Launching Environmental Technologies

Akihabara News (Tokyo) — In the fourth episode of the Akihabara News podcast Japan Startup Megaphone, Christian Schmitz, founder of the Purpose Driven Innovation Ecosystem (PDIE), joins us for a discussion about initiatives to support environment-focused startups in Japan.

Schmitz’s own project has three pillars: the PDIE Institute which focuses on education; PDIE Consulting which shifts heightened awareness into action; and the PDIE building which hosts related events.

The new initiative is the European Union-backed Climate Launchpad, aiming to accelerate startups focused on environmental issues, including in Japan.

Schmitz explains that awareness of environmental issues is a bit lower in Japan than it is in Europe, and this accounts in part for the fact that related Japanese startups are only now beginning to appear.

The Environment Ministry headed by Shinjiro Koizumi, however, has been eager to kickstart this community, which is contributing to the prospects going forward.

Schmitz goes on to provide many examples of the fields in which startups might focus their activities, and discusses the unique characteristics of Japanese founders, as well as other topics.

The full podcast is linked below.

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