I Attended Startup Lady’s Go Global Hub #3, Here’s What I Saw
🎯 Takeaway
The keys to sustainable startup investment are the cohesion of the investor community, capital, and timing.
For successful startup development, entrepreneurs are encouraged to maintain strong manufacturing capabilities and communicate their product value clearly and precisely, while investors should leverage their capital and networks to help boost the economy.
It is also essential to establish bridges between the two sides. Good examples include networking events and third-party organisations acting as business partners.
These days, AI-driven optimisation is a thriving trend among startups. We enjoyed participants from the MedTech, EdTech, AdTech, HealthTech, and FinTech sectors.
There are currently two types of global market entry taking place around Japan: from Japan to the international market (globalisation), and from overseas into Japan (localisation). For successful market entry, it is crucial to develop a tailored entry and partnership strategy for each target.
📓 Intro
Hello everyone!
This blog is a brief report of Go Global Hub #3: Global Connector Salon — a startup networking event connecting entrepreneurs and investors, supported by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The third salon was held on 10 November in Shibuya, Tokyo.
If you’d like to dive into the details, please visit the official website via this link.
We at Build Plus are proud to be one of the supporting partners of this gathering.
Let’s peek inside! :)
🗣️ Lessons from the Panel Discussion
We had 3 guest speakers to get a glimpse of the field prospect.
Here are our honourable guests and the agenda for the night.
Guest Speakers
Philippe Roche（Inovexus SAS）: Inventor Communist Perspective
Naohiro Shimoto（SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS INC.）: Investor Company Perspective
Richard Johns（Vega Project K.K.）: Local Partnership Perspective
Yuko Endo（Mediagene Inc.）(the Discussion Moderator)
Agenda for the Night
How could we achieve sustainable, scalable and diverse startup investment?
What would be the strategy you’d adapt as a year span startup supporting solution?
What’s the right moment for global market entry?
What’s the value we can represent more than capitals?
Messages for the aspirating entrepreneurs?
The night brought us informative insights from each perspective the attendees stood for.
Here we’ll screen the opinions and ideas on each topic.
Agenda 1: How could we achieve sustainable, scalable and diverse startup investment?
Generally speaking, we had two key ideas from both the business and investor perspectives.
Investors’ Side:
The key factors for sustaining the startup ecosystem are AI-driven optimisation, networking among investors, and an effective incentive system. The alignment of these elements enables the right timing for recurring and growth-focused funding cycles.Entrepreneurs’ Side:
A panoramic view is essential for building sustainable business development. This means adopting a tailored approach for each investor. There have been cases where market entry failed due to poor alignment with targets — be sure to analyse the investor profile, as well as the local and industry markets you are targeting. What worked before may not necessarily work again — the old golden method may not spark success next time.
Agenda 2: What would be the strategy you’d adapt as a year span start up supporting solution?
The speakers shared a strong consensus on the importance of “outreach and bonding opportunities between entrepreneurs and investors.” Examples included social events and shared co-working spaces that help stimulate meaningful communication between the two sides.
For those down to the idea, SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS INC. has already launched the shared working space for you. This is a mutual communication hub. If you like to sign up, please visit the official Website from here “TUNNEL TOKYO”.
Additionally, the company is preparing further support initiatives, with in-house resources and systems currently being arranged. Please stay tuned for future updates.
Agenda 3 : What’s the right moment for global market entry?
Here, we also had a variety of ideas as follows:
Business Partner Side:
Beyond a strong business model and stable capital flow, who you work with is crucial. Insightful and experienced partners in finance and technology can serve as the cornerstone before expanding across borders.Entrepreneur’s Side:
There is no perfect timing—it is simply a byproduct of the quality and competency of your product. This also becomes a source of business confidence. Just focus on laying a strong foundation, step by step.
Agenda 4 : What’s the value we can represent more than capitals?
Business Strategy Side:
The key is AI. The combination of AI capability and human insight enables continuous business evolution and helps materialise new market entry ahead of your competitors.Customer-Facing Side:
Additional value lies in products and proof from entrepreneurs, as well as the community network from investors. At an investment meeting, success begins with getting both sides on the same page. When product information is shared clearly and sufficiently, its true value may lead to an agreement — not just with the customer, but through their investor community.
This “chemical reaction between value and community response” can trigger a butterfly effect for future business growth.
Agenda 5: Messages for the aspiring entrepreneurs?
We’ll look into messages from our guest here.
Naohiro Shimoto: Don’t forget the openness and readiness for new shifts, and the birds’ eye view to consider how your pitching appears to the target.
Richard Johns: Failure is a successful process. Don’t stop your step in the middle of your way.
Philippe Roche: Phillippe let out astonishing passion and professionalism that night, flying all the way to Japan from Vietnam. He’s both illuminative and amiable. You can check his achievement records and latest business activities from here.
This is from the lessons from the 3 professionals that day. What do you think?
For those of you who’d like to build a brand new connection in the startup sector, please consider joining the following meetings. New faces and stimulating discussions will be there for you.
Now, let us go through the startup presentation part.
💡3 minute Pitches
We also had time for standout business introductions from the startup founders.
The main categories of the attendees were as follows:
Sectors:
AI adoption has recently been a major trend in startups. We had participation from the MediTech, EdTech, FinTech, BeautyTech and AdTech sectors, all developing AI-driven optimisation tools and SaaS products.Market Base:
Both Japanese and international startups took part. Of the eight presenters, seven were international, with one Japanese startup.Business Growth Scale:
The companies ranged from very early-stage startups to those already equipped with international market entry experience in the US, Europe, Africa and ASEAN.
The energy, ambition and creativity were clearly visible on stage.
We hope you’ll join us next time and experience it with your own eyes.
🙌 Conclusion
Thank you for coming to the very end of this blog.
The 4th gathering of this event is coming around the middle of December, 2025. Please, check the official Website for more information.
I dare hope that this report will lead you to a new page of your professional memories soon.
We release cutting-edge Tech industry and recruitment updates in English and Japanese. Looking forward to seeing you again! 🙂
