TradeWaltz has been selected to represent Japan at the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC), the world’s largest acceleration program pitch contest!

TradeWaltz Inc (President and CEO: Hirohisa Kojima), operator of TradeWaltz, a trade information collaboration platform (hereinafter “TradePF”), is pleased to announce that it has won the Entrepreneurship World Cup 2022 Japan, the world’s largest global acceleration program and pitch contest, and has been selected as one of three companies representing Japan.

■About Entrepreneurship World Cup（EWC）　
　EWC is the world’s largest acceleration program and pitch competition organized by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), which is managed and supported by the Kauffman Foundation. GEN (https://www.genglobal.org/) is a global entrepreneurship community with participants from approximately 130 countries, and the EWC attracts attention from around the world as the most diverse startup program competition in the world, with many of the next generation’s leading startups competing each year.

　The EWC Japan competition was held at CIC Tokyo (Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo) on September 14 (Wed) in both face-to-face and online formats. 2 companies from the Idea Stage and 5 companies from the Early Stage participated, each giving a 5-minute pitch and a 3-minute Q&A session, all in English. TradeWaltz participated in the early stage, won the competition, and was selected to represent Japan.
　Ken Robotics Ltd. from the Early Stage and Red Arrow Therapeutics, Inc. from the Idea Stage also won the competition, and three companies were selected to represent Japan, including TradeWaltz.

(Related press release) https://ji-network.org/report/09/7279

　The schedule for the next six months is as follows (tentative). We will spend six months working with startups representing our nation to brush up our business models and pitches in preparation for the world competition.

■Scene of wining
　TradeWaltz made a 5-minute pitch about our business, which is working on our mission to “create the future of trade” by changing the globally lagging analog trade status quo in Japan and the rest of Asia. The judges highly evaluated our advanced solution using blockchain technology and system integration with existing trade platforms in APEC member countries, and we were selected as the winner of the early stage and the representative of Japan. Please kindly see the photos below for the awards and the venue.

■Comments from stakeholders　
Satoru Someya, Managing Director, Head of CEO’s Office, TradeWaltz Inc
‘We are very honored to have been selected to represent Japan in the Entrepreneur World Cup from among so many candidates. As someone who has been familiar with football since childhood, I am looking forward to seeing the World Cup in November. Although we are in different fields(football and digital trade), our company has also been selected to represent Japan in the World Cup for startups so we will prepare a lot to deliver good news to Japan.’

Natsuho Sakamoto, Consultant, Marketing & Sales Division, TradeWaltz Inc
’We would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for selecting us to represent Japan in the world’s largest EWC, a high-level competition. We will continue to brush up our business further, keeping in mind that we are only at the starting line for the world competition, and w will strive to participate in the world competition (Top 100), while valuing exchanges with startups representing other countries, with the feeling of taking a leading role in the Japanese startup industry.

Overview of TradeWaltz Inc.
Name: TradeWaltz Inc.
Representative: President & CEO Hirohisa Kojima
Location : KASUMIGASEKI BUILDING 36F WORKSTYLING, 3-2-5 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-6036
Established: April 2020
Business description: Provision of the SaaS^(Note) of “TradeWaltz,” a trade-related information-sharing platform using blockchain
Number of Employees: 45 (full-time)
Website: https://www.tradewaltz.com
Shareholders: NTT DATA Corporation
　　　　　　　 Toyota Tsusho Corporation
　　　　　　　 UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd.
　　　　　　　 Mitsubishi Corporation
　　　　　　　 TW Link Corporation
　　　　　　　 Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.
　　　　　　　 Toyoshima & Co., Ltd.
　　　　　　　 Kamigumi Co., Ltd.
　　　　　　　 FUJITRANS CORPORATION
　　　　　　　 MITSUI-SOKO HOLDINGS Co., Ltd.
　　　　　　　 NISSIN CORPORATION
　　　　　　　 MUFG Bank, Ltd.
　　　　　　　 Mitsubishi Logistics Corporation
　　　　　　　 Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.

SDG initiatives: Our services mainly promote initiatives on themes 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, and 17.

（Note） An abbreviation for “Software as a Service.” It is a structure where users use necessary software functions via the Internet.
*”TradeWaltz” is the registered trademark of TradeWaltz Inc. in Japan.
*Other product names, company names and organization names are the trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies.