Executive Vice President Keiichi Sasaki, the Director of the Center for Co-Creation Strategy, was invited to the kickoff event for the “Tohoku-Israel Startup Global Challenge Program”, a unique project run by Israel to support entrepreneurs and to develop the regional startup ecosystem in Tohoku.

The event was held at CROSS B PLUS, a new event venue in Sendai, where all of the stakeholders were able to meet both in person and online. Participants included the Israeli ambassador, a delegation from the Israeli embassy, and representatives from Japanese ministries, local governments, universities, and startups.

EVP Sasaki gave a congratulatory speech on the launch of the program and thanked Israel for sending medical teams to the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake immediately after the disaster struck. EVP Sasaki also briefly introduced Tohoku University and its latest initiatives, including the development of a science park and the Next Generation Synchrotron Radiation Facility, and he spoke about his expectation that this program would accelerate the creation of an entrepreneurship culture and the internationalization of Tohoku startups, as well as contributing to the existing excellent relationship between Israel and Japan.

Tohoku University is co-hosting this 9-month program during which representatives from ten startups, including four which are university-originated, will learn how to internationalize their own businesses.