I’m writing this post from San Francisco, just after TechCrunch 50, in a region that’s constantly abuzz with talk about new ventures and ideas in technology.
Though Genkii is based in Tokyo, our team is also comprised of people in the US and Switzerland. We are focused on being an international company, all of us travel quite a bit, and we are quite happy to be thought of as citizens of the world.
Now we’ve taken another step and set up a US company based in Portland, Oregon.
There are many reasons why Portland is a cool place to live and work – or at least visit. I’ll add to that Entrepreneur Magazine naming Portland the 2nd best city in the US to be an entrepreneur, a staggering number of beers, wines, and coffees, fabulously active music, art, film, and tech scenes, and Oregon’s long-standing connection to Asia – particularly Japan. Portland is competitively priced, a great place to live, and close to Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver BC, and a direct flight to Tokyo.
Moving our headquarters to the US west coast is important for several reasons. Ideas don’t come from just one place, and we have always been active in multiple communities around the world. Now, Genkii is out looking for seed funding for the upcoming launch of Sparkle 3D and the development of additional products and services – so, expect more news coming on those things soon! Though Japan has quite an active tech scene, let’s face it – most of the early funding for companies like ours comes from Silicon Valley. We need to be active in the US, we need to be willing to relocate as needed, and we need to be open to change and advice from those who want to help us create great things.
Are we planning on keeping up active participation in the Japanese tech scene? Absolutely. We believe our presence in Tokyo – and our involvement in conferences and projects throughout Asia – is an important part of who we are and what we want Genkii to continue to be. We love being part of activities like Tokyo 2.0, Tokyo CGM, Tokyo Beer and Blog, e27’s Singapore unConference, and many, many others. We love the people we’ve met, worked with, and celebrated with in Japan, China, Korea, and Singapore. We will continue to have people working in Japan, and work on projects that showcase Japanese culture, people, and companies.
In the coming months I’ll post more about Portland, about its tech community and innovators, and what Genkii is doing there. We’ve already been to the original Beer and Blog and the Portland Creative Conference, and intend to get actively involved in things such as Mobile Monday Portland, TEDxPortland, InVerge, and many other events and projects! Also look for an upcoming post on my involvement with a project called [re]think Hawaii.
Yeah, we have lofty goals: cool products, fun projects, and an international team that helps connect the world a little bit more. But we’re good for it. Promise.
More info to come soon!
-Ken
