaste marché homogène, talents à foison, investisseurs solides et expérimentés, acquéreurs potentiels d’envergure et nombreux expatriés auréolés de succès fulgurants.
En Asie, en revanche, ces conditions peinent encore à se mettre en place. Certes, le marché est immense mais il est aussi fragmenté culturellement que l’Europe. Les investisseurs locaux commencent tout juste à s’intéresser aux pépites occidentales. De grands groupes, comme les BATX, peuvent offrir des possibilités de sortie mais, là encore, le mouvement est récent. Et les réussites françaises sont encore rares. Citons le cas de Lazada, un site de e-commerce de Singapour, racheté par Alibaba pour plusieurs milliards de dollars et dirigé à l’origine par Maximilien Bittner et, aujourd’hui, par un Français, Pierre Poignant. Autre acquisition d’Alibaba, Glamour Sales (mei.com) est elle aussi dirigée par un Français, Thibault Villet.
… mais une prise de conscience…
Dans ce contexte, on peut comprendre que les entrepreneurs privilégient encore l’Amérique, qui semble plus propice à la réussite. Néanmoins, on voit aujourd’hui apparaître à la tête des startups françaises une nouvelle génération plus internationale, voire justement stimulée par ce défi asiatique que peu osent encore relever. Ces jeunes dirigeants ont souvent pris conscience que l’accessibilité de surface du marché américain cachait en réalité une concurrence féroce alors que la complexité apparente de l’Asie constituait une barrière à l’entrée très favorable à ceux qui savent les premiers la franchir. Ils trouvent aussi leur inspiration non plus nécessairement dans des succès 100% tricolores, mais dans de parcours individuels de personnes qui leur ressemblent et qui s’épanouissent dans des organisations de plus en plus internationales.
… et des premiers pas encourageants
Sous leur impulsion, quelques membres du Next40 et leurs investisseurs ont déjà franchi le pas, souvent avec des stratégies de pionniers, proches de ce que l’on pouvait observer aux États-Unis il y a une vingtaine d’années. C’est le cas de Vestiaire Collective, dont l’une des fondatrices, Fanny Moizant, s’est expatriée à Hong Kong pour y créer l’activité. Les fondateurs et investisseurs ont recruté Maximilien Bittner, lequel, venu à Paris de Singapour, est désormais CEO de l’entreprise et y apportera sans nul doute toute son expérience des innovations asiatiques dans le secteur des plateformes e-commerce.
Lorsque l’on étudie l’origine des investisseurs des entreprises du Next40, on constate que la majorité d’entre elles ont des Américains à leur capital. En revanche, elles ne sont que cinq – mais c’est un début – à avoir attiré des investisseurs Asiatiques : Alan, Devialet, Ledger, Sigfox et Ÿnsect. Sans nul doute à l’incitation bienveillante de ces actionnaires, ces cinq là ont aussi entrepris de déployer leurs activités en Asie.
Le frémissement d’un momentum asiatique
À n’en pas douter, ces premiers de cordée entraîneront à leur suite d’autres startups hexagonales dans cette longue et nécessaire marche vers l’Asie. La France est aujourd’hui la première destination européenne des investissements internationaux. Porté par la French Tech, l’écosystème français bénéficie désormais d’une visibilité et d’une reconnaissance mondiale, que la création du Next40 renforce encore en focalisant les regards sur ses plus belles pépites. De salons en roadshows, les échanges se multiplient. Les investisseurs et les entreprises asiatiques apprennent à connaître les jeunes pousses françaises, qui, elles-mêmes, testent l’appétence des marchés asiatiques pour leur activité. Ces initiatives magnifient aussi des vertus reconnues aux Français – la créativité, la culture, la qualité des formations – en les plaçant dans le contexte porteur de l’économie numérique. Enfin, elles rassurent les investisseurs sur la volonté des pouvoirs publics d’accompagner l’expansion de ces entreprises.
Bref, les choses se mettent en place et l’on sent poindre un momentum asiatique pour les startups et les scaleups françaises. La porte de l’Orient s’entrouvre. Espérons que nos entrepreneur·e·s soient nombreux et nombreuses à avoir l’audace de s’y engouffrer.
Alexandre Olmedo est cofondateur et co-Managing Partner chez Fast-Track
L’Asie, Eldorado À Apprivoiser Pour La Tech Française
Depuis 14 ans, Fast-Track s’est positionné comme un accélérateur de business des sociétés tech françaises en Asie. Ses fondateurs, Ivan Bernard-Brunel et Alexandre Olmedo, expliquent en quoi la Chine est un “eldorado” pas si simple à pénétrer pour la FrenchTech.
