Business / Corporate Mar 3, 2021
Twin sisters score Japan’s hottest IPO by making mobile games for women
by Takashi Mochizuki
To the growing list of things that make gaming startup Coly Inc. unusual, it can add one of the best market debuts in recent Japanese history.
Business / Tech Feb 18, 2021
Automating boring tasks made these Japan startup founders rich
by Yoojung Lee and Ming Jeong Lee
Their firms' shares have all more than doubled in the past year, leading to talk of a burgeoning tech scene that’s very different from Silicon Valley.
Business / Corporate Feb 10, 2021
Aurora partners with Toyota in bid to bring autonomy to masses
by Dana Hull
The deal aims to aims to mass produce automated vehicles and launch them on ride-hailing networks, including Uber’s, over the next few years.
Business / Corporate Feb 9, 2021
SoftBank’s Vision Fund posts record $8 billion profit on IPO boom
by Pavel Alpeyev
A global rally in technology shares has boosted the value of SoftBank’s stakes in publicly traded firms like Uber Technologies Inc.
Commentary / Japan Feb 5, 2021
A new golden age for Japanese entrepreneurs
by Jesper Koll
No matter how small the startup, because of COVID-19, it can finally hire people, build teams, invest in what always yields the highest returns for any new venture — human capital.
Business / Corporate Jan 7, 2021
SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son is poised for another IPO windfall in 2021
by Pavel Alpeyev
The IPOs could give Son another round of enormous gains after successful offerings from DoorDash Inc. and KE Holdings Inc. in 2020.
Business Jan 6, 2021
Government to help Japan firms' digital tie-ups with foreign startups
The framework is designed to encourage Japanese companies to reform their businesses through the joint development of goods and services with foreign partners.
Business / Corporate Dec 11, 2020
Rags to riches: CEO of ¥100 billion startup comes up from the streets
by Ming Jeong Lee and Komaki Ito
Taihei Kobayashi's story is among the most remarkable to emerge from a small-cap stock boom that’s minting fortunes.
Business / Financial Markets Dec 11, 2020
Airbnb and DoorDash rallies stoke renewed debate on pricing IPOs
Had the shares priced closer to where they started trading, Airbnb could have raised $4 billion more for the company and early investors.
Business Dec 11, 2020
In China men's skin care boom, startups and investors seek rich glow
by Sophie Yu and Brenda Goh
Already the biggest in the world, the Chinese men's facial skin care market is forecast to hit 12.5 billion yuan ($1.90 billion) this year — and expand 50% by 2025.
National Dec 5, 2020
Japanese startup launches a photo service that's out of this world
A firm based near Tokyo is taking orders for a service that will fly customers' items high into the stratosphere and capture images of the items against the backdrop of Earth.