Youkoso, Tokyo FinTech!

Tokyo FinTech joins InsurTech Hub Munich as a Community Partner, further expanding the network’s ties with the Asian entrepreneurial ecosystem.

InsurTech Hub Munich is happy to announce a new community partnership with Tokyo FinTech, the most active fintech community in Japan’s capital city, comprising more than 3200 members. Tokyo FinTech was founded in 2017 as a Meetup group and today is hosting regular events, a podcast and different editorial initiatives. Main topics addressed by the non-for-profit organization are fintech, insurtech, regtech, payments, blockchain and distributed ledger technology or cryptocurrencies.

“We see a huge potential in this cross-continental cooperation between two powerful networks”, comments Norbert Gehrke, Founder and Representative Director of Tokyo FinTech. “So far too few insurtechs from Europe are visible on the Japanese market or in the local investors’ ecosystem”. Gehrke, having spent more than two decades in management positions with AIG, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and PwC in Japan and the US, wants to bridge the gap: “It takes some stamina and cultural comprehension to enter the Asian markets, particularly the Japanese one. But once you have established business relationships, these tend to last a long time and allow you to scale”.

“InsurTech Hub Munich already maintains ties to the Japanese market through our partner companies Dai-Ichi and NTT DATA. Welcoming Tokyo FinTech to our network means that we can tap even further into the regional ecosystem”, says Johannes Wagner, member of the ITHM Board and Head of Startup Cooperation at Versicherungskammer Bayern (VKB). “This new community partnership gives both sides the opportunity to share know-how and experiences across the continents. Access to protagonists and networks with a deep understanding of the markets in a particular region massively helps foreign startups scale and gain traction there”, complements ITHM’s Senior Partnerships Manager Dr. Reinhard Saller.


Text: Markus Walter