Entreprises françaises en Asie-Pacifique : les recettes du succès
Problématique essentielle des entreprises françaises, l’implantation à l’étranger est un défi difficile à relever. Fast-Track, à mi-chemin entre une structure d’investissement et un incubateur, aide les sociétés à pénétrer le marché Asie-Pacifique. Rencontre avec Ivan Bernard-Brunel et Alexandre Omedo, les fondateurs de la structure.
Botify et OpenClassrooms iront en Asie avec Denstu et Fast-Track
Les deux start-up ont remporté le roadshow organisé par le leader japonais de la publicité. Denstu leur donnera une légitimité sur un marché important mais encore fermé.
« Au Japon, il faut vraiment adapter son produit aux différences culturelles »
Responsable de l’innovation au sein du groupe japonais Denstu, Keigo Aoki pense que les start-up françaises ont un rôle à jouer dans la transformation numérique du pays. Il a coorganisé un roadshow avec Fast-Track, et sélectionné deux jeunes pousses, OpenClassrooms et Botify, à qui il offrira un accès privilégié au marché japonais.
Fast-Track aide les scale-up à se développer en Asie-Pacifique
La société Fast-Track propose aux start-up de créer des filiales asiatiques sur le modèle de coentreprises. Elle en a déjà accompagné huit.
L’Asie-Pacifique, un marché ignoré par la French Tech?
Actuellement, les projecteurs sont braqués sur le Japon, théâtre de la première Coupe du monde de rugby de l’histoire en Asie. Ils le seront encore davantage en 2020 à l’occasion des Jeux Olympiques de Tokyo. Pour Fast-Track, accélérateur qui aide les start-up européennes à prendre leur envol en Asie-Pacifique, la tenue de ces deux événements planétaires en territoire nippon constitue le cadre idéal pour attirer l’attention de l’écosystème technologique français et européen sur les opportunités business offertes par le Japon.
Fast-Track, un accélérateur pour les sociétés technologiques européennes qui visent l’Asie-Pacifique
La vie des startups racontée par un entrepreneur, par Christophe Jakubyszyn. A voir ou écouter du lundi au vendredi dans la matinale de BFM Business.
Japon et Australie, les oubliés de l’internationalisation des start-up
Dans l’esprit des entrepreneurs, la Chine est souvent synonyme d’Asie, et vice-versa. Pourtant, malgré l’attrait de son énorme marché, la Chine demeure une destination excessivement complexe où même les plus grands se sont cassés les dents. Injustement négligés, d’autres pays de la région Asie-Pacifique offrent de vraies opportunités à qui se donne les moyens de les saisir. C’est le cas de l’Australie et du Japon.
Dentsu et Fast-Track sont à la recherche d’une pépite européenne pour l’implanter au Japon
Scaleups françaises, le Japon vous tend les bras ! Fast-Track, l’accélérateur de startups européennes en Asie, annonce un partenariat exclusif avec Dentsu, la plus grande agence de publicité au monde, née au Japon, pour sourcer les entreprises les plus innovantes du vieux continent et surtout de l’Hexagone.
Fast-Track & Dentsu are looking for Europe’s most innovative tech startups seeking to gain a foothold in Japan
Dentsu, the world’s largest advertising agency brand, with a 117-year track record of innovative solutions. It is searching for the latest technological innovations to help its customers and partners develop and drive their business. Fast Track has developed a trusted relationship with Dentsu over the last 10 years. We invite France’s top startups in in data, EduTech, content marketing, e-commerce and blockchain to apply to a partnership with Dentsu. Companies must be generating between €20m and €50m of revenues to apply.
S’implanter en Asie, entre opportunités et difficultés
« Les Français peuvent apporter de vrais critères différenciant sur le marché asiatique », estiment Ivan Bernard-Brunel et Alexandre Olmedo, les cofondateurs de Fast-Track, un accélérateur qui accompagne l’implantation de startups européennes en Asie. « Il reste des niches vierges, notamment sur de l’innovation pure. Il ne faut pas croire que les Asiatiques ont déjà tout vu », assurent les deux spécialistes du marché qui citent les secteurs du luxe, de la publicité, du marketing, de l’éducation parmi ceux où les occidentaux ont encore des choses à apporter.