More Japanese companies are looking at the Israeli startup market in search of innovative technologies and investments to beef up their businesses, although they lag far behind the buyout sprees of global tech giants such as Google Inc. and Apple Inc.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and Johnson & Johnson last August together teamed up with the Israeli government and OrbiMed Israel Partners to build FutuRx, a collectively owned biotech incubator.
Rakuten, the e-commerce giant, announced plans last month to buy call and messaging app provider Viber Media Inc., which is originally from Israel, for $900 million.