The Shiseido x DMM.make AKIBA x Startup online event was held in June. In this issue, Yoko Kamimura from DMM.make AKIBA and fibona member Kotaro Oda discuss how to create open innovation with startups, looking back on the event that attracted more than 700 viewers. We asked them about the event and their thoughts on open innovation.

Visit the following link to read the event report:
Shiseido x DMM.make AKIBA x Startups｜The Beauty Industry Post-Covid【Event Report Part 1】【Event Report Part 2】

What are your roles in the field of open innovation?

Kamimura:
I worked for a digital advertising company before joining DMM in 2016. Since changing jobs, I have been working as a community manager, acting as a bridge between startups and large companies.

DMM.make AKIBA originally started in 2014 as a place to support startups with hardware prototype development. Gradually, however, we began to attract large corporations that wanted to collaborate with startups. Recently, we have been increasingly connecting startups in our community to solve problems that corporations are facing.

Oda:
Since joining Shiseido, I have been engaged in basic research for about four years. I have been conducting research on sensibility, focusing on tactile sensation of cosmetics. I also gained experience in brain science and machine learning. With my background in basic research, when our laboratory was relocated to Minato Mirai, I worked full time on the work style designand implementation project for S/PARK's lab and office.
Since the opening of S/PARK in April 2020, I’ve been managing the café and studio on the first and second floors as well as producing events. I’m mainly in charge of promotion for “fibona,” Shiseido Research Institute’s open innovation program. S/PARK was launched based on the concept of “the fusion of diverse people and knowledge.” To ensure that it functions as envisioned, I am promoting the creation of points of contact between researchers, consumers, and external parties.

Please tell us about the background and program of this event.

Kamimura:
The theme of the event was “Beauty and Innovation,” and the concept was to look at the beauty industry from a technical perspective. The inspiration for this project came from Yuko Nakanishi, fibona Project Leader. I had the opportunity to work with Ms. Nakanishi at the French open innovation conference “Viva Technology,” and we hit it off. She spoke passionately about the concept and ideology behind fibona, which I deeply sympathized with.

DMM.make AKIBA entered into a sponsorship agreement with a beauty manufacturer in 2016 and collaboratively organized a beauty hackathon in 2017. At that time, we also realized that there was great potential for collaboration between beauty and startups.

In the first half of the event, Ms. Nakanishi talked about the beauty industry post-Covid, followed by a panel discussion with Shiseido’s researchers. We invited a startup prototyping at DMM.make AKIBA, LOAD&ROAD Inc., who is developing a personalized IoT teapot called “teplo” to participate in the discussion along with a startup that we heard had already begun joint research with fibona, no new folk studio Inc., who is developing smart shoes called “ORPHE” that collect and analyze running data

How was the turnout and response to the online event?

Kamimura:
Approximately 700 people attended the event, making it an unprecedented megahit for an online event. The attendees included fans of DMM.make AKIBA and fibona, Shiseido employees, business development staff from major companies, and people in the startup community. One comment we kept getting was, “I never knew that Shiseido was interested in collaborating with startups.”

Oda:
We were surprised at the high level of interest in the event itself, but after the event we received dozens of inquiries, mainly from companies in the tech and manufacturing industries, asking us to collaborate with them. As you can imagine, we normally receive inquiries from companies in the beauty industry, but it was a pleasant surprise to receive such a positive response from people who hadn’t had much contact with the beauty industry before.

We have been involved in a variety of programs, such as co-creation programs with startups, in search of encounters with technology outside the company. This is a type of program in which we decide on a theme, call for applications from outside the company, make a selection, and start collaborating. This time, however, we were able to work with a different community and broaden the scope of participation online, which led to the creation of new encounters.

For me personally, being exposed to new technologies from a diverse range of startups was an exciting experience that ignited my passion as a researcher. During the event, people were actively asking questions in the chat section, and the interactive discussion between participants and presenters sparked my curiosity.

fibona is an open innovation with a different approach from DMM.make AKIBA. What uniqueness do you think it has?

Kamimura:
I have seen open innovation and acceleration programs at various companies, and I feel that fibona's strength lies in the fact that it sets its goals based on a grasp of the essentials.

The essence of open innovation is not just connecting with startups. It is to work flexibly with both small and large companies that have the "potential to create something new," without restrictions and with a broad perspective.

In the case of fibona, one of its uniqueness is that it has joined forces with players in a surprisingly wide range of fields, including not only apps and hardware products, but also shoes and nutritional guidance. One of the uniqueness of fibona is that it has joined hands with players in a surprisingly wide range of fields, including not only apps and hardware products but also shoes and nutritional guidance. The program is also designed with an emphasis on meeting partners with diverse possibilities. I feel that this philosophy is well conveyed to each and every one of the participating members.

