The goal of the Springboard program is to elevate promising startups in Yokohama’s vibrant life science community and empower them to make waves in international markets through the advice from entrepreneurs and professional mentors, leading to refinement of business model and an increase in their appeal with investors and venture capital.
A virtual kickoff event for the program was held on August 10th 2022. Mentoring will take place through individual online meetings with each of the companies during a three month period from August to October. Spaced throughout this period, the companies will also have chances to practice their pitching abilities at Pitch Practice sessions. Finally in January 2023 a virtual Demo Day will be held with an audience that will include key US investors and venture capital organizations
The participants of this 4th annual Springboard Program in Yokohama powered by Connect San Diego are as follows:
CoreTissue BioEngineering
“It is estimated that more than 800,000 people undergo anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery each year, a serious and major—yet common—surgery involving removal of the torn ligament and replacement with a graft tendon. We aim to greatly reduce the burden placed upon these patients around the world with medical devices developed using our unique decellularization technology, which eliminates the need for a graft from healthy tissue.”
Dancing Fun (D-FUN)
“We are developing and providing a “Squid Foot” supporter to ballet practitioners, a specially-designed silicone pad that supplements the short part of the instep bone (metatarsal) to adjust the dancer’s distribution of weight, which relieves pain in the foot and can increase performance in dance and sports.”
https://www.dancingfun.net/ (Japanese)
Life Analytics
“Life Analytics is developing a web application that supports image analysis for research and examination in the life science, medical, and industrial fields by easily reading the various formats of different manufacturers and devices and enabling high-precision and high-dimensional image analysis regardless of shooting conditions.”
LOOVIC
“We have developed a route guidance service that specializes in supporting those with weak spatial recognition. By linking an IoT device and a map application to set a destination, we provide a product that guides you to your destination with voice technology that incorporates tactile sensation feedback and bone conduction.”
https://www.loovic.co.jp/ (English available)
