CEATEC 2018 – A Sea of Opportunities

The annual Japanese spend in IT Services is approximately 135 billion USD – second only to the US – and Indian IT has a mere 2% share. It isn’t really a reflection of our efforts as much it is about other factors which extend beyond hard-nosed deal-making and technical competence. We will see how. Among all non-traditional markets, Japan is right up there. Equally noteworthy has been our sustained efforts to eke out a much larger share.

Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies, commonly known as CEATEC, is a very large platform – exhibition. It attracts footfalls upwards of 150k every year and is Japan’s largest IT & Electronics exhibition & conference. Today, when the line between hardware and software is constantly blurring, both hardware & software companies jostle for physical space and mindshare. A 5-day extravaganza inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Japan bears testimony to an expansive outreach.  

Enter NASSCOM, 2016. We proposed co-creation between Indian IT companies and the Japanese (manufacturing companies in particular) by leveraging the mutual strengths. The Japanese government was much enthused about the idea and extended support. That very year for the first time, 10 Indian startups were invited to showcase at CEATEC and their entire expenses (travel, stay etc.) were borne by Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI), Japan. A rich experience and the participants were privy to the Japanese ecosystem – investors, accelerators, other startups et al. It set up the stage for a bigger partnership.  

Subsequently, a private firm was roped in with a clear intent of doing follow-ups after the exhibition, to forge relationship with participants well after the high decibel optics had receded. Again, a reflection of Japan’s relentless focus on sustained relationship building, above everything else. Many participating startups have gained considerably and are in advanced stage of discussion.

Last year, we had twenty-seven companies. In addition to the 10 startups (fully sponsored which has now become an annual affair), there were 17 other Indian IT companies which were offered exhibition space at very competitive pricing. With much gusto, the participants met more than 200 Japanese companies through a flurry of networking opportunities and a two-way learning ensued in process. 

The “India Day” at CEATEC was indeed special. The Indian Ambassador to Japan and Director General of METI, graced the occasion and jointly inaugurated the day’s proceedings. There was a massive turnout at the Welcome Reception where the Indian Ambassador warmed many hearts during his address. The local media, not one to miss, covered it extensively to raise the bar in terms of publicity and avowed goodwill.

To add, the list of 10 Startups participating this year:

1. TenPi Technologies aims to build modules to enable smart systems, through embedded AI. Current team size of 13, serves clients from USA, India, France.
2. iSenses Incorporation Their machine vision (MV) platform Drishti (to see all) is capable of detecting, tracking, learning, classifying and characterizing multiple objects, pedestrians, animals and other obstructions in the path of vehicles in real time. 
3. NimRay It is a rooftop solar power developer project for residential customers. A turnkey service provider that designs, procures, installs and maintains rooftop solar projects and also assists with financing options to purchase the systems. Based on a newly developed blockchain technology.
4. Pilmatis Innovations LLP Provides free smart water purifier. You just need to pay for the water you drink. It is the only company in India that supports a comprehensive water filter recycle program.
5. WeDoSky is a drone data analytics company that aims to make drones functional for everyone everywhere. Its in-house software, visualAI.io, makes surveys and inspections faster, cheaper, easier, and better.
6. Matisoft Cyber Security Labs Advanced Artificial Intelligence based cyber antivirus technology developed from the combined experience of ethical hackers, virus researchers & Artificial Intelligence experts.
7. SenSight Technologies Sensight’s AutoWiz App on the mobile combines with AutoWiz OBD device in the car to make it a smart car. The mobile plugs into your car’s data feed in the cloud to provide real time car location tracking, driving behavior insights, car theft/tow alarms, car health reports etc.
8. Artivatic.ai It is an end-to-end AI Infrastructure platform built on deep-tech, machine learning technologies with in-depth analogy of genomic science, psychology & neuroscience. It enables Finance & Insurance sector to have in-depth multi-source data-focused consumer risk profiling.
9. Intangles Lab is an IOT company with expertise in Advance Telemetry and Operations Automation. Intangles has developed its own set of proprietary algorithms which allows fleet operators to monitor the performance of the vehicle in real time.
10. GetParking is a NASSCOM Mumbai warehouse Virtual Startup, GetParking is a Mumbai based smart parking startup doing around 65k daily transactions across 4 cities in India (Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh, Hyderabad) and will expand. They are also behind Chandigarh smart city, India’s largest smart parking project.

The 2018 edition is ensconced in much pride and great anticipation. If you are interested to participate, then please write to me at gagan@nasscom.in You don’t want to miss out on this opportunity to enter one of India’s most powerful non-traditional IT market.      

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