GO TOKYO: GIN Austria helps mobility startups expand in Japan
The initiative “GO ASIA 2022″ launched by the Global Incubator Network Austria (GIN Austria), enters the final round for the year 2022 with the call for the program “GO TOKYO“. The GO ASIA initiative is organized by GIN Austria (the joint program of aws and FFG) in cooperation with Außenwirtschaft Austria. GO ASIA offers young Austrian companies the chance to expand into the Asian region. There were a total of four different acceleration programs as well as a startup event in Vienna at GIN Austria for this year. From August 8 to September 15, interested parties can apply for the program in Tokyo.
One-week tour of Tokyo in planning
GO TOKYO is an acceleration program in which GIN Austria provides both strategic and financial assistance to young companies looking to expand into the metropolis and Japan in general. The program consists of two parts. The first part is a flexible and digital onboarding with a physical kick-off event in Vienna, where startups can get to know each other and network.
The second part is a physical one-week tour of Tokyo. Here, GIN Austria offers the founders customized pitch and networking opportunities (TechBIZKON, Next Generation Mobility Conference, Innovation Leader Summit, etc.) to get in touch with international players. In addition, individual business meetings organized by the Foreign Trade Center Tokyo are waiting for the startups.
GIN Austria has a number of fascinating partners in Tokyo that will provide expertise to program participants. These include the seed accelerator 01 BOOSTER and the collaboration platform EDGEof.
GIN Austria focuses on mobility
For the Tokyo tour, GIN will cover up to 90 percent of travel costs, including airfare and accommodation costs of a maximum of 20,000 euros per startup. The tour is expected to take place between December 1 and 9, 2022. It should be noted that it is not possible to predict the situation regarding the Corona pandemic at this time. However, GIN Austria is in contact with the authorities to ensure that all current Corona measures are taken into account during the tour. If the situation is particularly critical in December, there could also be a change in the program.
GIN Austria’s Accelerator program focuses on startups in the field of mobility. Participating startups should ideally be in the growth phase and have made their debut in the last seven years. They should also have at least one seed investment. Also important are a unique product or service, a working prototype, and a proven business model with initial customers and revenues.
Startups have to prove themselves in an online pitch
To apply, founders need an account on the aws Connect site. There is a form to fill out, and they must also provide their current pitch deck. They have until September 15 to do so. GIN Austria then evaluates the applications and determines which ones are eligible for the program. The incubator network will notify the selected young companies of its decision by September 16. Then the startups must compete in an online pitch on September 20.
All admitted applicants will be given three minutes at the online pitch to convince a top-class jury of national and international GIN partners of their idea and business model. This is followed by a short Q&A session with the jury members. After the online pitch, the jury will select the GO TOKYO 2022 finalists. The selected startups will receive an email no later than one week after the online pitch, informing them about the next steps from the GIN team.
More information about the program: http://www.gin-austria.com/calls/gotokyo2022
Apply here until Sept. 15: https://www.awsconnect.at/events_calls
Contact: Chiara Witzemann
Project Manager GO ASIA
