Kyoto is a city well known for its history and culture, but it also hosts a dynamic environment of technology companies, universities, and startups. While the budding startup ecosystem is in no way large compared to Silicon Valley, Berlin, or Tokyo, the intersection between existing business environment and academia makes it an attractive playground for startups.

This summer at the KYOTO Design Lab, we are going to be documenting the Kyoto startup scene through a series of articles and videos to be posted here on the D-Lab website. We will be interviewing entrepreneurs, visiting startups and incubation spaces, and talking to supporters of the ecosystem. Our hope is to bring visibility to the players that define the collaborative environment found in the ancient capital. As new articles and videos are published, we will be updating this page so stay tuned for exciting new stories!

KSD 2018

01|Nota Inc.
02|Makers Boot Camp
03|Hacarus
04|Kyoto Startup Summer School
05|Ship&co.
06|Atmoph
07|Kyoto Makers Garage
08|GLM
09|ZenVita
10|Stroly

Kyoto Startup Digest 2018 is brought to you by the following members of the KYOTO Design Lab and interns from the University of Texas.

Irene Trevino
Videographer
Sophomore, University of Texas at Austin
Irene is a student at the Moody College of Communication where she studies Radio, Television, and Film. Irene takes pleasure in capturing moments with a film camera and enjoys spending her creating short films. Although she’s only traveled to four countries, she loves exploring new places and documenting her adventures.

Tatiana Salazar
Writer
Senior, University of Texas at Austin
Tatiana is earning a Bachelor’s in Asian Cultures & Languages studying Japanese and Korean, while also earning a Business Foundations Certificate through the McCombs School of Business. Tatiana is interested in international business and localization. Coming from Odessa, a small city in Texas, this is Tatiana’s first time traveling abroad and she is eager to learn about business culture in Japan.

Kakeru Asano
Publications Manager, KYOTO Design Lab, Kyoto Institute of Technology

Sushi Suzuki
Project Associate Professor, Kyoto Institute of Technology
By day, Sushi teaches and runs projects based around design thinking, the Stanford-IDEO innovation methodologies. By night, Sushi is involved in various different startup activities in Japan and Kyoto such as Startup Weekend and GVH Startup Camp. While originally from Kyoto, Sushi has worked and lived in four different countries abroad spanning twenty two years and has traveled to over sixty.

Kyoto is a city well known for its history and culture, but it also hosts a dynamic environment of technology companies, universities, and startups. While the budding startup ecosystem is in no way large compared to Silicon Valley, Berlin, or Tokyo, the intersection between existing business environment and academia makes it an attractive playground for startups.

This summer at the KYOTO Design Lab, we are going to be documenting the Kyoto startup scene through a series of articles and videos to be posted here on the D-Lab website. We will be interviewing entrepreneurs, visiting startups and incubation spaces, and talking to supporters of the ecosystem. Our hope is to bring visibility to the players that define the collaborative environment found in the ancient capital. As new articles and videos are published, we will be updating this page so stay tuned for exciting new stories!

KSD 2018

01|Nota Inc.
02|Makers Boot Camp
03|Hacarus
04|Kyoto Startup Summer School
05|Ship&co.
06|Atmoph
07|Kyoto Makers Garage
08|GLM
09|ZenVita
10|Stroly

Kyoto Startup Digest 2018 is brought to you by the following members of the KYOTO Design Lab and interns from the University of Texas.

Irene Trevino
Videographer
Sophomore, University of Texas at Austin
Irene is a student at the Moody College of Communication where she studies Radio, Television, and Film. Irene takes pleasure in capturing moments with a film camera and enjoys spending her creating short films. Although she’s only traveled to four countries, she loves exploring new places and documenting her adventures.

Tatiana Salazar
Writer
Senior, University of Texas at Austin
Tatiana is earning a Bachelor’s in Asian Cultures & Languages studying Japanese and Korean, while also earning a Business Foundations Certificate through the McCombs School of Business. Tatiana is interested in international business and localization. Coming from Odessa, a small city in Texas, this is Tatiana’s first time traveling abroad and she is eager to learn about business culture in Japan.

Kakeru Asano
Publications Manager, KYOTO Design Lab, Kyoto Institute of Technology

Sushi Suzuki
Project Associate Professor, Kyoto Institute of Technology
By day, Sushi teaches and runs projects based around design thinking, the Stanford-IDEO innovation methodologies. By night, Sushi is involved in various different startup activities in Japan and Kyoto such as Startup Weekend and GVH Startup Camp. While originally from Kyoto, Sushi has worked and lived in four different countries abroad spanning twenty two years and has traveled to over sixty.