San Francisco-based mobile payment startup Square started swiping credit cards in Japan two months ago. Bloom Energy Corp. is about to start selling its power-generating Bloom Boxes in Japan.
Advocates of U.S.-Japan business ties are hoping to build on these relatively isolated but promising expansions by fostering more startup activity. That's both in the form of home-grown Japanese entrepreneurship and by encouraging more American startups to jump into the market.
The Japanese startup cheerleaders include some serious Silicon Valley venture capital muscle.
?The Japanese economy has been flat for a very long time,? said Draper Fisher Jurvetson co-founder Tim Draper at the 2013 Japan Innovation Awards held Friday by the Japan Society of Northern California and Stanford?s U.S. Asia Technology Management Center at Stanford University. ?Now is the time for the entrepreneurs to soar.?
Japan?s economy remains sluggish, especially compared to neighboring China?s recent explosive growth, with even optimistic outlooks for Japan forecasting decades more of GDP stagnation. But on top of Bloom Energy and Square, incubators have started popping up in tech-savvy Japanese cities, according to University of Pennsylvania research.
Draper himself has also helped establish the Draper Nexus venture capital firm, with offices in Silicon Valley and Tokyo dedicated to funding Japanese entrepreneurs. The firm is part of DFJ?s international network of independent venture firms.
For Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar, whose company was honored with an award at the event Friday, the big Bloom opening in Japan came just last week.
Lauren Hepler covers economic development, sports, and hospitality for the Silicon Valley Business Journal. She can be reached at 408.299.1820
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bizj_sanjose/~3/GS7aAL0Abcw/tim-draper-bloom-energys-sridhar.html
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