Corporate venturing as a path to innovation in Japan

About this episode

The episode discusses corporate venturing as a means for innovation in Japan, featuring insights from Kenji Tateiwa on the challenges and rewards of spinning out startups from large corporations.

You might think that large Japanese companies have trouble innovating. Unfortunately if you believe that, you would be correct. Recently, however, there are a few reasons for hope. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, and Japan Inc. now largely understands that their traditional R&D methods are broken, and are looking to startups for help and inspiration. Corporate venturing (spinning out internal projects as startups) is one such approach. But it's not an easy one. Today we sit down with Kenji Tateiwa and discuss the rewards and challenges of spinning Agile Energy X out of TEPCO. We talk about why it's hard to bring renewable energy onto the grid, how to nurture a startup inside very conservative organizations, and the future of corporate venturing in Japan. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why it's hard to get more renewable energy onto the grid Introduction to demand response and demand management How to nurture a startup inside a conservative enterprise and how to spin out The financial challenges in the core business model The competitive landscape in energy services Why its hard to raise funds as a corporate…

People in this episode

Host: Tim Romero

Guest: Kenji Tateiwa

Topics covered

• corporate venturing
• innovation
• renewable energy
• startups
• energy services
• Japan

Keywords

• corporate venturing
• innovation
• renewable energy
• startups
• TEPCO
• Agile Energy X
• Japan

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: TEPCO, Agile Energy X, Yuri Group

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