Team Australia won the ‘Top of Overseas Institutions’ award at the 10th annual Innovation Leaders Summit (ILS) in Japan.
With 77 business meetings, Team Australia secured the most meetings out of all overseas institutions that participated in the ILS to win this award.
Separately, 3 Australian start-ups were identified as Top 100 start-ups based on the total number of meetings they secured. These were:
- Samsara Eco (NSW) – a company solving the plastic crisis with infinite recycling
- Carbon Asset Solutions (QLD) – a climate technology company supplying precision soil-based carbon credits
- Rare Energy (ACT) – a company producing a zero-emission ammonia generator to power vehicles.
This year, Team Australia included a cohort of 23 Australian startups. Each pitched their technological solutions and ideas directly to Japanese businesses and investors in a series of ‘power matching’ and ‘venture capital (VC) matching’ meetings.
Startups and major Japanese corporations attend the meetings, which are by invitation only, with a view to forming partnerships and opportunities to attract investment.
This was Team Australia’s third year participating at the ILS and its first hybrid event. In these 3 years Australia has moved from a participant to the leading country at the 10th ILS.
With 15,718 participants in the 10th ILS, the ILS is the largest open innovation and startup showcase event in Asia. The annual ILS event matches innovative startups from around the world with major Japanese corporations and venture capital firms. It fosters industry-research collaboration and showcases advances in technology and innovation that have the potential to change the way we live and do business.
Our department supported Team Australia’s participation through the Supporting Australian Innovation initiative. This initiative aims to create pathways for Australia’s startup and technology sector to access partnerships and venture capital in Japan and connect innovative Australian ideas with Japanese demand. We lead this initiative in partnership with participating state and territory agencies, the Australian Embassy in Tokyo and Austrade.