Designing
New Context

Designing
New Context

Digital Garage Launches “Onlab Open Innovation” to Promote Social Innovation and Coproduction of Companies and Startups

Looking for Startups in 12 Areas Including Fintech, Real Estate, ESG, and web3

2023.04.04

– Digital Garage, Inc. (DG) launches the 1st Batch program of “Open Network Lab – Open Innovation – (“Onlab Open Innovation”), an open innovation program for startups and various industry-leading enterprises invited as partners.

– Promoting “Onlab Open Innovation*1” under the Group strategy, “DG FinTech Shift,” DG Group realizes social implementation by utilizing the experience and knowledge to startups technologies into society geared toward business creation via business alliances and commercialization through open innovation with various companies and local governments.

This program is composed of 12 areas, including “Fintech”, “Real Estate”, “Urban Development / Smart City,” “Healthcare / Lifecare Science,” “ESG,” “web3/Metaverse”, “Universe,” “Regional Revitalization”, “Retail,” and “Data Utilization” as the themes, and DG Group aims for the social implementation via co-creation with the industry-leading partners of “Onlab Open Innovation” and startups or business alliances and commercialization by utilizing DG Group’s various business resources such as the payment business.

After the selection and acceptance of startups applied for the program, DG will provide support for considering business collaboration, planning and promotion of demonstration experiments, and business development.

In addition, DG will facilitate building startup ecosystems, encourage local innovation, and provide further support for national and international startups by utilizing the experience and know-how accumulated through the initiatives in major cities and areas, such as Hokkaido with “Open Network Lab HOKKAIDO” to build an innovative ecosystem, and Fukuoka with “Open Network Lab FUKUOKA” to realize the smart city and smart life.

Overview of “Onlab Open Innovation the 1st Batch Program”

<Support contents>
By combining the resources of each partner company, an individual company or a consortium of multiple companies will work as a team to verify business ideas, conduct demonstration tests, jointly commercialize the ideas, form business alliances, provide funding opportunities, and consider an investment.

<Eligibility for Application>
Corporations operating in 12 theme areas for the “Open Innovation program” are interested in collaborating with supporting companies.
※Pease refer to the official website for the requirements and the terms of participation.

<Planned Schedule>
・Application Deadline: April 21 (Friday), 2023, Noon (JST)
・Selection of participating companies: Late June 2023
・Project period: From late June to late November 2023
・Report: Late November 2023

Please visit the following official website for the details and the entry form for the program.
https://onlab.jp/programs/open-innovation/

<Partner Companies>(no particular order)
SB Players Corp., COSMOS INITIA Co., Ltd., TOKYU CORPORATION, Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd., Toshiba Tec Corporation, Nomura Real Estate Holdings, Inc., Hankyu Hanshin Properties Corp., FUKUOKA JISHO Co., Ltd., MITSUBISHI ESTATE CO., LTD.

<Supporting Organizations>
STARTUP CITY SAPPORO, and more.

Future Developments

To strengthen the function of promoting new businesses, DG Group has established Incubation Division*2 by consolidating a division for fostering new businesses across the Group and Open Network Lab business for promoting co-creation with startups and industries. Under this structure, DG will continue to encourage the overseas expansion of startups and the creation of next-generation businesses via collaboration with overseas startups through the “Global Incubation Stream” – a global network connecting North America, Europe, and Asia.

*1 Related Press Release: “Digital Garage Strengthens Its Support Structure for the “Open Network Lab” Startup Nurturing and Investment Program” (October 18, 2022)
*2 Reference: “Organizational and Personnel Changes” (November 25, 2022)