From Startup to Scale-up:
Mutual Growth and Realization of an Advancing Ecosystem
For this article, we interviewed the Startup Ecosystem Association’s President Ayumi Fujimoto, a leader who shares our vision for Japan’s entrepreneurial future. (This interview was conducted in January 2026.)
See Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview here.
◆The Joy of Creating Something from Zero Learned at Google
Sugihara:
Let’s take a step back into the past for a moment. we actually joined Google in the same year—2007. Back then, Google still felt like a true startup. If a problem arose, people from different departments would huddle together to solve it. We were the pioneers…there wasn’t an atmosphere of an established, incumbent corporation yet.
Later on, we both left Google at close to the same time. You moved on to Money Design (a fintech startup), and then to Plug and Play Japan, but the whole time, you’ve stayed in the startup world.
I have to ask…what has driven you to consistently choose this career path?
Fujimoto:
Once you experience that Google era like we did, you never forget the joy of building something from scratch. It becomes much more addictive than working on something that is already established.
When I first joined Google, I used to wonder why some of my senior colleagues were leaving so early in their careers. But they told me, “You’ll understand one day. Different phases of a company require different types of people, and I personally love the launch phase.” Now, I understand exactly what they meant.
Sugihara:
What is your favorite phase in a company’s lifecycle?
Fujimoto:
For my seniors, it might have been when the company was completely unknown. For me, my specialty lies in the phase where something has just started to sprout, but doesn’t quite have a clear identity yet. I love the process of giving it a name and helping it grow.
I tried to replicate that at Money Design, but I eventually ran into a dilemma: a single company cannot keep up with the sheer speed of change in the world today. That’s when I decided to pivot. Instead of running a business myself, I chose to build and steer an ecosystem that could support multiple innovators in order to achieve a lot more.
◆Resolving the Gender Gap
Sugihara:
So, you chose your current path out of a desire to deepen the role of scale-ups (the growth phase following the initial creation of something from nothing).
I also remember you being in charge of the Women Will project back in the Google era. Many of my friends were involved in that fantastic initiative. Could you explain for our readers what that project was about? Additionally, the startup world tends to be male-dominated. How do you view the current lack of female entrepreneurs, and what is your approach to changing this?
Fujimoto:
Women Will was an initiative that started even before women’s empowerment became a buzzword. The core idea was to use the power of technology to empower women. Startups are inherently places where people use technology to drive change, so there should be immense opportunities for anyone to succeed, regardless of gender or age.
While the number of female entrepreneurs and investors has grown steadily over the last decade, the lack of balance remains an issue that’s shared across the world.
One specific factor is the bias in fundraising. Female founders are often asked questions that men are not, such as “Do you plan to get married?” or “What about children?” While this could be considered as risk-hedging, we must create an environment where we face the business itself, flatly and without bias.
Our association is currently working with the Financial Services Agency (FSA) on a survey regarding the gender gap in the ecosystem. Following the increased attention on harassment issues over the last couple of years, the industry’s sense of crisis is very high. Recognizing that unfair practices are unacceptable is the first step toward improvement.
Sugihara:
In a single company, you can manage this with rules and KPIs, but changing the culture of an entire ecosystem is a massive challenge.
Fujimoto:
That is the hardest part. Since an ecosystem isn’t managed by one single person, it’s not enough to just chase a quota like “30% women”. We have to ensure true diversity where more people have access to opportunities.
Lately, more event organizers are paying attention to the balance of gender, age, and nationality among speakers. This is a great first step. The supporters of international accelerator programs are now being held strictly accountable for the diversity of their cohorts. I hope to see this approach take root in Japan as well.
Sugihara:
In the past, female entrepreneurs were often “invisible” unless you were intentionally trying to find them.
Fujimoto:
Exactly. However, from an innovation standpoint, the data is clear: diverse teams grow significantly faster. There was once an unwritten rule in Japan that a homogeneous team with shared values could move faster in the early stages. Recent studies have debunked this. If you don’t build a diverse organization from the very beginning, you won’t be able to scale the company later.
Success in scaling up depends entirely on the organizational environment. It’s no longer just a binary of male vs. female. Broad diversity, including nationality, is an essential element for Japanese startups to leap forward.
Sugihara:
That is a vital perspective. I’ve seen research showing that companies with diverse public relations and branding are more highly valued.
Fujimoto:
Our gender gap survey showed something interesting: while women feel they are at a disadvantage, men also expressed feeling a sense of suffocation or an inability to speak their minds in the current culture. It’s not about one side or the other being bad. It’s about mutual understanding.
When I think back on our time at Google, we were told not to assume that we fully understood the other person. We made sure never to operate under any kind of unspoken understanding, and we communicated clearly through dialogue to move things forward correctly.
In Japan, we often proceed with the assumption that others know what we need, and when things go wrong, we get frustrated. We need to move toward a culture where we communicate under the premise that we don’t automatically understand each other.
◆Japan’s Future Strength: Turning Technology into Business and Communicating It
Sugihara:
Indeed, it is precisely because a diverse range of personalities come together that we can create exceptional services that reach a global audience.
On that note, I’d like to ask a final question about the future. From the perspective of entrepreneurship and new business development, which domains do you believe will hold the key to Japan’s growth moving forward?
