Startups

Robot-maker ZMP Inc. is aiming to launch the first commercial level 3 automated bus operation in Japan at an airport in 2020.

SoftBank Ventures Asia is understood to have reached the second close for its latest early-stage fund at 341 billion won, or $341 million, this month.

In a year that saw sharing-economy unicorns Uber Technologies, Lyft and WeWork struggle, a small Japanese startup closed 2019 with an impressive stock market debut.

Japanese wireless carrier NTT Docomo's venture-capital arm is investing in an American startup that offers cashierless checkout systems for retailers in the U.S. and Brazil and looks to expand into Japan.

Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and trading house Marubeni are investing a total of $70 million in a new fund linked to state-owned Singaporean investment group Temasek Holdings, aiming to nurture Asian technology startups.

A startup that’s friendly to both the environment and your wallet is two steps away from a $1 million prize. Renewable-energy company Looop Inc., which says it can slash household electricity costs to a third of what customers pay now, advanced to the final rounds of Startup World Cup 2020 in Tokyo on Thursday.

Sumitomo Corp. is looking to cash in on Japan's growing cybersecurity concerns with a roughly $7 million investment in U.S. software encryption startup PreVeil.

Japanese fashion giant Uniqlo is partnering with two robotics startups to automate the last tasks still handled by human workers at its warehouses, a process that the company hopes to complete within five years.

Startups are continuing to grow in Japan, with a Nikkei survey finding the estimated corporate value of the 20 leading newer businesses increased 22% to exceed a combined value of 1 trillion yen ($9.2 billion) in the year to September. Growth is especially notable in the artificial intelligence and financial technology, or fintech, areas.

Watching millions of squirming insect larvae devour animal manure is a stomach-churning experience, but Japanese startup Musca and its investors see money in the maggots.