2026 ‘Business Trip in Tokyo’ will be held
AI, 12 startups participating in the circular economy, etc

Participants are taking photos at the "2nd Korea-Japan Innovators Night" held by the Korea Startup Forum with Shinhan Financial Group and Kiraboshi Bank at the Ebis Business Tower in Tokyo on the 28th of last month. [Photo provided = Korea Startup Forum] 사진 확대 Participants are taking photos at the “2nd Korea-Japan Innovators Night” held by the Korea Startup Forum with Shinhan Financial Group and Kiraboshi Bank at the Ebis Business Tower in Tokyo on the 28th of last month. [Photo provided = Korea Startup Forum]

The Korea Startup Forum (KOSPO) hosted the “2026 Business Trip in Tokyo,” a global expansion program for startups, in Tokyo, Japan, from the 26th to the 29th of last month. Twelve companies, including Cospo Chairman Kim Jae-won, Cospo CEO Choi Ji-young, and startups and investors from both Korea and Japan, participated in the event, the second of its kind since last year.

Cospo’s “2026 Business Trip in Tokyo” is a program designed to create practical business opportunities in the region for domestic startups wishing to enter Japan. The goal is not only to research the market or networking, but to create practical results such as finding opportunities to collaborate with large Japanese companies and attracting local venture capital (VC) investments

△Real Draw (content production solution) △ Diver (organizational management solution) △ B-My Friends (creator economy) △ Locally (local commerce) △ Int Corporation (short-form commerce) △ Zeklin (circular economy) △ Uluru (AI, education) △ Corka (green material) △ Day One Dream (Edutech) △ Aidan Lab (healthcare) △ Scone AI (AI solution) △ Outcome (data analysis and performance management) participated in this program.

On the first evening of the event, he formed a network with senior entrepreneurs who entered Japan through “evening networking with local players in Tokyo.” Officials from startups active in Japan, including Yang Young-joon, CEO of YJ Company, and Chung Man-hyung, CEO of Hufu International, and major players in the Korean startup ecosystem gathered to discuss ways to cooperate.

On the second day, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) held a “strategic session to enter the Japanese market” at the Tokyo IT Center. Masataka Keirage, former head of Deloitte Japan Innovation Business Division and general manager of Sushi Tech planning, was invited as an instructor to focus on practical strategies for entering Japan.

On the third day, three partners, Cospo, Shinhan Financial Group, and Kiraboshi Bank, jointly held the “2nd Korea-Japan Innovators Night” at the Ebis Business Tower. More than 80 people, including Japanese public institutions, investment companies, large corporations, and related organizations, attended the meeting. At the event, senior entrepreneurs who entered the Japanese and Korean markets shared their field experiences and insights through panel talks between Moon Hyung-il, deputy director of the Japan Trade Promotion Organization (JETRO), Olive Union CEO Song Myung-geun, Caplix Cloud Vice President Park Young-sik, and Findy CEO Yamada Yuichiro to help participating companies understand the market.

Cospo expects that this overseas networking program will help domestic startups increase their competitiveness in overseas markets by establishing the basis for global expansion of “COMUP 2026,” which is scheduled to be held in December. Meanwhile, participating companies visited Japan’s largest startup events, ‘Tokyo Unicorn Summit’ and ‘Sushi Tech Tokyo’, and interacted with major ecosystem players such as local investors and accelerators in Japan during the event.