The Power of Solidarity to Overcome FOMO

“Feeling left behind?” Working in the rapidly changing startup ecosystem, FOMO (fear of missing out) comes knocking. Technology is advancing quickly, and there’s an anxiety that you might miss the trend at any moment. That’s when global startup fairs can be helpful. NextRise 2024 boldly invited Japan as the guest country this year, strengthening networking among Asian startups. That’s why I attended with expectations. In other words, everyone was knocking on the door to the world while carrying their own concerns.

In 2024, there was a lot of news about startup investments in Japan. Additionally, OpenAI chose Tokyo as the location to open its first office in Asia. It was surprising since places like Singapore, Malaysia, and India already had well-established IT startup infrastructures. The reaction was one of puzzlement. Hong Kong is also gradually losing its appeal in the global market due to political risks. NextRise 2024 collaborated with JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization), a Japanese investment specializing institution, and featured a Japan Innovation Section that introduced leading Japanese startups. How were the Japanese startups?

Lately, when visiting startup booths, most tend to showcase SaaS or AI-based platforms. This year as well, the AI & Big Data sector had many participating booths and garnered a lot of attention from visitors. The Japan Pavilion featured a more diverse range of startups, allowing us to hear many interesting stories. In particular, the startups introduced by JETRO had numerous technologies closely tied to lifestyles. It served as a reminder that technology should not be disconnected from everyday life.

There has been a global conversation about improving dietary habits. While anti-obesity drugs are gaining popularity in the United States, changing eating habits is crucial for maintaining long-term health. ToY Medical from Japan utilizes alginic acid, a natural polymer derived from brown algae, to prevent the synthesis of sodium within the body. Originally developed to allow dialysis patients to consume regular foods, they created a health supplement that blocks sodium synthesis for non-afflicted individuals as well. This is particularly good news for those who need to limit potassium intake. Especially for Asian food culture with many soup-based dishes like stews or ramen (noodle soup), it serves as an excellent supplement for health.

In the Personal Mobility section, glafit, a company that developed an e-bike, tailored their product to comply with Japanese road regulations. In Japan, personal mobility devices like e-bikes are legally required to not exceed 20km/h. glafit’s e-bike maintains a top speed of 20km/h while incorporating technology that prevents loss of power, even on Japan’s hilly terrain with many inclines. Additionally, it features a throttle design, allowing movement without pedaling. Since personal mobility devices are directly linked to safety, stability is crucial. By manufacturing entirely in Japan, glafit achieved improved stability and design compared to competing products.

There were also startups utilizing AI. With the emergence of the Alpha generation, there is both confusion and excitement over how the existing generation should approach the first true digital native generation. The most pressing issue will be protecting these children. This problem is surfacing alongside concerns like EU protection laws and sharenting issues. Adora utilizes AI to preemptively detect risks on a child’s smartphone and send push notifications. If a child is being bullied at school or exposed to obscene content, parents can receive alerts like “It is suspected that your child received a dangerous message on a messenger app.” It can also prevent accidents from children walking while engrossed in short-form content by locking their phones to stop them from mindlessly staring at their screens like “smartphone zombies.”

While the Japanese startups from the guest country showcased technologies closely tied to daily life, startups from the ASEAN region presented innovative services. The ASEAN-KOREA CENTRE set up a booth introducing four top ASEAN startups that participated in the ‘ASEAN-KOREAN Startup Week’ pitching competition organized by the center. Opportunities for networking with startups from Southeast Asia are not frequent, so NextRise 2024 allowed us to hear many interesting stories.

Teachmeguru, a startup from Brunei, was bridging the education gap through remote live-streaming classes. Interestingly, they referred to private educational institutions as “hakwon” in Korean during their booth presentation, which caught me by surprise as “hakwon” is a commonly used term in Korea. They mentioned gradually expanding their technology to provide high-quality education regardless of location in order to reduce the educational gap in Brunei. This direction seems rooted in the shared zeal for education across Asia. Notably, this team first participated in an overseas pitching competition at the 2023 ASEAN-KOREA Startup Week, where they placed second, attesting to their technological prowess.

Additionally, ZumVet, a platform enabling remote veterinary consultations for pets, and Genetica, a biotech startup specializing in genetic testing tailored for Asians using AI, were present. Food Market Hub, a startup that optimizes inventory for F&B businesses through a cloud-based system and smart ordering, also had a presence.

According to a Yelp report, even in the United States, amid persistent labor shortages, rising labor and supply costs, and changing consumer expectations, restaurants are gradually shifting towards improving operational efficiency. Food Market Hub provides a service that monitors order costs for restaurants, optimizes the supply chain for fresh ingredients, and checks food cost ratios. Through this process, small restaurant owners can achieve more efficient operations management.

Recently, there has been a growing opinion that cultural nuances should be included in LLM (Large Language Model) training. The reason various countries are accelerating the development of foundation models for LLMs is that LLMs need to learn the native language and cultural context. In this regard, Asia, while vast, shares a series of cultures. It has the advantage of being able to interact and become colleagues more quickly compared to understanding completely different cultures. The NextRise 2024 offered an opportunity to witness the potential of startups across Asia.

The two-day fair has ended. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) persists. Competitive services can emerge anytime, anywhere, and innovative SaaS or technologies can surprise the world. When the Alpha generation fully comes of age, the world will further accelerate. However, through NextRise 2024, we could reconnect with innovative peers across Asia once again. Like gradually illuminating a dark world map in a game, by connecting and uniting, we are embracing new innovations. With the hope that even if I miss out, my colleagues will absorb it well.