Meet the Team — Yuya Watanabe
Yuya Watanabe is at the center of Scrum Studio managing three programs: Well-BeingX, SPORTS INNOVATION STUDIO, and AgeTechX. He is responsible for matching startups with corporate partners to collaborate on new business ideas. As part of our series to highlight the talented people at Scrum, we sat down with Yuya to learn more.
Tell us about what you do:
When I first joined Scrum Studio, I focused on Well-BeingX, a global open innovation program dedicated to helping startups co-develop wellness solutions with influential Japanese corporations. I am also involved in SPORTS INNOVATION STUDIO with Japan’s Sports Agency, a platform for sports technology and organizations collaboration, and AgeTechX with Hakuhodo, a program that focuses on technologies that address issues that senior citizens face.
I provide support to our partners with research, due diligence, and business co-creation support with the startups we introduce. There are many startups, but only 1 out of 100 may be a good match with a corporate partner to create something new. These startups are not easy to find, so we do research on startups around the world, connect with them, and start discussing if they would be a good match for one of our programs. I get to meet many founders, which is an exciting part of my job.
It may be hard to find the one startup that matches, but when it happens, both the startups and corporate partners become enthusiastic about creating something for the future. It’s rewarding to be part of this process and something I could not have imagined in any of my past positions. I get to work with very forward-thinking, positive people, which is amazing.
While the partners are Japanese corporations, where are the startups from?
We recruit startups from around the world to participate in our programs, but in the case of Well-BeingX, many of them are Japanese startups. Among the Japanese startups selected for Well-BeingX, some were spun out from research and development departments at corporations. The Japanese government is encouraging these founders by providing support and loans, making the transition from a large company to a startup easier. These founders are passionate about spreading their technology to the market, becoming quite independent from their former employers.
We do extensive research on what’s happening overseas in similar industries to determine what is successful or not. This allows Scrum Studio to share global perspectives and knowledge with program participants.
What is SPORTS INNOVATION STUDIO?
In the U.S., sports and technology have closely integrated to create new opportunities and services, but this is less the case in Japan. For example, in the U.S., technology is used in competitions, judging and recording, and athlete training. Furthermore, on the sports entertainment side, technology is used to reach a larger number of spectators and to enhance the stadium experience. Sports, entertainment, and technology are combined to create new experiences and markets. Japan has much to learn from these U.S. trends.
Scrum Studio thus partnered with the Japan Sports Agency to encourage innovation. One example is the F-League, a professional futsal league with 21 teams in two divisions. Few athletes can play full-time; the majority have to keep a regular job, as futsal is still minor compared to soccer. However, it has the potential to grow as entertainment because it can be played indoors or on a small court, and its speed is unique. Our goal is to make the Futsal F-League more popular and profitable by incorporating new technology.
Another example is the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF), the governing body of four-wheel races held at circuits. JAF also issues circuit licenses and is involved in motorsports, an event that attracts a large number of spectators, but they are not taking advantage of new technologies. I enjoy watching F1 races, so I am interested in working with JAF via our programs.
What was it like growing up overseas, as well as when you worked for a French bank?
I was born in Montreal, Canada, so I have both Canadian and Japanese citizenship. Then, due to my father’s work, we moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, from second grade to fourth grade of elementary school.
Back then, there was still a lot of racism in the southern part of the United States. For example, when we were divided into groups in class, we were naturally divided into two groups, one for whites and the other for people of color, and I was sometimes bullied. Many times, it was hard for me to go to school. I still remember that when my mother put green tea jelly in my lunch box, the kids laughed at me because it was something green and weird. It was a painful experience, but now I think it was a valuable experience for me to learn firsthand that such discrimination exists.
Later, I returned to Japan and went to the School of International Education at Waseda University which requires one year of study abroad. I studied at the Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany. It has a deep history with Japan and was the school where Mori Ogai and Kitasato Shibasaburo once went.
At that time, I was interested in German politics. It was the time when the Democratic Party of Japan came to power and the Doshu system was introduced, which Germany had just adopted. It is a system that allows local governments to make various decisions rather than following national decisions.
Berlin is a city divided into East and West. The East Berlin area had poor social infrastructure, and there was still a big difference from West Berlin. On the other hand, there were old buildings, and some areas were inexpensive, so the land became a place where many European startups gathered, and I was able to experience that kind of spirit.
After graduation, I wanted to gain experience in finance because I thought that was the foundation of running any business. So, I joined Societe Generale, which has its headquarters in France. Societe Generale in Japan was engaged in four businesses, one of which was securities. They buy and sell stocks, bonds, and other securities. The other businesses were banking, asset management, and aircraft leasing (airline passenger planes are owned by other companies or investors who split their value).
Overseas investment banks hire people with certain skills and backgrounds, so getting into an investment bank as a new graduate is a unique opportunity in Japan. Of course, there was a lot of pressure at first, and it required certain skills from the beginning, but I got lucky with the team I joined and had the opportunity to learn and felt accepted. When I was in the securities division, I was in charge of corporate sales of complex financial products called structured bonds, and when I was in the banking division, I was in charge of sales to large Japanese corporations and branch support.
Tell us about the transition from banking to Scrum Studio and supporting startups.
I joined Scrum Studio because I wanted to use the skills I had acquired up to that point to create new businesses. I wanted to be involved in launching new businesses from the perspectives of investors, business companies, and start-ups. I also knew Scrum’s founder, Tak Miyata.
Scrum has two entities: Scrum Ventures, which makes investments, and Scrum Studio, which does business co-creation. However, there is an internal exchange program between the two where an employee can opt to spend time on a project in the other entity. I did this and learned how we source startups for investments and do due diligence.
The greatest strength of Scrum Ventures and Scrum Studio is that we support new ideas and new innovations. For example, at SPORTS INNOVATION STUDIO, I love motorsports, but many people on the team did not see motorsports as a sports field. Even so, I pushed them, saying, “I want to do it, let’s do it!” and this became a major theme of SPORTS INNOVATION STUDIO.
I think the greatest appeal of Scrum is that we can move with a sense of urgency and speed. Each of us is in charge of a wide range of areas, and our opinions are reflected in our work, making our days quite exciting.
