Creating an Ecosystem that Connects Shibuya with the World!
For this article, we interviewed Shiho Watabe, Chairperson of Shibuya Startups KK, who participated in our company’s Venture Ecosystem Summit 2025 as a speaker.
(This interview was conducted in November 2025.)
◆ Regarding Venture Ecosystem Summit 2025
Sugihara:
Today, we are interviewing Shiho Watabe, Chairperson of Shibuya Startups KK. Thank you for your time!
I also want to say how much I appreciated you taking the stage with me at Venture Ecosystem Summit 2025 on October 2, 2025. Thanks to you, our joint panel and the event as a whole were a great success. You participated in the main event as well as the second-part networking reception, so I was hoping you could share your honest impressions of that day.
Watabe:
The pleasure was mine, really! The summit was full of energy, and I personally had a lot of fun.
My greatest impression from participating in this event was a sense of family-like unity that was unlike anywhere else. I speak at many events regularly, but it’s rare for me to feel such a warm atmosphere. I was really moved by the sense of solidarity and the hand-crafted feel that transcended the usual organizational boundaries, from seeing legends like Dr. Semmoto and former Ambassador Fujisaki, President Goto’s own family in attendance, and even employees from within D-POPS GROUP acting as event staff and distributing lunch boxes.
Also, a major takeaway for me was being able to directly experience the passion of Japanese entrepreneurs. I normally focus on attracting overseas entrepreneurs, so I don’t have as many opportunities to interact deeply with the domestic Japanese ecosystem. It gave me a fresh jolt and made me think, “There are so many interesting startups in Japan, too!”
Another surprise to me was the diversity of the participants. Even though the summit was held only in Japanese, I bumped into an acquaintance of mine who is a foreign entrepreneur living in Japan, and he exclaimed, “Watabe, why are you in such a Japanese place like this?!”, which made me laugh, ha ha.
Despite being framed as a Venture Ecosystem within Japan, it was actually quite open and rich in diversity. Seeing that, I had the firm realization that the underlying spirit is the same one we’re trying to create at Shibuya Startups.
Sugihara:
That’s exactly right. The fact that it was a hand-crafted event prepared over the course of an entire year by President Goto and our company’s staff, without the use of any external event production, is likely what led to that sense of unity.
Actually, we received many comments from participants saying things like, “Despite her brilliant career, Chairperson Watabe is surprisingly natural and approachable” and “She is so radiant, I admire her”. Many people were drawn to your personality in addition to the content of the discussion. How do you feel about this feedback?
Watabe:
I feel totally honored to hear that. But I also don’t think of myself as anything even close to “radiant”, ha ha.
I might seem that way on the outside, but the truth is, I rush through each day with a sense of desperation, as if I am constantly on the edge of a cliff. It’s more like the other way around: when I see all the entrepreneurs who keep taking on challenges, they look dazzling to me, and sometimes I even feel envious of them.
I believe the main characters of your Venture Ecosystem are the entrepreneurs who are challenging themselves to their very limits. It’s the same in the community we manage.
So, while I am humbled by such gracious personal evaluations of me, I’ll honestly be happier if people simply felt something when seeing my natural self. It reaffirmed my desire to continue supporting the protagonist entrepreneurs from behind the scenes so they can shine their brightest.
Sugihara:
Conversely, as a member of the audience, were there any sessions that inspired you or provided new insights? I saw in another article that you are interested in calligraphy. What did you think of the calligraphy performance at this event?
Watabe:
Having practiced calligraphy myself when I was young, it was deeply emotional. In the modern era, we are surrounded by the internet and technology, and everyone leads busy lives. In such a context, worldviews that place value on slow, methodical actions such as calligraphy, tea ceremony, or Pilates, calm the mind so well that it’s surprising. I felt once again that such quiet moments, in contrast to the speed of digital life, are crucial in this day and age.
Also, looking back on the event as a whole, being able to dialogue with so many people was a great stimulus. An extraordinary benefit for me was seeing entrepreneurs passionately talk about their businesses, coincidentally reuniting with entrepreneurs at the venue, and hearing the stories from leaders who represent Japan, and through those interactions, seeing that there is a next-generation innovation community in Japan.
Sugihara:
Since President Goto himself has a very global perspective, one can see that he invited excellent individuals from among the network he has already cultivated. D-POPS GROUP is seriously considering investing in overseas entrepreneurs in the future, so we can expect this circle to expand even further. Once again, thank you very much for speaking at our summit.
◆ About Shibuya Startups
Sugihara:
Now, I would like to ask what Shibuya Startups does. Could you share with us the kinds of initiatives you undertake?
