Japanese startup that can 3D print human tissue takes home top prize at the 2015 Asian Entrepreneurship Award

Koji Kuchiishi of Cyfuse Biomedical winning the top prize

The Asian Entrepreneurship Awards bring together a who’s who of major universities and corporations seeking to support entrepreneurship. The companies participating in the pitch competition tend to be farther along in their development and tackle issues that resonate internationally.

Eight companies, with business models as diverse as 3D biological tissue printing to building a better app monetization tool, appeared before a highly decorated panel of judges: Michael Alfant, Group Chairman and CEO and Fusions Systems Group, Jesper Koll, most recently the Managing Director and Head of Japanese Equity Research at JP Morgan Securities Japan, Erik Vermeulen, VP and senior counsel corporate at Philips, and Yoko Ishikura, professor emeritus at Hitosubashi University.

Here’s a brief overview of all the startups:

Cyfuse Biomedical

Founder Koji Kuchiishi

Cyfuse Biomedical is a startup pushing the boundaries of modern medicine. Led by Koji Kuchiishi, it is working to 3D print bioengineered organs to patients around the world. Founded in 2010, it has received US$17 million to attack a worldwide market expected to reach nearly US$100 billion by 2025.

Kuchiishi has already created a network of Japanese research universities to further develop the product, and is now seeking American and Asian counterparts. His patented process can produce tissue as quickly as one week after culturing the cells. More complex tissue, like a blood vessel, takes up to one month, but the result is a stronger piece of biological equipment. The blood vessels his company produces can withstand up to four times as much pressure as the average human’s.

Cyfuse Biomedical won the top prize and with it JPY 2 million (US$16,000). They also scored free rent at a the KOIL Park and Clip Nihonbashi co-working spaces for two years courtesy of Mitsui Fudosan.

Dynaoptics

CEO Li Han Chan receiving her prize.

Founder and CEO Li Han Chan knows that people love taking pictures on their smartphones but hate not being able to zoom in to take high quality pictures. Current solutions are too bulky or too expensive, but Dynaoptics has figured out a way to give high quality 3x zoom to a smartphone.

In August 2014, it completed its proof of concept. Its lenses are made of regular plastics and manufactured using typical high volume production practices. Chan has been building a defensible business too – her company holds patents in optical design, manufacturing, and other aspects of the lens for over six countries.

The Singapore veteran has so far raised US$1.5 million on a pre-money valuation of US$8 million in its series A. With the new cash it is looking to strengthen its revenue streams of licensing, lens fabrications, and lens module assembly.

Soft Space

Innova

Orthoneer

VMFive

Neofect

Cascube