Once known primarily for its beaches and leisure economy, Okinawa is quietly transforming into a global-facing startup gateway.
Recently designated by Japan’s Cabinet Office as a “Global Startup City,” the island is attracting a new wave of attention — not from vacationers, but from tech entrepreneurs. At the center of this momentum is Kozarocks, a grassroots innovation festival where Taiwan’s startup ecosystem made a strong showing this year, signaling a new chapter of regional collaboration.
At this year’s startup conference, Taiwan sent one of the most prominent international delegations, organized by Startup Island Taiwan, the national startup brand supported by Taiwan’s National Development Council.
The delegation included eight startups, one venture capital firm, and one enterprise partner. Participating startups included: Turing Drive, CancerFree Biotech, Yallvend, Dentall, KopherBit, Millilab, AlleyPin, and iChase. They span diverse sectors including autonomous driving, smart retail, medical AI, cybersecurity, and digital mobility.
Also joining the delegation were FlyingVest Ventures, a Taiwan-based venture capital firm active in cross-border investment, and Mighty Net, a mid-sized electronics manufacturer that also runs a hardware accelerator and community platform supporting global hardware startups.
Three Taiwanese startups — Turing Drive, Dentall, and iChase — were selected to pitch on stage. Out of just five available spots for international startup pitches, Taiwan accounted for three, underscoring its growing visibility and relevance in Japan’s emerging startup scenes.
For many of these teams, Okinawa is seen not just as a regional platform. Rather, it’s a practical entry point for proof-of-concept deployments and early validation before expanding into mainland Japan.
Deep-tech collaboration
During the event, Startup Island Taiwan signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, with the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), marking a new phase of cross-border collaboration in deep tech innovation. In recent years, OIST has expanded its focus beyond academic research, launching programs to support early-stage startups with access to lab facilities, technical mentorship, and industry connections.
This year, CancerFree Biotech, a Taiwanese startup offering organoid-based personalized cancer drug screening, was selected as one of just four global startups to join the OIST innovation accelerator, a program that combines remote training, a two-week Okinawa bootcamp, and 10 months of on-site incubation.
Though Okinawa is not Cancerfree’s primary market, the company plans to establish a secondary R&D presence there, leveraging OIST’s facilities and Japanese partnerships. The MOU paves the way for additional Taiwanese startups to follow suit.
Early movers
While many startups are only beginning to explore the Japanese market, a few Taiwanese companies have already established an early presence in Okinawa.
Yallvend, a smart vending machine solutions provider, has partnered with Japanese coffee brand UCC to deploy its system across more than 3,000 vending machines. The company also collaborated with Starlux Airlines last year on a marketing campaign centered in Okinawa, leveraging the island’s high tourist traffic to test consumer engagement strategies.
Meanwhile, autonomous driving startup Turing Drive began testing its shuttle services on Miyakojima, one of Okinawa’s remote islands, in collaboration with JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) and local partners.
With a severe shortage of taxi drivers and over 1 million tourists visiting annually, Miyakojima offers a compelling use case for Turing Drive’s self-driving solutions. The company now plans to establish a local entity in Japan and pursue joint ventures for commercial deployment.
Okinawa’s vision
Behind Kozarocks is a broader mission championed by its founder, Kenichiro Toyosato (豐里健一郎), a second-generation entrepreneur from Koza’s once-thriving shopping arcade.
Drawing on Okinawa’s unique cultural openness and strategic geography, being just 90 minutes by flight from Taiwan, Toyosato envisions the island as a gateway for international startups to enter Japan, without the high barriers typically encountered in cities like Tokyo.
This year, Toyosato launched the Shinryo Fund, a seed-stage investment vehicle aimed at supporting 20 early-stage startups aligned with Okinawa’s “blue economy” goals, including sustainable tourism, eldercare, and energy innovation. The fund’s name references the historical concept of Bankoku Shinryo (“Bridge of Nations”) from the Ryukyu Kingdom era (1429-1879). It continues to symbolize Okinawa’s outward-looking identity and role as a connector across Asia.
In Toyosato’s words, Okinawa should no longer be seen only as a tourist destination or cost center, but as a center for experimentation, cross-border collaboration, and long-term innovation. For Taiwanese startups, that vision is already starting to take root.
AloJapan.com