Late February was a productive time for startups, with two important events taking place in Japan: Slush Tokyo 2019, a major nonprofit conference, and Tohoku Growth Accelerator Demo Day in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, a smaller festival that also offers advice to fledgling startups. Here are a few projects from the events that garnered attention.
A game-changing initiative
At Slush Tokyo, Panasonic Corporation exhibited its Game Changer Catapult enterprise, the home appliance maker's foray into open collaboration projects. Of the resulting products, which are not yet released to buy, many pointed to a more convenient and digital lifestyle, including Hitokoe, a gadget designed to make sure its users don't forget important items before leaving the home for the day.