50 startups entered Slush Asia in Tokyo, but only one took the top prize

Slush touched down in Tokyo today, bringing a day-long pitch contest and a party of speakers including DeNA’s Tomoko Namba, 500 Startups’ Dave McClure, Ilkka Paananen of Supercell, and Taizo Son of Mistletoe.

After all the pitches had been made and all the words of wisdom dispensed, it was time for the pitch contest finale. From a starting pool of 50, the following five companies made the cut, with a Taiwanese company taking home the grand prize.

VMFive

Jessie Wu of VMFive

Founder Jessie Wu’s VMFive’s main product is AdPlay. Working with app publishers, AdPlay makes it possible for consumers to give an app a whirl before committing to the purchase. The trial also creates a new opportunity for ads to be shown which has won the company some support from ad agencies and networks. The preview is not just for the beginning of the game, but also gives users a taste of what it is like to play the advanced levels.

Though a Taiwan-based firm, it has already started collaborating with D2C, a joint venture with Japanese conglomerates Docomo and Dentsu. AdPlay also has a new partnership with Adways’ popular pre-order platform.

Wu is aiming to generate US$1 million in revenue this year. She is confident that Japan will be a welcoming market, citing a Google consumer survey that 88 percent of app users would like to have a free trial. In the same study 84 percent said they want to try advanced level gameplay too.

VMFive took the top prize and a JPY 1 million (US$8,350) prize from Google premium support for startups. The startup is on a roll, having also won TechCrunch Beijing this past August.

Fast Media

Founder Yasu Ihara (blue) accepting a second place prize from Japan Airlines

Fast Media provides Yappli, a product that can give a big boost to those with weak technical abilities. Reminiscent of website builders like Squarespace, Yappli allows users to build a native app out of a website without any coding. After the copy and pasting is done and settings are fixed, the startup will submit the user’s app to the iTunes Store and Google Play Store for approval.

The monthly fee for small companies is US$100 per month while enterprises fees run at US$1,000 per month. Already firms like Yahoo Japan, L’oreal, and the SoftBank Hawks are using it. Additionally, founder Yau Ihara notes that over 20 small fashion brands have signed up to create their own ecommerce apps.

Fast Media took second prize.