August 15, 2026

Kansai Startups Exhibit at VivaTech, One of Europe’s Largest Open Innovation Trade Shows

By 2 min read

VivaTech 2026External site: a new window will open, one of Europe’s largest open innovation and startup trade shows, was held in Paris from June 17 to 20 , with 10 startups from Kansai participating as a unified regional delegation.

Ten prominent Kansai startups (see attached reference table) set up booths at the Japan Village with supportfrom the Union of Kansai GovernmentsExternal site: a new window will open ,City of Osaka, and the Kyoto Startup EcosystemExternal site: a new window will open. Startups and local governments promoted their initiatives to international audiences and worked to build new networks through dedicated stage pitches and booth exhibitions at the Japan Village.

The exhibiting startups made the most of the opportunities not only at the exhibition venue but also through participation in JETRO-hosted networking events with European venture capital (VC) and corporate venture capital (CVC) firms. The event was also attended by venture capital firms such as Jolt Capital (France), which had participated in Global Startup Expo 2025 held at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan. These firms provided startups with opportunities to connect with their networks.

Participating companies also shared the following impressions of the event:
“Many overseas enterprises attended the event, and this could lead to excellent opportunities for us.” (Kotone Nishigohri, Representative Director and CEO, Ready to Bloom)
“We were able to connect with many European companies, including investors. We also had effective conversations at JETRO’s events.” (Masahiro Suemitsu, Representative Director, CEO and CTO, SPACECOOL)

JETRO plans to continue strongly supporting the global expansion of Kansai startups, building on the achievements of this year’s participation in VivaTech 2026 and its collaboration with the Union of Kansai Governments. Specifically, JETRO will expand participation fromKansai in J-StarX, an overseas development program for entrepreneurs and others, and attract overseas venture capital (VC) firms and other investors to Kansai by leveraging Global Startup Expo2026External site: a new window will open, a startup exhibition to be held in Osaka in October 2026; business matching will be further accelerated. Through such initiatives, JETRO will continue providing comprehensive support to help Kansai-born startups meet global standards and expand into international markets