ROUTE06 Research Team

This article explains how the Priority Plan for the Realization of a Digital Society will impact Japan's business environment and how companies should leverage digital transformation.

Zapier's success is due in large part to their unique content marketing, which they have continued to focus on since their early days. This article highlights the content marketing that has been the driving force behind Zapier's growth.

This article provides an overview of the CCPA and its impact on companies' compliance, and explains the importance of responding to the upcoming regulatory changes.

This article presents HubSpot's Go-to-Market (GTM) strategy, which focuses on inbound marketing and multi-products that have enabled HubSpot's growth.

This article explores the journey, growth strategy, and future outlook of Hugging Face.

In the EU, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an important guideline for companies dealing with generative AI. This article explains how companies providing generative AI services should comply with the GDPR.

Open Source Software (OSS) emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a counterbalance to commercial software. From the beginning, OSS was based on the principles of transparency, cooperation, and sharing in software development; Richard Stallman launched the GNU Project in 1983, and the first General Public License (GPL) was released in 1989, leading to rapid advancements in OSS development.

This article describes the major licensing issues facing OSS startups and discusses how choosing the right license can contribute to the success of your company.

This article details the major players and future prospects for open source LLM.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the methods of storing and retrieving data are changing dramatically. One area that is garnering attention is the vector database. Unlike traditional relational databases or NoSQL databases, vector databases efficiently store high-dimensional data and allow for searches based on similarity. This new type of database provides innovative solutions across various fields, including AI applications and content recommendation systems.

This article describes the origins of Databricks and our latest AI strategy.

What does it mean to design a brand or space with fragrance, what is the process of creating it, and what does fragrance bring to people? We asked Fukatsu about the story of how she made fragrance her career.

In April 2023, White Healthcare re-launched "Your Medicine Box," an e-commerce platform for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and regular medicines. Your Medicine Box" is an e-commerce site that supports members' health and self-medication by offering over-the-counter (OTC) medicines individually suited to members' needs while utilizing receipt data. In this interview, we spoke with Yoshiki Hirai about the background of providing "Your Medicine Box" and its aims.

In this installment of our series on the transformation of major corporations from a VC's perspective, we explore what is essential for corporate transformation, including digital transformation (DX). In this fourth installment, we interview Mr. Shozo Isaka, a Partner at JAFCO Group. Mr. Isaka emphasizes the importance of a long-term perspective. We will discuss key points for advancing DX in large companies and considerations for startups collaborating with them, based on Mr. Isaka's insights.

Mitsuru Kameyama worked on global projects at Nissan Motor (hereafter Nissan) during the period of change led by Carlos Ghosn, and together with Masahiko Uotani, known as a professional manager, he transformed Shiseido into a global company capable of speedy decision making. He also spearheaded digital transformation (DX) at Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, a major manufacturing firm with a long history, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mitsuru Kameyama, Senior Executive Advisor at Gloving and President of Conepositive, has supported numerous essential reforms in Japan's leading enterprise companies from an IT perspective.

In the midstream segment of the materials supply chain, including the steel industry, numerous distribution trading companies and wholesalers act as intermediaries between buyers and suppliers, facilitating transactions flexibly. Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) has introduced PaSS-Portal, a digital platform for quotations and order placement, designed to manage the complex transaction variations typical of these distribution businesses, including irregular operations like changes and modifications to transaction terms.

This series explores what is necessary for the transformation of major companies, including digital transformation (DX), from the perspective of a venture capital (VC) partner. In this third installment, we interview Hiro Maeda, Managing Partner of ALL STAR SAAS FUND, a VC firm specializing in SaaS. According to Maeda, SaaS acts as a catalyst for change. We delve into the role SaaS plays in the transformation of large enterprises and discuss key considerations when collaborating with startups, examining Maeda's theories on corporate transformation.

As digital technology breaks down industry barriers, major companies that have long driven the Japanese economy must transform to create new business opportunities and economic value.

As digital technology continues to lower the barriers between industries, the businesses and organizations of the major companies that have driven the Japanese economy must transform to create new business opportunities and economic value.