What #tiatokyo2018 looked like in pictures

September 20 and 21 marked our fifth run of Tech in Asia Tokyo, which brought together budding entrepreneurs, industry experts, including Asia’s and Japan’s wider tech community.

If you missed the event, there’s no need for FOMO (aside from facetime with local stakeholders in the tech community) – here’s a summary of what the two days looked like!

nDay 1, September 20n

Upon stepping foot into Shibuya Hikarie, our attendees were greeted with a cool panel of images of the industry’s game changers who would be speaking at the conference.

The day was off to a great start, as enthusiastic exhibitors eagerly set up shop to present their startups and novel solutions.

Some pretty interesting hardware products caught our eye! One of them was Obniz, a small circuit board which connects to the cloud and is programmable with Javascript.

Through a quick scan of a QR code on the circuit board display, you’re able to program what you want it to do – in this case, a beautifully handwritten note.

At the Main Stage, we had a session by Masami Takahashi (General Manager, WeWork Japan), Yosuke Akiyoshi (CEO, Lancers) and Anju Ishiyama (General Manager, Sharing Economy Association of Japan) to kickstart the day.

They discussed about how the gig economy will result in lifestyle and workplace changes, as well as the future it holds.

Hailing all the way from Indonesia, Achmad Zaky (CEO and founder of Bukalapak) also took to the stage to share how he built the fourth unicorn startup in the country and what lies ahead for the company. Read more about his session here.

We wrapped up day one with Jason Calacanis’ (founder, LAUNCH) in an inspiring fireside chat, on how he turned US$100k to US$100 million through angel investing.

For the first time this year, we introduced the Mentor Session, where seasoned industry leaders across marketing, sales, design, and more came together to advise startups on the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.

It was a huge hit – a big thank you once again to all the mentors who participated and shared actionable tips to our attendees!

Meanwhile, at our highly sought-after Speed Dating segment, startups were passionately pitching their next big ideas to keen investors – we saw a total of 230 pitches in 48 hours. .

Throughout the day, our participants were busy creating memories with their newfound friends at our photobooth, complete with props of course!

nDay 2, September 21n

Jeff Lonsdale (Managing Director, Asia, Founders Fund) dished out advice to Japanese entrepreneurs. One important piece of it was encouraging local startups to think global instead of fixating on their home market.

From his tweet, Alexis Ohanian (Co-founder of Reddit, founder of Initialized Capital) certainly enjoyed himself. It was great hosting you again, sir!

Always a great time on stage with #TIATokyo2018.

Thanks for the warm welcome yesterday. Like I said on stage, travel is one of the ways I keep challenging my own comforts and routines in order to be able to see the next big thing when it’s pitched to me. pic.twitter.com/WsBw2q67CJ

— Alexis Ohanian Sr. (@alexisohanian) September 22, 2018

Unsurprisingly, Startup Factory was buzzing with excitement. Some attendees got first-hand experience of the future by interacting with several cool VR gadgets.

During lunchtime, the sponsored luncheon – courtesy of Rakuten RapidAPI – was a popular spot. Caven Mitchell and Jed Ng from Rakuten Communications shared about how APIs could accelerate software development and innovation.

Before we knew it, soon came the long awaited Arena competition, where eight specially curated startup finalists battled it out. Each were given just five minutes to pitch their product and convince the judges on why they’re best.

Then it was time to crown the champion – congratulations Ginco! The cryptocurrency startup walked away with the prize of 1 million yen (US$8,870). Click here to read more about this year’s Arena finalists.

With that, we have concluded yet another edition of our flagship conference in the Land of the Rising Sun. This could not have been possible without the help of our volunteers, who dedicated their time, energy and enthusiasm to ensure the success of the event.

To all our sponsors, partners and attendees, we hope you enjoyed the conference as much as we did!

nMeanwhile… Mark your calendars for October 23 & 24n

For now, our sights are set on Tech in Asia Jakarta 2018, happening this October 23 & 24. If you’re interested in bringing your products and services to Southeast Asia’s largest economy, don’t miss this opportunity for you to mingle with 5,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and key stakeholders in Indonesia!

Get your tickets by next Sunday, October 7 to score a 10 percent discount (up to USD54)!