And the most amazing thing about fibona is that it is well educated and well spread within the company. When we support open innovation, we often find that even when collaboration is realized, it often stumbles if the internal structure is not in place. As a result, startups that had been so positive and enthusiastic lose their momentum and become depressed.

However, fibona is communicating their initiatives properly and making various preparations in advance to make it easier to be accepted within the company. I am a big fan of fibona because their visioning, execution, and underpinnings are thoughtfully developed in this way.

Oda:
When I was conducting basic research, I had many experiences of not being able to deliver what I researched to customers. Whether it is research or open innovation, I want to make sure that those who work hard are rewarded. I believe that the awareness of seeking a path that satisfies everyone involved is not only mine, but also shared by all at fibona.

Since it is sometimes difficult for those around us to see what you are doing in the middle of your research, we really value the communication within the company. When a researcher in the same position as you is working hard, people around you want to support him or her, don't they? When an article for this on-demand media is completed, we continue to make a steady effort to send an e-mail to everyone in the company to let them know about it.

What is also important is to both transmit and receive, and to engage in dialogue. Not only do we have to communicate and promote our activities, but it is equally important to listen to people inside and outside the company who are interested in our activities and visit S/PARK and our events. We have been receiving an increasing number of inquiries from researchers after in-house events, saying, "Actually, we would like to do something like this....” I believe that facing various people's ideas will give birth to the next initiative.

What I felt while working with DMM.make AKIBA is the breadth and footwork of the hub that connects a wide range of companies. We consider collaboration with an eye on our own strategies and business results, but the potential to freely connect startups, large companies, and small and medium-sized enterprises is exciting just by listening to what they have to say. I was also impressed by the platform's attractiveness at this event.

What kind of collaboration is actually taking place? What do you keep in mind when collaborating?

Kamimura:
One of our representative products is LOVOT, a family-type robot. It is a Corona disaster and is very active in soothing people and serving as a playmate for children who are no longer able to play outside. GROOVE X, which we developed, is a startup that we have long supported, having built a prototype at the facility since DMM.make AKIBA opened. Interstellar Technologies, a rocket developer, is another growing company from AKIBA.

We try to provide holistic support to tech startups that do not yet know how they can be useful to the world, with the tech staff supporting them from the technical side and the community manager and PR backing them up from the communication side.

Recently, we have been trying to create a cycle in which products developed at DMM.make AKIBA return to their home countries and give back to us.

Oda:
We sometimes hold events not only in the form of collaborations at fibona, but also by utilizing S/PARK facilities. For example, we held a night run event with no new folk studio Inc., where we invited people from neighboring companies to run along the seaside wearing the glowing smart footwear "ORPHE TRACK”.

After this event, we were contacted by LOAD&ROAD Inc., who was speaking at the panel discussion (and is the creator of "teplo"), and we decided to hold a collaborative event with S/PARK Café. LOAD&ROAD Inc. was also a speaker at the kick-off event of fibona, so we are happy to have the opportunity to work together in a good way for both companies.
We hope to maintain mutually beneficial relationships with the various companies with which we have formed connections through fibona activities, even if it is difficult to conduct joint research immediately. The management of the facility is also pleased to see the "user-participation" type PoC, such as events that can be enjoyed by visitors to S/PARK. We would like to continue to actively conduct such events.

In addition to cosmetics, I would like to use S/PARK as a platform and testing ground for testing the beauty possibilities that have expanded from Shiseido's existing businesses, such as food and exercise.

(Profile)
Yoko Kamimura / Community Manager, DMM.make AKIBA After working mainly in the digital advertising industry, she joined DMM and has been in her current position since 2016. Community Manager with a mission to revitalize the startup ecosystem and the AKIBA community. While balancing activities to revitalize the community, she also belongs to the sales department, which provides business creation support services to major companies. With the accumulation of information and networks, she is also involved in speaking engagements in the context of the startup ecosystem and innovation, and collaborating with the French government and embassy by making use of her French language skills.

Kotaro Oda / Global Innovation Center, Shiseido Co., Ltd.
For about 4 years since joining the company, he worked on basic research on tactile sensation of cosmetics, brain science, etc. Later, as a full-time member of a new research institute, he was engaged in work style design and implementation of the lab and office. After the launch of S/PARK, an urban open laboratory, he was involved in the management of the 1-2F public area of S/PARK and event production.

(text: Kanako Ishikawa edit: Kaori Sasagawa)