On July 6, 2024, the Okinawa Startup Ecosystem held the annual KOZAROCKS 2024 event, attracting nine startup companies from Japan and abroad for the “KOZAROCKS PITCH AWARD.” Taiwan’s teams, CancerFree Biotech and Turing Drive, performed excellently, with CancerFree Biotech winning the top honor, the “KOZAROCKS AWARD,” and Turing Drive receiving the “GxPartners Award.”
KOZAROCKS Makes a Strong Debut, Startup Spirit Invades Okinawa
KOZAROCKS is Okinawa’s largest startup event, with the theme “Bankoku Shinryo – Okinawa as a Bridge Between Asia and Japan,” aiming to facilitate exchanges between Japanese and international startups and investors. The event featured real-time translation supported by Taiwan’s VM-Fi AI synchronous translation solution.
Photo from the KOZAROCKS event
Taiwan Startup Teams Shine, CancerFree Biotech Wins the Grand Prize
The “KOZAROCKS PITCH AWARD” was hosted by the Okinawa Startup Ecosystem, with sponsors including ResorTech EXPO 2024 in Okinawa, Eiicon, GxPartners, NOMURA Securities, and OIST Innovation. OIST Innovation, part of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), is a government-funded research institution with a high percentage of international researchers and has produced Nobel Prize-winning research.
CancerFree Biotech won the “KOZAROCKS AWARD” with its personalized tumor cell analysis technology that helps patients and doctors identify optimal treatment strategies. CEO Po Chen shared the company’s success in helping pediatric brain cancer patients during the competition. Their “Little Star” program offers free cancer drug testing services for children under 12. CancerFree Biotech will participate in BIO Asia-Taiwan 2024 at the end of July, where interested individuals and experts can learn more.
Po Chen, CEO of CancerFree Biotech, presents a clinical success case during the pitch competition.
The CancerFree Biotech team wins the KOZAROCKS AWARD: On the left is Toshihiro Kishihara, Partner and CEO of GxPartners, and on the right is Po Chen, CEO of CancerFree Biotech.
Turing Drive Wins the “GxPartners Award”
Turing Drive, a Taiwan-based autonomous driving company, is focused on providing reliable autonomous driving solutions for functional vehicle manufacturers. The company matches suitable sensors and computing platforms to customer needs and offers a modular operation management system, significantly reducing customer R&D investment. Turing Drive won the “GxPartners Award” in the pitch competition.
The Turing Drive team wins the GxPartners AWARD: On the left is Toshihiro Kishihara, Partner and CEO of GxPartners, and on the right is Kexing Xiong, Customer Manager at Turing Drive.
Startup Island TAIWAN to Co-host the Japan-Taiwan Innovation Summit
In addition to assisting Taiwanese startups with participation in this event, Startup Island TAIWAN will co-host the “Japan-Taiwan Innovation Summit” with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in September. The summit, supported by JETRO, three major banks (Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho, and Sumitomo Mitsui), and major trading companies, aims to strengthen the collaboration bridge between Taiwan and Japan, support entrepreneurs expanding into bilateral markets, and promote multi-faceted cooperation.
Through this event, CancerFree Biotech and Turing Drive demonstrated the competitiveness and innovative power of Taiwanese startups on the international stage, bringing new opportunities for international cooperation and exchange.