Fujimoto:
I’ve traveled the world, and thought about what Japan’s future strength will be. At this point, I am convinced the answer lies in “deep tech”.
Japan’s R&D, technical capabilities, and ideas are world-class. However, our ability to turn that into viable businesses hasn’t caught up. Japan’s big opportunity lies in bridging that gap.
A supporter in South Korea once told me: “Japanese people think if they make something good, it will be recognized. But you have to tell people it’s good, or else no one will know its value.” That might be Japanese modesty, but it doesn’t work in startups.
If we can strengthen our ability to convey our products and our business acumen, we have enormous potential.
The same applies to SaaS. Japanese services tend to stay domestic. But if we can break through the international wall and focus on scaling globally, we have a real chance.
Sugihara:
To break through that wall, it seems crucial to have a multinational team from the early stages so that launching simultaneously in multiple countries becomes the standard mindset.
Fujimoto:
I completely agree. In many other countries, that’s already the norm. We must have a sense of urgency—if we spend too much time thinking “Japan first”, we’ll end up falling a full lap behind the rest of the world.
I don’t believe every single service has to expand overseas, but there is simply too much you cannot see if you remain closed off within Japan. When a team includes members of diverse nationalities, your speed and perspective naturally shift, and you begin to notice global changes. I feel that this kind of organizational structure will ultimately dictate the growth of Japanese startups moving forward.
Sugihara:
That’s a very helpful perspective. Moving on to a question about current trends: we often see discussions in the news or in books about specific professions disappearing due to AI. What are your thoughts on this?
Fujimoto:
The impact of Generative AI is certainly obvious, but if you look back at history, there have always been certain roles jobs that disappeared and new ones that emerged. However, this time, the feeling of being robbed by AI or being replaced by something non-human is particularly strong, which is causing a lot of anxiety. But the most important premise to remember is that everything is always changing.
At the same time, isn’t the rise of AI giving us a chance to re-examine what it is that only humans can do? It’s a great time to realize our unique human value and figure out how we want to contribute and what skills we should master.
There’s really nothing to fear. It’s much more exciting to think about how to master these tools. Just try using them first!
This isn’t just about AI. We need to change our tendency to reject anything new. A mindset of “just try it, and if it doesn’t work, quit” is perfectly fine. The biggest waste of all is to limit your own potential by disliking something without having tried it first.
◆The Essential Quality of a Supporter: Outgrowing the Startups
Sugihara:
As the social environment shifts and the future is constantly being rewritten, both individuals and startups must adapt to survive. In this context, what is the role of the “scalerator”, a supporter who focuses on scaling up rather than just accelerating the early stage?
Fujimoto:
Whether you are an incubator or a “scalerator”, the most vital thing is to ensure you are growing faster than anyone else. If the person supporting a startup’s growth isn’t growing themselves, why would a founder want their help? Unfortunately, there are many “supporters” who have never touched a new tech tool or have stopped studying the latest global trends.
Being a supporter doesn’t make you superior or omnipotent. As business models and the nature of startups evolve, it is crucial that the supporter evolves at a speed that exceeds the startup itself. If you keep doing the same old thing, you’ll be seen as out of touch, or simply uncool, and startups will leave you behind. We often say that in three years, we’ll likely be talking about something completely different from today. That isn't flip-flopping, it’s positive evolution. To constantly reinvent oneself without fearing change…that is the essential quality of a modern ecosystem supporter.
◆Defining a Startup Ecosystem
Sugihara:
Finally, could you share your personal definition of a “startup ecosystem”?
Fujimoto:
By definition, an ecosystem involves the mutual interaction of organic and inorganic elements. Support often feels like a one-way street, from the supporter to the startup, but a true ecosystem requires reciprocity.
The startup should be at the center, but they shouldn’t be treated like a guest or a customer. Everyone must act as a stakeholder and a member of the ecosystem. As everyone influences one another, the ecosystem itself grows. The only way to enrich the ecosystem is for every single member to commit to continuous growth.
Sugihara:
That philosophy aligns perfectly with the vision of D-POPS GROUP. We aim to build a Venture Ecosystem where we aren’t just managing or investing, but growing together as peers. We reinvest the profits from our 25 group companies into the next generation and learn alongside them. Do you see synergy or potential for collaboration here?
Fujimoto:
I think it’s a fantastic approach. Whether we call them startups or ventures, we are all part of the same foundation of the Japanese ecosystem. The important thing isn’t who is the boss, but the shared attitude of contributing to society through business and developing together.
Ideally, this creates a chain of paying it forward, where those who were once supported by the ecosystem eventually become the ones who support it.
To be honest, now that government support in Japan has become quite generous, we are seeing cases where people build businesses solely to get subsidies, effectively capping their own potential. This is a massive information loss…a lack of awareness of the speed of the global market. That is why it’s so important for ecosystems to interact and for rich knowledge to spread.
When players with a strong philosophy like D-POPS GROUP join hands with us, that contagious mindset becomes the driving force that will truly keep Japan up to date.
Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara.
Startup Ecosystem Association
President: Ayumi Fujimoto
Address: 15F Toranomon Hills Business Tower, 1-17-1 Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo
Established: March 30, 2022
Website: https://startupecosystem.org/home-en
