International Tech Hubs 3rd ed. - Digital Magazine plugd:in

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INTERNATIONAL TECH HUBS THIRD EDITION | BDO LLP

INVESTMENTS As far as investments are concerned, it varies. Real estate companies, technology, financing, banking and securities have done well in Japan. There are many foreign companies within the music and entertainment space located here in Japan including SoftBank, Alibaba, FlipChart, ByteDance, AKA, TikTok, DoorDash and NVIDIA. There’s a heavy habitat for a lot of the strong tech companies and there is likely to be a buying spree because a lot of small tech companies have gone public. Companies like SoftBank, Rakuten and Sony all have their foot in the door as they have already made small investments in startups. Line, which is the WeChat of Japan, is also doing really well. They went through a large merger with Yahoo Japan and they’re going to be one of the bigger players within the media space. A Korean-listed company that recently listed in the US called Coupang is considered one of the largest e-commerce companies. They have made large investments in a lot of these companies. Rakuten, who sponsor Barcelona FC, are very active in Europe and the US. THE INVESTOR ANGLE For foreign businesses looking for investments in Japan, BDO has contacts with trading companies – such as Mitsubishi Corporation, Sumitomo Trading and ITOCHU – who can talk to you about setting up business in Japan. BDO can also help out on the seller end by making introductions to the large banks.

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