Watabe:
Shibuya Startups is a public-private startup support organization (accelerator) formed by Shibuya City and leading Japanese corporations. In addition to supporting domestic startups, we attract talented entrepreneurs from overseas to Japan. Along with growth support, we provide assistance with visa applications and opening bank accounts. Currently, over 80% of the founders participating in our organization are from overseas, making it a very international community.
We are pouring our efforts into the discovery of companies that possess technology to solve Japan’s social issues. For example, fields such as age-tech and longevity to address the declining birthrate and aging society, solving labor shortages in the logistics industry. We are also looking at an area where Japan actually has a global advantage: the so-called “Fandom Economy” surrounding anime, video games, and VTubers.
Our distinctive undertaking is that we directly scout talent from all over the world who find these Japanese market characteristics attractive. We provide side-by-side support so they can operate smoothly when they aspire to do business in Japan. We seek them out even before they come to Japan, so that by the time they land, we’ve already established a partner relationship. Now, we are expanding our activities with that kind of idea in mind.
Sugihara:
Is the majority of your support currently focused on startups with bases that are overseas when they enter the Japanese market?
Watabe:
Yes, that is the case for most companies in our community. Some teams set up a branch in Japan, while others decide to move their headquarters to Japan, but many are companies with a global perspective that are already active across multiple locations.
The domain we are particularly focused on supporting is what you could call the “global niche”. Take the anime industry as an example: anime fans exist in every country, but as single communities within those respective countries, they are still considered a small population. However, because those niche groups have a presence around the world, we can combine them to form a massive global-scale market. I believe we can apply the same scheme to the markets adjacent to declining birthrates, aging societies, and elderly care.
In this way, startups that have deep expertise in a specific field yet hold the potential to compete on a larger scale—we prioritize discovering these companies with global niche brilliance and connecting them to the Japanese market.
Sugihara:
Do companies supported by Shibuya Startups actually have to be based within Shibuya City?
Watabe:
No, they don’t…in fact, it doesn’t matter if they’re in another of the 23 Tokyo wards, or even outside of Tokyo entirely.
Originally, even before this company was formed, Shibuya City had a support desk called the Startup Welcome Service which provided a comprehensive one-stop support system, ranging from complicated administrative procedures like obtaining visas to aspects of daily life in Japan. Now, through our organization’s “Shibuya Startup Support”, we are actively working to openly disseminate information regarding startup support.
At our core is the desire to fully support entrepreneurs who come to Shibuya with the ambition of wanting to do business in Japan. While we are using Shibuya as the entrance, we ultimately aim to contribute to the ecosystem of Japan as a whole.
Sugihara:
I see. This is a wonderful project that transcends regions and borders to open a wide door into Japan. By the way, how many startups are you currently supporting?
Watabe:
Currently, we are supporting 52 companies. The lineup is very broad, ranging from age-tech and “creator-tech” to logistics and robotics, but what remains consistent throughout them all is the sense that they hold value precisely because they’re doing business in Japan.
Our direct recruiting methods are focused on areas that lead to solving Japan’s social issues or areas where Japan’s strengths can be utilized. For 7 out of the 52 companies mentioned, our support is also taking the form of capital investment.
◆ Specifics of Support for Startups
Sugihara:
Could you give some specific examples of the sort of support and accompaniment you provide for startups? What kind of experience and knowledge from you and your staff is reflected in that?
Watabe:
Our support is broadly divided into two main aspects.
The first is helping to build the foundation for launching a business in Japan. This includes visa support and providing a base of operations. One example of this is Shibuya Bridge—where we are conducting this interview—which is a coworking space in Shibuya City. We design and operate this community space together with the city government as a place where people are able to interact with supporting companies from Shibuya City and companies participating in the UP program (our accelerator), and attend events where entrepreneurs and supporters can mingle.
Also, opening a bank account can be a real hurdle for overseas entrepreneurs. Under some circumstances, this can take up to nearly a year, but we aim to provide a support system where an account can be opened in as little as two weeks. In addition, we also connect them to assistance for business registration, accounting, and so on.
The second is accelerating business growth. We support everything from strategic planning for market development to research, and the design and execution of Proof of Concept (PoC). In terms of fundraising, we connect entrepreneurs with investors from Asia, North America, and Japan in a way that is optimal for that specific startup.
We want to be like a Swiss Army Knife, so to speak, offering the necessary tools to respond to every sort of issue that entrepreneurs have. As such an all-purpose concierge, we provide multi-faceted advice and practical support.
Sugihara:
This wide-ranging support isn’t handled by you alone, is it?
Watabe:
The work is divided into roles according to area. For example, regarding the procedures and administrative support I first mentioned, we proceed in close coordination with a specialized team. Meanwhile, I personally take charge as the main lead in the second aspect, growth support.
