Digital Garage Launches STARTUP STUDIO “GenLab,” for the Next-Generation Entrepreneurs in Generative AI, with IT Pioneers

– DG launches a STARTUP STUDIO “GenLab” for the next-generation entrepreneurs working with Generative AI at “DG717,” DG’s incubation center in San Francisco.

– Based on the “Global Incubation Stream” that DG has spent more than 20 years building, DG will gather entrepreneurs and engineers based in Silicon Valley and create a community that will attract entrepreneurs from all over the world.

Digital Garage, Inc. (TSE Prime section: 4819; HQ: Tokyo; Representative Director, President Executive Officer and Group CEO: Kaoru Hayashi; DG) opened its incubation center, “DG717,” on Market Street in San Francisco in 2013. DG has a strong track record of supporting startups in various web3-related spaces, and the business community that DG has built over the past decade has become a landmark in San Francisco as a connecting hub for startups and investors. It has also functioned as a West Coast web3 community base camp for several years.

DG has supported the global expansion of Japanese startups with its “Open Network Lab,” a startup incubation program launched in 2010. DG has also implemented cutting-edge technologies globally, including supporting Twitter’s entry into the Japanese market.

San Francisco’s business ecosystem experienced radical change due to the COVID pandemic. After several years of depopulation, the emergence of startups in the web3 and Generative AI spaces, such as OpenAI, is now transforming San Francisco into a new gateway city for the next-generation tech companies, including those in Silicon Valley.

Amid this significant technological shift, DG launches “GenLab,” a STARTUP STUDIO to support startups that create new value with generative AI and its related technologies, with “DG717” as the center of its activities. The startups in “GenLab” are primarily next-generation entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, and creators who can develop innovative concepts and services using generative AI.

The most outstanding feature of “GenLab” is that its base of operations, “DG717,” is in the center of San Francisco, a city full of people, information, and financial resources. In addition to Hayashi and Ito, co-founders of DG, who have been engaged in fostering various businesses as pioneers of the Internet business in Japan, DG has invited global IT leaders as advisors to support the startups.

Greg Pass, former CTO of Twitter, Inc. (Twitter) and a key contributor to Cornell Tech, a tech campus on the U.S. East Coast, and Dr. Abdur Chowdhury, Chief Scientist at Twitter, as well as other pioneers in the U.S. tech community, will support startups as advisors. Also, Daniel Riedel, an entrepreneur and expert in the security space, will manage “GenLab” as Executive Director.

Besides, businesses can grow globally through partnerships and fundraising utilizing DG’s global networks and technical support from DG’s research and development organizations, such as “DG Lab” and “DA Lab.” After carefully selecting entrepreneurs for investment, “GenLab” will differentiate itself from others by establishing a unique “GenLab” method that provides financial support and helps them implement their services into society.

■Comment from Daniel Riedel, Executive Director of GenLab
As AI technology evolves, it is essential that we foster sustainable and ethical development in the industry. Digital Garage’s GenLab Venture Studio aims to create an environment where businesses and technologies prioritize the betterment of society and the environment, rather than solely focusing on profit.

■Comment from Kaoru Hayashi, Representative Director, President Executive Officer and Group CEO of Digital Garage, Inc.
Since its establishment, DG has supported Japanese and international startups and built its startup network, “Global Incubation Stream.” Global leaders such as Greg Pass, original member and former CTO of Twitter (now Professor of Practice, Cornell Tech), and Dr. Abdur Chowdhury, former Chief Scientist of Twitter (now CEO & Co-founder, Aura Frames), will also participate in “GenLab.” Using a method that differentiates us from other investment funds, we will discover new talent to create the next Twitter and Google companies.

■Comment from Joichi Ito, Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer and Chief Architect of Digital Garage, Inc.
Neural networks predict based on data patterns, but they do not understand the ‘why.’ However, we need to think beyond just Large Language Models (LLMs) and consider an AI that not only understands like humans but also amplifies intelligence and improves well-being. For instance, probabilistic computing allows us to encode and amplify the ‘rules’ that underpin human knowledge and reasoning. Through “DALab” that I lead, we plan to support initiatives and startups that are willing to be part of the journey with us.

Startups interested in joining “GenLab” or interested in a partnership please contact us at genlab@garage.co.jp.

※An incubation center “DG717” located along Market Street in San Francisco and previous events hosted there.