Dentsu Group ranked second in the "Startup Friendly Scoring." Speaks at Keidanren-hosted summit

Dentsu Group ranked second in the "2nd Startup Friendly Scoring" hosted by the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren). This scoring system selects outstanding companies contributing to the development of the startup ecosystem, with approximately 150 major domestic companies participating.

In its March 2022 proposal "Startup Leap Forward Vision," Keidanren set forth the "10X10X" goal to increase startups tenfold in both quantity and quality by 2027. The targets and measures outlined here have been reflected in government initiatives such as the "Five-Year Plan for Startup Development," and both public and private sectors are currently intensively implementing measures to achieve "10X10X."

Amidst this, large corporations in particular are expected to contribute to startup growth as vital members of the startup ecosystem and to grow together by harnessing their vitality. To encourage large corporations to change their behavior for the growth of the startup ecosystem, a scoring system was launched in FY2022. Its purpose is to evaluate each large corporation's current level of effort and visualize how startup-friendly they are or how important a role they play in the ecosystem, thereby helping each company improve its specific initiatives.

Participating for the first time, the Dentsu Group ranked second. Among the three evaluation axes—"Providing Resources to Startups," "Building Next-Generation Core Businesses by Integrating Startups," and "Contributing to the Startup Ecosystem by Generating Businesses and Talent"—its efforts in "Business Partnerships with Startups" and "Providing Talent" under the "Providing Resources to Startups" category were particularly highly evaluated.

<2023 Ranking>
1 KDDI
2 Dentsu Group
3 DeNA
4 BIPROGY
5 Mitsubishi Estate
6 TOPPAN
7 MUFG
8 Nippon Life
9 Tokio Marine
10 ANA

These results were announced at the Keidanren Startup Summit 2024 held on May 27. In addition to the second round of scoring results, the summit featured explanations of the "Review Book" reflecting on the effectiveness and challenges of Keidanren's startup initiatives, networking among participants, and presentations on scoring by large corporations and startups.

First, Professor Akiyoshi Iriyama from Waseda University Graduate School of Business Administration and Mr. Makoto Takahashi, President of KDDI and Chair of Keidanren's Startup Committee, took the stage to review the second round of scoring results. Professor Iriyama introduced initiatives between large corporations and startups in Europe, emphasizing the importance of drawing inspiration not only from the American model but also from the European model. Mr. Takahashi, the Startup Committee Chairman, stressed the importance of strengthening their own initiatives by referencing these scoring results and case studies from other companies.

(From left) Professor Akiyoshi Iriyama, Waseda University Graduate School; President Makoto Takahashi, KDDI (Chairman of Keidanren's Startup Committee)
Photo courtesy of Keidanren

During the review of startup policies and explanation of future challenges, Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Kazuchika Iwata and Keidanren Startup Committee Chairperson Tomoko Minaba, Chairperson of DeNA, took the stage. They presented a progress review on startup policies and exchanged views on future challenges.

(From left) Tomoko Namba, Chairperson, DeNA ; Kazuchika Iwata, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
Photo provided by Keidanren

In the presentations by large corporations and startups, companies like Shionogi & Co., Inc. and Pixie Dust Technologies, and Mitsubishi UFJ Bank and SkyDrive took the stage. From Dentsu Inc., Hatsunao Yamamoto, Director of Startup Growth Partners, took the stage alongside Yusuke Inagaki, Co-CEO/Co-founder of Userbase, and Shunsuke Kanizumi, CEO of NewsPicks Studios , to introduce examples of collaboration between the Dentsu Group and startups .

(From left) Dentsu Inc. Yamamoto, NewsPicks Studios' Kinzen, Userbase's Inagaki
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In 2015, the Dentsu Group established Dentsu Ventures, a corporate venture capital (CVC) firm investing in and supporting startups both domestically and internationally. Including its predecessor funds, the total amount raised by its funds to date exceeds ¥30 billion. The presentation also covered organizations launched not only as CVCs but also to contribute to business growth.
Photo courtesy of Keidanren

Mr. Yamamoto also introduced Startup Growth Partners (SGP), a specialized organization for startups, alongside Dentsu Ventures, the Dentsu Group's CVC. He explained that SGP, established within Dentsu Inc.'s business division in 2022, provides integrated solutions not only for investment from CVC (Corporate Venture Capital) but also as a growth partner. This includes support beyond advertising and marketing, such as facilitating open innovation with large corporations, IR communication support, and recruitment branding support, all aimed at solving CXO challenges. "With the launch of SGP, the Dentsu Group aims to accompany startups' growth through an integrated investment and growth approach," it stated.

NewsPicks Studios was introduced as a pioneering example of collaboration with a startup. This joint venture, funded by Userbase and Dentsu Inc., includes creators and business producers from Dentsu Inc. It advances content planning and large corporate alliance initiatives with Dentsu Inc. Mr. Inagaki concluded, "Collaboration with large corporations is crucial for startup growth. Combining the novelty of startups with the reliability of large corporations expands the value offered and leads to sales growth," adding, "I believe we have become a role model for many startups."

Launched in fiscal year 2022, this scoring system designates companies with top-tier global market capitalization and startup collaboration as receiving a comprehensive "A" rating. Its purpose is to encourage continuous improvement in the overall efforts of major corporations. The Dentsu Group aims to further strengthen collaboration between startups and its group companies, contributing to the development of Japan's startup ecosystem through the business growth of both parties.

【Dentsu Group Startup Investment and Collaboration Organizations】
Dentsu Inc. Startup Growth Partners
An internal Dentsu Inc. organization specializing in supporting startups' mid-to-long-term growth
https://dentsu-sgp.com/

Dentsu Inc. Ventures
Dentsu Group's corporate venture capital arm providing investment and hands-on support to startups
https://dentsu-v.com/

・Dentsu Innovation Initiative (within the Dentsu Group)
Dentsu Group's R&D organization dedicated to creating future business foundations through co-creation with startups
https://innovation.dentsu.com/

・Startup Preparation Office (within DENTSU CORPORATE ONE INC.)
An organization within dentsu Japan that supports and promotes serial entrepreneurship to create innovative businesses and services through collaboration with various partners

【Other】
・NewsPicks Studios
A joint venture established in June 2018 by NewsPicks Inc. (now Userbase Inc.) and Dentsu Inc. to plan, produce, and manage post-text content centered around video.
https://studios.newspicks.com/

・NewsPicks
A social economic media platform distributing news from over 100 domestic and international media outlets, including original articles created by the NewsPicks editorial team.
https://newspicks.com/about/

For Keidanren's startup promotion initiatives, see here:
https://www.keidanren.or.jp/policy/StartUp.html