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The Drivery, Europe’s biggest marketplace for mobility innovators, invites Japanese startups to enter the European market and vice versa.

Berlin-based Mobility Marketplace The Drivery is collaborating with Crossbie, a business consulting company, on an accelerator program for German and Japanese mobility startups.

The program aims to build bi-directional accelerator programs for mobility startups from both countries and enable them to access the respective markets. The participating companies will be able to leverage the network of Crossbie in Japan and of The Drivery in Europe, including VCs.

“Japan is a strong economy, a mobility nation, and highly innovative. Geographically, however, Japan is very far away from Europe’s economy. We wanted to make sure that the Japanese ecosystem finds its way to Europe and vice versa. An acceleration program is a perfect way to open up the possibilities of the European market to Japanese founders, and in return, bring fascinating new technologies to Europe,” says Timon Rupp, Founder and CEO of The Drivery.

The accelerator program targets startups with strong mobility technology and will run for six months in total, three months per cohort. Up to three companies per country will be able to participate and will be offered maximum exposure to the new market. The first phase is the go-to Germany program, where Japanese startups will be recruited, selected, and accelerated to meet potential investors and business partners. The second phase is the go-to Japan program, which will offer the same for German startups.

“In this rapidly changing world, scaling networks by connecting with other mobility clusters across the globe is a business imperative. Japan is one of the leading countries in the mobility industry so it was just a matter of when we would connect Germany and Japan,” explains Chika Yamamoto, Managing Director of Crossbie. “Berlin’s government proactively nurtures the ecosystem bridge creation with other cities around the world. Japan is home to many deep-tech startups and has a lot to offer Europe. I think Berlin and The Drivery is a great role model of a thriving global hub for the Japanese startup ecosystem.”

Selected startups will learn about the ecosystem, markets and cultural dynamics, supplemented by tailored mentoring sessions by experts. During the program, startups will have demo days and 1-on-1 matching sessions.

Interested companies can sign up here for the first kick-off event on June 9, 2021.

Head of Marketing Communications