Station Ai, one of the world’s largest start-up support centers, opens in Nagoya Japan.

Aichi is home to globally recognized automotive companies and research institutions known for their technological prowess and research capabilities. Leveraging these strengths, Station Ai, one of the world’s largest start-up support centers, opened in Nagoya on Thursday, October 31st, 2024. It aims to nurture top-tier startups within Japan and attract promising startups worldwide to establish a new global hub of innovation.

The Aichi prefectural government built the seven-floor facility on prefecture-owned land near Tsuruma Park in the city for ¥15.3 billion. A subsidiary of SoftBank Corp. operates the center.

The facility invites emerging companies from the automobile industry, Aichi Prefecture’s main industry, and start-ups developing new business models to join, with the aim of making them more competitive.

At the time of opening, about 500 start-up companies and about 200 partner companies, including financial and educational institutions, were registered with the center. The facility aims to bring together about 1,000 member companies — both members using office spaces at the facility and members working remotely — in its first five years.

 The site area of Station Ai spans approximately 7,300 square meters and its floor space is 23,600 square meters, with seven above-ground floors. In addition to offices for startups and partner companies, the facility will feature a tech lab, event spaces, accommodation facilities, childcare services, cafes, restaurants, and the “Aichi Founders’ Hall,” which will showcase the achievements of entrepreneurs and business leaders with links to Aichi Prefecture.

While discussing with media Hirotaka Sahashi President and CEO, STATION Ai Corporation mentioned the benefits for startups that join the STATION Ai community. He mentions that "Not only will startups have potential business partners among those based at STATION Ai, they’ll also benefit from the presence of other startup support partners like Softbank ". Startups go through different growth stages, each with its own distinct challenges and needs for support. Having all the necessary support available under one roof at STATION Ai, regardless of a company’s growth stage, is another major advantage." Also he added " We also offer support for developing open innovation talent within large corporations. We help them understand the nature of startups, assist with setting agendas for collaboration and even help them formulate strategies before any matching takes place. With a diverse range of support services available, we believe large companies will find significant value in STATION Ai."