August in Fukuoka: Why Fukuoka is Your Global Launchpad with a side of TECHSAUCE

A flavor of Fukuoka at TECHSAUCE

Techsauce Global Summit 2024, held in Bangkok from August 7-9, was a significant event in Southeast Asia’s tech landscape, drawing over 18,000 attendees. This year’s theme, “The World of Tomorrow with AI,” highlighted the transformative role of AI across multiple sectors. The summit focused on five core AI-related areas: growth, societal good, AI-human collaboration, AI in culture, and AI governance.

A major highlight was the debut of Ameca, the world’s most advanced humanoid robot, which engaged the audience with natural communication and emotional expressions. In addition, more than 350 speakers, including tech experts from Google DeepMind and MIT, discussed the integration of AI with human intelligence, aiming for a future where humans and AI collaborate seamlessly.

For the first time ever, Fukuoka City and the Global Business Support team made its inaugural appearance at this esteemed event! From the very start, we fully immersed ourselves in both the official and unofficial side events, eager to connect with the international startup community. This gave us a great opportunity to meet a mix of new faces and reconnect with existing friends, including startups, VCs, and key ecosystem players across Southeast Asia and beyond.

While the summit provided numerous opportunities for business discussions, we also took time to enjoy the local cuisine, diving into Bangkok’s culinary delights. Late-night outings, especially featuring the renowned crab curry and pad thai, created the perfect backdrop for an informal yet productive relationship building opportunity, allowing us to build meaningful relationships over shared meals.

Throughout the event, we proudly marketed Fukuoka as a global startup hub, emphasizing the extensive support the city provides to entrepreneurs, from government-backed programs to collaborative ecosystem resources. We also took the opportunity to promote the upcoming Fukuoka Startup Event in early October, inviting the global community to experience firsthand what Fukuoka has to offer as a dynamic launchpad for startups expanding into Asia.

Our participation at Techsauce not only allowed us to forge new partnerships but also strengthened Fukuoka’s position as a key destination for global innovation.

Matt Bush Interview:A peak into the life of an Entrepreneur

INTERVIEWED on July 17, 2024

Matt Bush is the CEO of Kakugo Digital Co., Ltd. and his business is the video games with blockchain technology. 

QUOTE:

Kakugo Digital creates video games that integrate with society through regional revitalization projects and everyday applications of blockchain technology.

Modern gamers spend significant time and money developing virtual characters and worlds, while losing appreciation for the beautiful world around us all. Yet, they are often left feeling empty, hoping to find a meaningful pursuit that can fill that void.

Kakugo Digital channels the sincere passion of modern gamers to generate sustainable development of the real world communities represented in our games. Our products are bridges between virtual fantasy worlds and the real world. Enjoy the comfort of a traditional pixel-style JRPG adventure, while expanding your in-game world by visiting real-world locations throughout Japan.

Imagine purchasing a digital product that both (1) contributes to the sustainable development of a park or commercial district within Fukuoka while also (2) unlocking that same location in your game world, complete with new quests, characters, and items relevant to that geographic region.

Kakugo Digital also leverages blockchain technology in a way that seamlessly complements users’ daily lives. Owning a Kakugo digital asset in a mobile wallet can instantly unlock discounts at local vendors, reflect your status as a contributor to a regional revitalization project, or offer free access to a local hot spring.

A pixel-style JRPG adventure set in modern Japan, a “digital nomad visa” that unlocks regional discounts and benefits, and recognition of your personal impact on revitalizing society – all connected to your digital wallet.

Given our priority of regional revitalization, Kakugo Digital plans to gradually expand our ecosystem through partnerships with regional governments and brand collaborations. With our “kakugo” spirit, we are excited to reinvigorate regions throughout Japan and around the world.

UNQUOTE:

1. Why did you choose Fukuoka to start a business?

Matt grew up in Chicago, USA and lived in Tokyo for one year working for the brokerage firm after he graduated school.  Matt wants to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle and he found Fukuoka was the best place to satisfy his needs per his quality of life criteria.

Matt found that the population of the young generation has been growing in Fukuoka for the last 5 years. He was encouraged with the Fukuoka local government support/welcoming. Also, he was excited about the current Tenjin big burn project where he found this city had a lot of good potentials in both business and private life to enjoy as the gateway for Asia and Japan.

2. What are the biggest challenges your start-up faced so far?

He found that the biggest challenge was the administration; e.g. incorporating his company, opening its bank account, finding its office place etc. And the biggest challenge for him was the startup visa.

According to him, the previous team of FGN was out of touch for entrepreneurs to support their immigration visa.  They just supported the document translation only but they did not seem to have enough experience for initiating support such as accompanying him to the immigration office and giving him hands-on support to complete his application. So, he experienced it at the immigration office just like the lost-in-translation of the movie. They did not know the timing of a visa renewal and he had a hard time extending his visa.

The second challenge for him was to open a bank account.  At that time, Matt was told that the bank required 5 months business experience in Japan to open a business account vs. 1 month for a private bank account.

It is very difficult to manage a company for the 1st six months without having a business bank account. He strongly suggested that they badly need support for a business bank account set-up.

He added that the above experiences were the previous FGN organization era and he sees more hands-on support beyond this April after the new organization set-up.

What are your current needs?

As previously mentioned in #2, the new FGN team is proactive and responsive which he is pleased with the current team.

For the current business development, Matt mentioned the following supports as his wish list. For this business development, he is looking for a startup business loan and/or the local VC funding support. Local Japanese intern students to help design. Native Japanese staff for the business development and sales. Currently he only has the option to apply for an internship program to Kyushu University.

Summary

Matt’s video game uniqueness is to bring the NFT and blockchain technology services.  It is a very innovative idea using NFT characters to activate access to a game.  Since Japan is the most famous and popular market of manga and animations, it might be an interesting business opportunity if they can develop some games with NFT characters collaborating with some popular Japanese animators.

However, the NFT market seems to be still premature for the majority of users in any digital business. How can he attract potential users to buy a game via NFT as well as its price?  There is a crossing-the-chasm market timing and opportunity for his business success.

There is no I in Fukuoka but there is a U!

Feel free to drop by anytime or shoot us a message. We look forward to hearing from you and supporting you on this exciting and wonderful journey.

Global Business Support

Opening hours:
Everyday 10:00-17:00 (Days closed: New Year’s holidays)

Location:
Fukuoka Growth Next 1F, Global Business Support
2-6-11 Daimyo, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka 810-0041
*The entrance to Fukuoka Growth Next is on the south side of the building. As there is no on-site parking or bicycle parking available, we kindly ask that you utilize nearby parking facilities or bicycle parking areas.

Contact Information:
Tel: 070‐8406-7169
Mail: info@global-fgn.com