Leave a Nest, in collaboration with Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, is launching an exciting new project aimed at discovering and supporting innovative startups in Southeast Asia who are interested in expanding their businesses into Japan or exploring cross-border collaborations.

Ibaraki prefecture is located a little away to the northeast of Tokyo. It is well known not only as a production hub of many globally-known manufacturers, such as Fujifilm, Hitachi, Canon, etc. but also many research institutes such as JAXA, Tsukuba University, one of the leading universities in research and innovation.

This initiative is designed to create meaningful connections between startups in countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and so on—with key stakeholders, government bodies, and potential business partners in Ibaraki Prefecture, one of Japan’s fastest-growing regions for science, technology, and innovation.

Whether you’re looking to enter the Japanese market, form strategic alliances, or simply explore what Japan has to offer, this seminar is the perfect starting point.

Seminar Details

Date : 2 June 2025

Time : 13:00-14:00 (Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore time)

Venue: Online (Google Meet link will be provided upon registration)

Fee: Free of charge

 

How to register will be announced soon.

If you wish to attend the seminar, please contact us here : [email protected]

 

Agendas :

– 13:00-13:05 : Opening

– 13:05-13:25 : Invitation to Japan / Project Background

– 13:25-13:40 : Guest Talk (Ms.Gillian, CEO of AniTech)

– 13:40-13:50 : Ibaraki’s Attractiveness

– 13:50-14:00 : Q&A / Closing

 

Speakers

Dr. Yuko Ueno received her Ph.D in Ocean microbiology and joined Leave a Nest in 2013. She has experience in creating new projects by encouraging collaboration between academia and industry as a Science Bridge Communicator. With the experience of tech-startup accelerator, she is bridging Japanese tech startups to global tech-startup platforms to interconnect the technology and social issues.. Dr. Yuko also holds the position of Director of Leave a Nest Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Leave a Nest Philippines, Inc. and Leave a Nest Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Ms. Gillian Santos is the CEO & Co-founder of Ahihan Technologies, Inc. (also known as AniTech), an Agritech startup that offers hardware, software and data as a service to standardize agribusiness operations in order to bring tech-enabled agriculture to the people. Her team won the Grand Award at TECH PLANTER in the Philippines 2021 and received early-stage funding from Leave a Nest Capital. Last year, they were matched with Koibuchi Gakuen Agriculture Nutrition Specialist School through a project and are now beginning joint research.

Who should join?

– Startups based in Southeast Asia

– Startups who are conducting research and development in any field.

– Teams with a strong motivation to explore the Japanese market

– Founders who are interested in partnering with Japanese organizations, municipalities, or companies

Why join?

– Discover real opportunities to collaborate with a forward-thinking Japanese region

– Gain insights into local innovation ecosystems and R&D base establishment support

– Business development and joint R&D with Japanese corporate, academia, and government stakeholders

– Chances to apply grant for POC

 

If you have any question, please contact [email protected]