Nominations are closed for 2024. Thank you for your submissions!
Welcome! We are currently inviting anyone who would like to nominate companies for the Emerging Leader and Innovation Showcase Awards for the 2023 Japan – U.S. Innovation Awards!
The Innovation Initiative, begun in 2011, highlights an increasingly important area of cooperation between Japan and the U.S. – in particular with Northern California. Through this effort JSNC seeks to encourage productive Japan – U.S. innovation and entrepreneurship, to provide role models for future innovators and to spotlight Japanese creativity and vitality often overlooked by U.S. media. This Initiative complements U.S. – Japan government–to– government dialogue and other efforts that promote innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation.
Emerging Leader Awards will be presented to a later stage Japanese and a U.S. company that demonstrates fast growth, unique, disruptive technology and a capacity to disrupt and transform an industry or value chain.
The Innovation Showcase will select up to five exciting Japanese start-up companies that exhibit noteworthy potential.
This form will allow you to nominate an American or Japanese company for recognition in one of our three award categories. Please refer to the text below for the selection criteria.
Selection Criteria – Emerging Leader Awards
The following five criteria will be used in identifying candidates and selecting the winners of the Emerging Leader U.S. Award and Emerging Leader Japan Award. We invite all interested parties to nominate an exciting company that fulfills most of these criteria, even if it does not match all of them.
- Impact of the company’s innovation. Is the company’s innovation causing a significant disruption or change in the demographics of a market or value chain? Evidence may include displacement of some earlier product or service, etc.
- Uniqueness. How unique is the company’s innovation for which it is being considered (i.e. a new product or service, business model, business strategy, or organizational structure)?
- Market validation. Objective measures of volume and growth in sales or profits, cash flows, market capitalization, and other demonstrable impacts will be considered in selecting each winner. For business model innovations, has the new business model been validated by the market?
- Future promise. What is the likelihood that the company will continue to grow rapidly in the future, achieve significant, sustainable long-term success, and be a leader in its industry?
- US – Japan business relevance. For U.S. companies, Japan should play a role in their business development strategy. For Japanese companies, the company should have a global strategy that includes the U.S. Evidence of prior U.S.-Japan interest is a plus.
Selection Criteria – Innovation Showcase Awards
- Potential impact of the company’s innovation. To be highlighted as an Innovation Showcase Company, a start-up company must be incubating an innovation that is potentially disruptive or transformative. It must have an exciting idea, not just a good idea for doing profitable business.
- Quality of the company team: Backgrounds and track records of founders, employees, advisors, and investors. Does the team include interesting or exceptional people who will be great to highlight in the Innovation Awards Symposium?
- Likelihood of success. This criterion includes the quality of the company’s business plan and factors, such as whether the team has worked together in the past.
- Potential relevance to Silicon Valley / U.S. business. Will the company’s innovation likely lead to closer U.S. – Japan business ties? How and why will attendees at the Japan – U.S. Innovation Awards Symposium be interested to learn about this company?
- Degree to which company has already received recognition in the U.S. This is usually a negative factor. The Innovation Showcase aims to recognize innovative Japanese start-up companies that are not yet very well-known in the general Silicon Valley / U.S. business communities. Close ties with the Japanese community of Silicon Valley are not necessarily a disadvantage.