Korea’s Shinhan Financial Group launches accelerator in Japan to help Korean startups to gain easy access

Leading Korean banking institution Shinhan Financial Group has launched a business accelerator program, ‘Shinhan Future’s Lab Japan,’ in Japan that will help South Korean startups gain entry into the Japanese market.

With the move, Shinhan intends to help Korean startups launch their operations in Japan and generate commercial channels between the two countries. K-Pop culture has swept the Japanese market, and everything Korean is sought after by consumers in the country, especially Gen Z. Shinhan’s entry as an accelerator in Japan will help startups promote Korean products and services in the country.

Shinhan Future’s Lab is a business acceleration project of the group launched in 2015. It has fostered 323 startups at home and abroad with a total investment of $46 million. Tokyo is the third branch of Shinhan Future’s Lab after Vietnam in 2016 and Indonesia in 2019.

Shinhan introduced ten dynamic South Korean startups at the opening ceremony in Tokyo for Shinhan Future’s Lab Japan. According to the company, more than 100 Korean startups have entered the Japanese market in various sectors, such as fintech, fashion, health, etc. Some known ones include the medical beauty app GangnamUnni, the math solver app Qanda, and artificial intelligence video creator Deepbrain AI.

Shinhan will also invest in promising Japanese startups, and in collaboration with its affiliate Shinhan Bank Japan, the group plans to give financial support to Korean startups. Shinhan will establish its startup-focused office in Tokyo next year. “We look forward to supporting startups so they can come and go between Japan and South Korea,” said Kim Myoung-hee, Shinhan’s vice president who leads Future’s Lab.

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