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Japan Night V Finals in SF: The Cliff Notes
Here’s a rundown of the night for those of you who couldn’t make it to Japan Night V Finals in San Francisco. For more information on the contenders, check out their bios here.
The venue?
YetiZen. Forget coworking when you can coplay! YetiZen offers free space for gaming developers to work and network, all in the name of game!
The food?
ONIGILLY sure delivered with their amazing rice balls, a.k.a. onigiri in Japanese. Watching the chefs actually prepare the rice balls rounded out the delicious experience. How appropriate a snack for this competition, as legend has it that samurai carried onigiri during wartime for meals on the go. With little time to think about food, ONIGILLY is a smart and healthy meal for start-ups.
The drinks?
How could you go wrong by having Japan’s most popular tea, Oi Ocha from Itoen? The smiling service made it that much more delightful. The selection of beer and wine did not go unappreciated, though I must admit my disappointment not to see any Japanese brands.
The Pitches?
Now it’s time to get down to business. I was surprised that the audience and judges came up with the very same list of winners:
1st Place: ShareWis
2nd Place: WHILL
3rd Place: designclue (tying with Comobaco by the audience picks)
My Awards (Listed in order of appearance):
Without any previous knowledge about the six companies—apart from their names and basic bios—I started on ground zero. Sorry, teacher, for not doing my homework, but at least I arrived without bias! Every company had an impressive value proposition; I could personally see using each and every one of the products. The fact that these companies pitched in a foreign language was amazing on its own. Even more amazing? Their ability to answer questions from the judges and audience on the fly—Q & A is not always a part of pitching competitions.
1) designclue: Most Culturally Competent
With so much international collaboration and exchange in today’s world, it is absolutely vital for a company to be able to communicate with international audiences. Their clients and designers alike hail from around the world.
2) grafic: Most Addictive
Our society is addicted to mobile, and this is yet another company that will fuel our addiction. If only I had downloaded grafic prior to the event, this blog post would probably have been made with grafic (although my thumbs might be a bit sore!)
3) WHILL: Biggest Wow Factor
WHILL was the only company to have a physical prototype, rather than a demo or a mock-up. Not only does WHILL solve a real-life problem, but its product is also sexy. Why hasn’t a sexy wheelchair been available before this.
4) Comobaco: Most San Franciscan
While the sharing economy is worldwide, San Francisco could be considered the epicenter. Comobaco promotes relationships between real people, something that is quickly diminishing in our fast-paced and tech-centric world.
5) ShareWis: Most Enthusiastic Pitch
And boy, does enthusiasm pay off, as ShareWis won 1st place by both the judges and audience. Have you heard that physical classrooms will be unnecessary in 5 years? Well maybe not 5 years, but education is rapidly transforming, so join ShareWis in the learning journey!
6) UI Scope: Biggest Pain Reliever
UIScope is another company that solves a real problem, relieving a huge pain point for most companies. In fact, the other 5 companies who pitched would benefit from their services.
ありがとうto btrax for introducing San Francisco to these awesome Japanese startups!
Contributor’s Bio
Ali Murphy helps with social media and marketing for Waygo Visual Translator, a mobile app that translates food menus and signage from Chinese to English. Waygo might or might not be working on a Japanese version, so stay tuned! She’d love to hear your thoughts, so tweet away @WaygoApp. 谢谢!
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