[Press Release] Press release published regarding support for global expansion of Canadian AI startups

Beyond Inc. (Head office: Naniwa-ku, Osaka; CEO: Masahiro Haraoka), a provider of cloud and server services, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Vertex Partners Inc. (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Masatomo Yamaguchi), which has a strong track record of business co-creation with startup companies, and AI startup Otafuku Lab Inc. (Head office: Nishi-ku, Osaka; CEO: Takashi Hamamichi), to realize a global partnership in the field of business co-creation, with the aim of realizing the Asian and global expansion of Canadian AI startup companies

About the Canadian startup environment

Currently, various companies are emerging in Canada, including the e-commerce platform Shopify

Three points worth mentioning

1. AI Pioneers Gather

There are many pioneers in AI, including Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, who are considered to be one of the creators of deep learning and were awarded the Turing Award, sometimes called the "Nobel Prize of AI," in 2018, and there are many organizations in which these people or their students are involved

2. Abundant growth areas for ICT

In areas such as Toronto, Waterloo, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, and Vancouver, cutting-edge technologies such as AI, fintech, big data, and autonomous vehicles are being developed

3. Government and university support for startups

Not only are there many types of subsidies provided by the government, but there are also many accelerators run by universities

Roles of each company

Vertex Partners Inc

Fundraising, resourcing (human resources) strategy support, marketing/sales, support for expansion into Japan and Asia

Otafuku Lab Co., Ltd

Provides AI technology support, technology evaluation, and supports matching of technology collaboration partners in Japan

Beyond Co., Ltd

Based in the Toronto area, we support AI startup discovery, research, collaboration and infrastructure development for expansion into Japan

Expectations of each company

Vertex Partners Inc

This global partnership between the three companies will play a crucial role in our future business co-creation strategy in North America. With the addition of a strategic business co-creation partner in Toronto, Canada, where fundamental AI research is highly advanced, we expect this will lead to new and impactful business co-creation opportunities for Canadian AI startups in Asia and Japan. Furthermore, by collaborating with global business co-creation partners in the United States, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and other countries, we will scale our startup support even more globally

Otafuku Lab Co., Ltd

Our strength lies not only in AI development, but also in the fact that we have gathered world-class, talented engineers with diverse backgrounds. Since there are many French speakers in addition to English, we believe that Canada, the target country for this project, has a very high affinity with the country. We will utilize the AI ​​knowledge we have cultivated to provide technical evaluation and support

Beyond Co., Ltd

Utilizing the location of our local subsidiary, Beyond GTA Inc., we will be catching up on information about the East Coast area of ​​North America, which is relatively difficult to access from Japan. Using the real voices of the locals as a starting point, we aim to co-create businesses with an eye to exit strategies through a partnership between the three companies. We will also utilize our strengths in server construction and operation management know-how to provide support to companies expanding into the area

Company introductions

Vertex Partners Inc. ( https://www.vertex-p.com/ )

Vertex Partners combines the knowledge of diverse consultants in various fields with the know-how cultivated through our own businesses and business co-creation to help client companies resolve a variety of business issues, such as new business creation, management innovation, and process reform through digitalization, aiming to transform their existing businesses.Furthermore, together with business partners who have excellent visions and original ideas and seeds, we produce new businesses that bring new value to society

<Business co-creation>

Business co-creation is Vertex Partners' new value creation style, which combines the extensive knowledge and empowerment we have cultivated through consulting with collaborations with startups and business partners aiming to create innovative services and solutions, to produce new businesses for society and the world. Our main areas of support are startup support, global business creation, and regional revitalization

We provide support for strategy formulation/execution, new business creation, digital transformation (DX) promotion, innovation creation using cutting-edge solutions, work style reform, and grant application support. We also operate the English training service "VertexEnglish" for companies, and our subsidiary "Convergence Co., Ltd.", which aims to achieve business growth through recruitment

Otafuku Lab Co., Ltd. ( https://otafuku-lab.co/ )

Otafuku Lab Co., Ltd. is a company headquartered in Osaka that develops AI, data analysis, and systems. We employ world-class engineers who, in addition to their high technical capabilities, utilize and apply cutting-edge overseas technologies in our development

<System Consultation>

In order to solve all business challenges, from digitalization to digital transformation (DX), we combine the latest technologies, products, and optimal human resources, and take into account the latest information from overseas, and provide cost-effective proposals and consultations

<Data accumulation and analysis, utilization of machine learning (AI)>

Based on our track record of analyzing various types of data and the latest approaches, we propose the use of AI development, data analysis, and machine learning that will lead to data management, increased sales, increased profits, and cost reduction

<System infrastructure construction>

Utilizing the latest technological capabilities, we provide systems infrastructure construction that takes into account long-term data utilization, including systems such as CRM, warehouse management systems (WMS), customer management systems, marketing automation (MA), EDI, and core systems (ERP) to improve productivity, internal control, centralized information management, business improvement, and the realization of mid-term goals for increasing sales. We also design data and middleware that anticipates the use of internal data

Beyond Inc. ( https://beyondjapan.com/ )

Beyond Co., Ltd. was established in April 2007 and is a company that handles cloud/server design, construction, operation management, web system development, and web services

We carry out the following services:

<Cloud/Server Business>

We provide the best performance for your cloud/server, from designing, building, and migrating cloud/servers to 24/7 operation, maintenance, and monitoring

<System development business>

We develop web systems and server-side APIs for social games, e-commerce sites, advertising services, and more, and also provide e-commerce app development for the e-commerce platform "Shopify."

<Web service business>

We plan, develop, and operate a variety of cloud services, including our own services, the reservation system EDISONE and the website monitoring service Appmill