Sumitomo To Export Online Pharmacy Soukai Drug To China And Indonesia

Sumitomo Corporation announced on March 7 that their online pharmacy Soukai Drug (soukai = briskness in Japanese) is going to expand into China and Indonesia this year. Their Shanghai and Jakarta subsidiaries are already set up. Trial in Shanghai is planned to begin in late April, Jakarta service will start in late August.

In Jakarta: First BOOST Conference To Take Place On January 17-18, 2012

Indonesia is just getting started on the Internet, but interest is rapidly growing in this massive market of 240 million people. The country is on the map especially in the tech industry in Japan and (to a lesser extent) Silicon Valley, which is why a new conference called BOOST is trying to connect these three… Continue reading In Jakarta: First BOOST Conference To Take Place On January 17-18, 2012

Presentation: Innovation, Imitation & Hyper-Localization (Sparxup 2011, Indonesia)

Last Friday, I was invited to Jakarta to give a keynote presentation at the Sparxup Awards 2011 event for Indonesian startups. The presentation’s topic was “Innovation, Imitation & Hyper-Localization In Asia”, and assuming some readers might be interested, I embedded it below. Here are the slides (direct link): Keynote Presentation: Sparxup 2011 Indonesia View more… Continue reading Presentation: Innovation, Imitation & Hyper-Localization (Sparxup 2011, Indonesia)

Rakuten Goes To UK And/Or Germany By The End Of This Year, CEO Said

According to Mainichi [J], Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani reportedly told that they will open their e-mall business either or both of UK and Germany this year. Rakuten is planning to move into 4 new countries by the end of 2011, UK and Germany are big markets that they are interested in Europe. Indonesia will come… Continue reading Rakuten Goes To UK And/Or Germany By The End Of This Year, CEO Said

Rakuten Enters Indonesia With “Rakuten BELANJA ONLINE”

Rakuten just doesn’t stop internationalizing. In May, we reported about the joint venture the Japanese e-commerce giant (market cap at the Tokyo Stock Exchange: $10 billion) entered with Indonesia’s biggest media company, Global Mediacom. And today, Rakuten announced the result of the deal, an online mall, which will be opened next year and give Indonesian… Continue reading Rakuten Enters Indonesia With “Rakuten BELANJA ONLINE”

Mixi ex-CTO Helps Singaporean Mobile Startup Xsago

Batara Eto, who suggested to make a Japanese social network to his boss in late 2003 and programmed Japan’s biggest social network Mixi, let the company (E-mercury) to change their primary business and rename (to “Mixi”, of course) with the huge success, then left his CTO job in 2007 [J], is reported to invest to… Continue reading Mixi ex-CTO Helps Singaporean Mobile Startup Xsago