Past Events
8th Annual JP-US Innovation Awards Symposium
Combining the best of Japanese creativity and American entrepreneurial skill to create unimagined opportunities
The Japan – U.S. Innovation Awards Symposium is a signature event of the Innovation Awards Program, organized by the Japan Society of Northern California in cooperation with the Stanford University US-Asia Technology Management Center.
The 2018 symposium was held Friday, July 13, 2018 at the Stanford University Arrillaga Alumni Center from 1:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Keynote Speaker: Nest Chief Technology Officer and famed robotics whiz Yoky Matsuoka. Her impressive resume includes working as CEO of health-data startup Quanttus, helping Apple work on its health initiatives in 2016, a professorial role at Carnegie Mellon, and was a founding member of Google X in 2009.
Emerging Leader Awards were presented to a Japanese and a U.S. company demonstrating very rapid growth and a unique, disruptive innovation and/or business model.
And the Innovation Showcase recognized up to five exciting Japanese start-up companies. An invitation-only workshop will be curated for these companies connecting them with Silicon Valley resources and mentoring.
Schedule
12:30 – 1:30 Registration
1:30 – 1:35 Welcome Remarks by Consul General of Japan in San Francisco Tomochika Uyama
1:35 – 1:45 Innovation Awards Opening Remarks by Symposium Moderator Richard Dasher, PhD; Director of Stanford University’s US-Asia Technology Management Center
1:45 – 2:15 Keynote Speech by Dr. Yoky Matsuoka, NEST Chief Technology Officer; moderated by Richard Dasher, PhD; Director of Stanford University’s US-Asia Technology Management Center
2:15 – 3:15 Emerging Leader Awards Presentation
Moderator: Allen Miner, Founder & CEO, SunBridge Corporation
Japan Award Winner:
MUJIN, Inc., Issei Takino, CEO & Rosen Diankov, Co-Founder
US Award Winner:
FogHorn Systems, David King, CEO
WeWork, Elton Kwok, General Manager, Northern California
3:15 – 3:30 BREAK
3:30 – 4:30 Innovation Showcase Recognition & Panel Discussion
Moderator: Ken Yasunaga, Managing Director, Value Creation Investment Group, Innovation Network Corporation of Japan
Participants:
ABEJA Inc., Takanori Ogata, Co-Founder & Chief Research Officer
Astroscale, Chris Blackerby, COO
LPixel, Yuki Shimahara, CEO
Infostellar, David Vaccaro, Global Strategy and Business Initiatives
- ispace
, Takashi Hakamada, Founder and CEO
4:30 – 5:15 Special Panel Discussion: “Exit Patterns for Japanese Startups”
Moderator: Michi Kaifu, CEO, Enotech Consulting
Participants:
Michael Tso, CEO, Cloudian
Kenta
Yasukawa, CTO, Soracom, Inc.
Dr. Koji Osawa, Managing Principal & Co-Founder,Global Catalyst Partners
5:15 – 5:25 Wrap Up by Allen Miner, Founder and CEO of SunBridge Corporation
5:25 – 5:30 Closing Remarks by C. Lawrence Greenwood, President of Japan Society of Northern California
5:30 – 6:30 Networking Reception
