Open Network Lab

Joi Ito wished these five Japanese startups good luck before their demo day

Joi Ito wished these five Japanese startups good luck before their demo day

Open Network Lab has accelerated some of Japan’s most famous startups. See the top five which graduated this term.
Peter Rothenberg · · 5 min read
Huge Korean demo day ends with 500 Startups bagging calendar app

Huge Korean demo day ends with 500 Startups bagging calendar app

Korean startups are turning heads from major accelerators, but one key ingredient they’re missing could stop them from going global.
Elaine Ramirez · · 10 min read
Fablic, the maker of women-focused flea-market app Fril, raises $9M

Fablic, the maker of women-focused flea-market app Fril, raises $9M

Fablic joins Mercari as flea market services raising hefty rounds.
David Corbin · · 1 min read
11 options for Japanese online shopping that aren’t Rakuten or Yahoo

11 options for Japanese online shopping that aren’t Rakuten or Yahoo

There are many more options than just Rakuten and Yahoo.
David Corbin · · 8 min read
Japan’s Netprice.com to rebrand as BEENOS – pivots to venture capital with “Inception Program”

Japan’s Netprice.com to rebrand as BEENOS – pivots to venture capital with “Inception Program”

Japan’s BEENOS creates “Inception” program – requires 70% equity to join. Idea created by Open Network Lab co-founder Hiro Maeda.
David Corbin · · 5 min read

19 of the hottest South Korean startups came to Tokyo looking for business partners – here’s our top five favorites

19 of the hottest South Korean startups came to Tokyo looking for business partners for Startup Alliance Korea. Here are the top five from their demo day.
David Corbin · · 4 min read

Japan’s Viibar wants to turn underappreciated video producers into well-paid freelancers

Viibar, a Tokyo-based startup, is on a mission to liberate technical professionals from the stifling world of industrial video production. Founded by Yuta Kamisaka and three others in April 2013, Viibar is a crowdsourcing solution for animated or live action video production and has already received US$3 million in funding. Kamisaka, a former director and producer for commercials and television shows, was inspired by his time in the industry.
David Corbin · · 4 min read

StudyPact motivates you to study by putting your money at stake

Founded by Tobias Hoenisch and later joined by Paul Kitti and Evan Grossman, StudyPact aims to motivate the world to study harder. How does it do that? Simple – by
Willis Wee · · 2 min read

6 Great Ideas from Open Network Lab’s Demo Day in Tokyo

Open Network Lab is a Tokyo-based incubator backed by Joi Ito (the director for MIT’s Media Lab) and two Japanese internet juggernauts, Digital Garage and NetPrice.com. They have just concluded
Masaru Ikeda · · 5 min read

Tokyo’s Open Network Lab Partners With AQ To Improve UX For Start-ups

Today Tokyo’s tech startup incubator Open Network Lab unveiled that it has partnered with AQ, a Tokyo-based multilingual website design consultancy, to help local tech startups improve user experience quality
Masaru Ikeda · · 2 min read