Post by Belle Lim (林婉玲)

✨ Leaving Tokyo after 4 long days with a very full heart (and aching feet 😅). It was inspiring to see a maritime innovation community that is brimming with interest and has so much potential to grow. 1️⃣ Smart Maritime Network Tokyo Panel: “Investing in Maritime Innovation” 👉🏻 A key reminder: the “future is unpredictable”, and investing in startups is by nature “complicated, complex, and time-consuming”. That’s exactly why the right partners and ecosystems are critical. 👉🏻 One great question asked about how corporates can identify and mitigate risks when working with startups. The consensus: call risks out early, express willingness to work together, and iterate as much as possible. 👉🏻 For me, it was encouraging to see how strongly this reinforced what we’re doing at Motion Ventures - building ecosystems where startups and corporates don’t just meet, but save time, effort, and multiply outcomes. 2️⃣ Meetings with industry leaders 🏭 👉🏻 Encouraging to see genuine momentum - everyone we met recognises the value of innovation and is actively pushing for it. 👉🏻 The challenge? Aligning innovation across entire corporations is never straightforward, and short-term profit often overshadows long-term returns. 👉🏻 What gave me hope was observing the rise of internal champions who keep pushing, educating, and advocating for change. These are the people who unlock innovation from the inside out. 3️⃣ Our very first Motion Ventures event in Japan, and our first collaboration with a portco (shoutout to the OceanScore team!) 🇯🇵🍻 👉🏻 Such a joy to connect with friends, peers, and new faces from across the Japanese ecosystem. 👉🏻 The highlight of my night was watching people connect as individuals, not as company representatives or competitors. — I’m leaving Tokyo energised and inspired to keep building this ecosystem; and reminded that whether in Singapore, Tokyo, or anywhere else, it always starts with people coming together 🤝 P.s. Also learnt that bringing a big luggage to Japan is a great idea 😂 📢 Shoutout to Cathy Hodge Rob O'Dwyer for putting together a great SMN Tokyo conference; my fellow panellists for an amazing cross-ecosystem discussion Takuya Sakamoto Tetsuji Madarame Haruki Chua Zi Hua Samuel Soo; LPs and network for the closed-door knowledge sharing; Anders Vartdal Leo Grayson Candice Buckle for an amazing joint event; and friends for making the trip a memorable one!