Check out these 11 startups in Japan and the ecosystem builders supporting them

The Japan Association of New Economy held its annual New Economy Summit today. The association is headed by the founder of Rakuten, Hiroshi Mikitani, and for the third year in a row the business conference featured startups pitching for exposure to top Japanese companies and US$10,000 in prize money.

This year each startup was recommended by a local “ecosystem builder” which introduced each company before the five minute pitches started.

Check out Tech in Asia’s recommendation and the other finalists below.

PocketMarche – recommended by Infinity Ventures Summit

PocketMarche CEO Hiroyuki Takahashi.

PocketMarche connects farmers and fishers with consumers directly through an app.

Farmers can post pictures and a description of their goods with their smartphone as well as create a delivery slip automatically thanks to PocketMarche’s partnership with one of Japan’s largest shipping companies.

The online community lets food producers chat directly with consumers to create real relationships.

“We aren’t robots, we are people,” says CEO Hiroyuki Takahashi on stage. Hiroyuki wants to bring the feeling and connection back between people who make food, and those who enjoy it.

After a string of second place finishes at recent pitch events, PocketMarche finally came out on top tied with one other startup.

Agribuddy – recommended by Incubation and Innovation Initiative’s Mirai 2017

Agribuddy CSO Rajesh Paleth.

Agribuddy, the other winner, is a financial support platform for small scale farmers.

Aba – recommended by Samurai Incubate’s Samurai Island Expo

Smart Parking – recommended by CyberAgent Ventures’ Monthly Pitch

ComQuest Ventures – recommended by Fukuoka City’s Startup City Fukuoka

Fitty – recommended by Kobe City’s Kobe Innovation Ecosystem

Kekkan Bijin “Beautiful capillaries” by At – recommended by Osaka City’s Osaka Innovation Hub

Fove – recommended by Slush Tokyo

Dattabot – recommended by Tech in Asia

Bring – recommended by Tohmatsu Venture Support’s Morning Pitch

G-tac – recommended by METI’s SIDO Next Innovator 2016