JStories – In what marked Asia’s first cross-border and exclusive gathering of unicorn leaders, more than 200 startup founders, executives, and ecosystem supporters convened at the Tokyo Unicorn Summit 2025 on May 7. The event brought together C-level executives from over 70 current and next-generation unicorns from Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
Held at Azabudai Hills in central Tokyo — just one day before the official opening of SusHi Tech Tokyo, the city’s flagship startup showcase — the exclusive, invitation-only summit was co-organized by South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo and Startup Island Taiwan, with support from a network of regional partners.
“Don’t you think something exciting can happen when Asia’s top startup leaders come together and connect?” said Hochol Sung, Tokyo bureau chief of Chosun Ilbo, as he opened the summit. “That’s exactly the idea behind this gathering.”
Sung noted that despite the region’s rapid growth, “surprisingly, many unicorn CxOs in Asia still don’t know each other.”
South Korea led the largest delegation, with more than 30 growth-stage startups in attendance, including 10 unicorns with valuations exceeding $1 billion—among them Ably, Dunamu, Karrot, Korea Credit Data, Megazone Cloud, Story Protocol, and Rebellions.
Japan’s cohort included deeptech unicorns such as AI giant Preferred Networks and material tech hopeful TBM, along with roughly 20 rising startups seen as strong candidates for unicorn status. 91APP, Taiwan’s leading retail-tech firm, headlined a 20-startup Taiwanese delegation, several of which are eyeing IPOs on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in the near future.
Designed as a private forum for meaningful exchange, the summit featured curated sessions and open networking aimed at fostering regional collaboration. Notable attendees included Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s former Digital Minister, along with senior officials from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Korea Startup Forum.
“This was beyond my expectations,” said Sunghyun Park, CEO of Rebellions, a Korean AI chip unicorn startup. “It’s rare to gather this many mature startups from Japan, Taiwan, and Korea all in one place. Many here are already at the billion-dollar level, which makes this even more valuable.”
Park emphasized that Rebellions is actively eyeing Japan. “Japan is a large, structured market with growing demand for energy-efficient AI infrastructure. Our solutions are a perfect fit. We’re looking to expand into data centers and help build a semiconductor ecosystem linking Japan, Taiwan, and beyond.”
Johnwoo Lee, CEO of Korean real estate tech firm Rsquare, shared a similar view: “Japan is one of the world’s largest real estate markets. It’s competitive and saturated—but that also means opportunity. We’re very interested in market entry soon.”
Japanese startups, too, saw value in the summit’s cross-border format. “I didn’t want to miss this chance,” said Tomoya Nakamura, Chief Knowledge Officer at TBM. “This kind of networking is incredibly valuable. It’s a great opportunity for overseas startups to connect with Japanese investors and businesses.”
May Kao, CFO of 91APP, appreciated the summit’s relaxed, open atmosphere. “I thought it would be more formal, but it wasn’t—and I liked that,” she said. “It made it easier to talk with other unicorn leaders. We’re all from different industries, and you need to stay open-minded. If it were too formal, you’d miss those chances to connect personally.”
Some participants came with specific goals. Hyjein Choi, a business development manager at Canon, said, “I’m here representing Korea, but on behalf of Canon, we’re looking to partner with strong Korean startups (to bring into Japan). This is a great event to build those connections.”
Written by Toshi Maeda
Top photo: Moritz Brinkhoff | JStories
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