Sugihara:
Having someone like you running alongside them must be very reassuring for those on the receiving side of that support!
Watabe:
Hands-on support is very profound, and there are also complicating factors that make it not so straightforward. However, I feel my career to-date is most utilized in this particular way, since I’ve also experienced the same hardships of starting up a company, so I can really empathize with the difficulties they face.
For that reason, running with them doesn’t feel like a burden at all. Rather than simply offering advice, at times I find myself working with entrepreneurs to craft their fundraising stories, introduce them to the media, and create opportunities for pitches. I go at it with an attitude of literally doing everything I can. When I come that close to them, sometimes I even end up having jealous thoughts, like “Now, I want to go back to my old startup days”, ha ha!
Sugihara:
Yeah, ha ha…when you were a player yourself, coming into contact with their passion makes you feel that way, doesn’t it? But even so, 52 supported companies is an incredible number! How did you manage to gather so many companies?
Watabe:
Actually, after founding this company, I was working by myself for a while and didn’t conduct PR activities overseas. (Especially since overseas media doesn’t report on it anyway, so word of it wouldn’t spread.) As a result, most of the startups we selected were found through word-of-mouth or recommendations from my network. When I became CEO around 2023, the pandemic had ended and the world was largely moving on, and technologies like AI and blockchain were spreading rapidly. Combined with these changes in the global situation, there was a rising momentum that started in the US, and then among other overseas entrepreneurs, towards tackling the Japanese market.
Thankfully, when I told people I had started this job in the midst of such an environment, friends and acquaintances from all over the world reached out to me. Introductions started pouring in, such as “Here’s an interesting company perfect for Japan” or “This business is a bit different from our VC’s investment criteria, but it would definitely shine in the Japanese market”.
Also, we got a lot of connections from the community of my hard-working former colleagues from my time at Google Japan. The fact that the friends I spent my 20s and 30s with are now entrepreneurs and we are in a relationship where we can help each other is a great asset. Furthermore, Dr. Richard Dasher—my mentor from the Stanford Graduate School and a venture capitalist himself—joined us as an advisor, which had a great impact on improving the reputation of the community.
Looking back, I am filled with gratitude as I feel like the connections I formed around the world are living on in my current work.
Note: Richard Dasher is a researcher in Asian studies and innovation at Stanford University. In 2025, he received the Foreign Minister’s Commendation award from the Japanese government for his long-standing contributions to Japanese-American exchange and educational research. He was an advisor at the time of Shibuya Startups’s establishment, but has since stepped down.
Sugihara:
It’s quite significant to have someone like Dr. Richard Dasher at your back. Like how at D-POPS GROUP, we have figures like KDDI co-founder Dr. Sachio Semmoto as our chairman and former ambassador to the US Ichiro Fujisaki as our corporate advisor. The presence of such heavyweights is not only an encouragement to the entrepreneurs in our Ecosystem, but also serves as a testament to our business reputation. Of course, it is critical to have ambitious initiatives that make those among society’s elite want to support you.
Now, as a result of all of this, do you want to share any specific examples of startups that have been able to make the leap successfully?
Watabe:
One case is where we were able to attract talent to Japan who originally had no intention of entering the Japanese market at all. Two founders of the Xoogler community (made up of former Google employees) started a company called Key.ai, inspired by a platform for people facing large-scale temporary layoffs in the tech industry. Initially, they weren’t thinking about Japan at all, but now with our investment and accompaniment, we are trying to open a path into Japan together. I feel that inviting such people to our ecosystem, who would never have even considered Japan, is exactly why we exist in the first place.
Also, there is another impressive startup that is producing anime using AI. The Japanese anime industry—especially outside of the major players—faces challenges such as labor shortages and harsh environments. In fact, the UN even called attention to these working conditions in 2023! In the midst of that, a founder from overseas who loves Japanese anime is striving with the goal of supporting creators with Generative AI.
Our position could be described as an “industrial producer”. We work hand-in-hand with entrepreneurs to craft broad strategies for products, services, marketing, PR, market entry, and fundraising. When I can help even a little at the moment a company’s destiny changes, I deeply feel the significance of this work. That is why I am thoroughly committed to the quality of our support.
~ To be continued in Part 2 ~
Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara.
Shibuya Startups KK
Company Representative and Chairperson: Shiho Watabe
Company CEO: Yoshiro Tasaka
Address: Shibuya Bridge Building B, 1-29-3 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Established: February 2023
Website: https://upshibuya.com/en/
In the next part of the interview:
・Why she chose startup support
・The appeal factors of Shibuya and Japan
・What “startup ecosystem” means to Shibuya Startups
・“Realizing a Venture Ecosystem”
・And other topics
Please be sure to check out Part 2!
