Up your game with insights from these 4 speakers at TIA Tokyo 2017

American rock band Green Day famously beseeched the world to only ‘wake [them] up when September ends’, but you might want to hold off on following them into autumnal hibernation if you’re in any way involved with the startup industry.

That’s right, Tech in Asia Tokyo is back with a bang and slated to take place from September 27-28 next month. You’ll want to be fully alert for all the informative talks and workshops we’ve got lined up, which will include sessions by these four exciting speakers.

Anne Marie Droste, Director, Entrepreneur First

Anne Marie will be speaking on Day 1 of the Main Stage. Hear from her as she shares how Southeast Asian startups have jumpstarted the region’s digital economy and inspired billions of VC funding.

Photo credit: SGInnovate

Why should you attend their session?
Entrepreneur First was founded in 2011 to enable top technical talent to create the startup of their dreams. Over 100 startups worth US$400 million have since benefited from their expert guidance, including Magic Pony Technology, Tractable and StackHut.

About the speaker
Following an eclectic educational career spanning half the globe, Anne Marie uprooted herself from her native Netherlands and moved to Singapore, where she is now based. She has consistently worked in roles that aim to build strategic partnerships between Europe and Asia, including as a founding board member of the Netherlands-Asia Honours Summer School.

In her current position at Entrepreneur First, Anne Marie anchors the company’s first international office in Singapore.

Masanori Hashimoto, Founder and CEO, Nulab

Join Masanori on Day 2 of the Main Stage as he discusses Nulab’s journey thus far and unveils his next move.

Why should you attend their session?
Under Masanori’s august leadership, Nulab has evolved from a humble three-employee outfit to a leading purveyor of collaborative software worldwide. Their diagramming tool Cacoo.com reached a landmark 2 million users in 2016.

About the speaker
Masanori is one of the trailblazers in the Japanese startup scene, having founded Nulab way back in 2004 before widespread governmental support was available.

Still based out of his hometown in Fukuoka (where Nulab is also headquartered), Masanori is passionate about fostering the city’s local startup community, as well as that of Japan as a whole. He frequently organises seminars and networking events for other startups at Nulab’s headquarters.

Hiro Maeda, Managing Partner, Beenext

You can meet Hiro at one of the Startup Strategy Workshops on Day 1, where he will be speaking about conducting user interviews as a part of developing and improving products.

From the left: Beenext managing partners Teruhide Sato, and Hiro Maeda Photo credit: VentureBeat

Why should you attend their session?
BEENEXT is an early stage venture capital firm with investment interests in India, Japan, the US and Southeast Asia. Some of their notable investments include Tokopedia, Instacart, Qiita and Everlane.

About the speaker
Since graduating from Bucknell University in 2009, Hiro has been at the epicentre of Japan’s burgeoning startup scene. He co-launched Japan’s first startup accelerator, Open Network Lab, in 2010 before joining eCommerce firm BEENOS Inc. as the head of their investment division. He was also named to Forbes’s 30 under 30 Asia list in 2016.

Natalie Fleming, Co-Founder, Fintech Association of Japan

Natalie will be leading a panel discussing how Japanese fintech firms fit into the international finance world on Day 2 of the Main Stage.

Natalie Fleming speaking at Tech in Asia Tokyo 2016

Why should you attend their session?
The Fintech Association of Japan (FAJ) was established in 2014 by local and international ecosystem players, and now boasts nearly 200 members. Its main activities include sponsoring networking events and researching emerging fintech trends in Japan.

About the speaker
Bilingual in English and Japanese, Natalie has leveraged her unique capabilities to launch a successful career in financial services. After stints at Citibank and Rakuten Bank, she moved on to become director of banking and regulatory relations at mass-payout firm Payoneer. Natalie is also a founding board member of the FAJ.

Don’t snooze and lose!

Got your attention now? Then set your alarms for 27-28 September, where all of the above speakers will be present at Tech in Asia Tokyo 2017! From just US$147 for startups before discounts, soak in one of the year’s premier tech conferences along with 2000 other attendees. Pitch to investors, gain valuable insights from talks, and network with your peers – the world (ok… event) is your oyster.

If you book anytime from now till 8 September, 2359hrs (GMT +9), you’ll also be able to shave 10 percent off cover prices with the promo code “tiatokyo10”. Be sure to wake up before September ends to take advantage of this deal!