From 4 to 10 September, a large delegation accompanied Frankfurt’s Lord Mayor Josef on a visit to Yokohama. As well as matters relating to the city partnership – such as the 15th anniversary, the school exchange program with Sakuragaoka High School and tourism – the visit focused in particular on mutual support for business development.

On 9 September, the City of Yokohama and the delegation invited start-ups, businesses, investors and innovation drivers to the Yokohama Connéct seminar ‘Frankfurt Meets Yokohama’ at Tech Hub Yokohama. 

With the aim of connecting the two start-up and innovation ecosystems, the City of Frankfurt presented the key economic sectors of the Rhine-Main region and brought along four start-ups, which introduced themselves to the audience in Yokohama with a five-minute elevator pitch. The start-up Wianco was even represented in person and was able to forge valuable connections in Yokohama right on the spot.

Bernhard Grieb, Managing Director of Frankfurt Economic Development, spoke about how his agency’s services support start-ups and businesses in establishing themselves in Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main region. 

He highlighted finance & fintech, digital infrastructure, and higher education & science (R&D) as the areas with the greatest potential for collaboration, and saw significant similarities between Yokohama and Frankfurt in terms of their international character, openness and excellent connectivity via airport and public transport infrastructure. Currently the fifth-largest start-up hotspot in Germany, Frankfurt plans to open a start-up hub similar to the Tech Hub Yokohama in January 2027.

He added the sectors of health & pharmaceuticals, transport & logistics, and knowledge-intensive professional services to the areas already mentioned as having potential for collaboration, and highlighted the common themes of mobility and robotics.

There are 3,898 start-ups in the federal state of Hesse, 1,250 of which are based in Frankfurt, making the region an excellent location for Japanese companies. The four selected start-ups that presented their services at this event already have links to the Japanese market or are planning to expand into it over the next three months.

The following start-ups presented themselves at the event:

Enviotech: Smart retrofit kits for street lighting that save up to 80 per cent on energy costs

Threedy: 3D data visualisation that enables use cases for 3D data in any format and connects AI with CAD and PLM systems

Magnotherm: Refrigerant-free magnetic cooling: the more cost-effective, non-toxic and sustainable solution for all sectors using cooling systems

Wianco: Cognitive AI ‘EMMA’: capable of handling any data and systems just like a human, enabling people from diverse backgrounds to participate in the digital transformation.

Both sides had the opportunity to forge personal connections in the modern and creativity-inspiring atmosphere of the Tech Hub Yokohama. Looking to the future, new opportunities are expected for both cities, their citizens and their businesses, as the two ecosystems have grown closer through this event, learnt about each other’s strengths and common ground, and will certainly capitalise on the new connections they have made.