Greetings from the representative director, CEO, and COO

In the era of VUCA, what is required of companies that continue to meet the expectations of society and customers is to "continue to change."
BIRD INITIATIVE transforms new business development themes that are difficult to develop with customers' own brands by combining startup-style management and large company-style management.
In addition, we encourage motivated individuals to develop attractive careers, including participation in Spin-Off's management team in the future.

BIRD INITIATIVE started its business in October 2020.
Aiming to strengthen Japan's industrial competitiveness, we are promoting the renewal of business and industry and expanding the co-creative R&D ecosystem.
We have overcome the founding and start-up periods and will now shift to the growth period.
During this period of growth, we will further enhance our management team by appointing Mr. Konno, who has extensive management experience and a passion for commercialization from R&D, as CEO and Mr. Hiroya as COO.
In particular, Mr. Konno has extensive experience in new business development based on practically applicable intellectual property strategies and will be responsible for the new axis of our company's growth strategy.
As CEO, I will continue to grow our company as a place where you can enjoy and take on the challenges of starting a business by combining a historical company with startup management.

We will become a co-creative R&D startup studio where more people can take on the challenge of new business development and change society.

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Startup-related news is increasing day by day, and the word startup is often mentioned in dramas and movies, and I think everyone is starting to feel that the movement is accelerating. The government has also announced that it will strongly work on measures such as ``startup creation'' and ``startup support'' in order to realize Japan's second founding period, following the post-war founding period. In addition, discussions on the creation of a Startup Agency and the use of GPIF funds are becoming more active. In other words, startups are becoming essential to Japan's future growth.

On the other hand, the government's ``Grand Design and Implementation Plan for New Capitalism'', which was approved by the Cabinet at the same time as the ``Basic Policy 2022'', states that ``the source of innovation is startups'' and ``the source of innovation is large companies with ample internal funds.'' After introducing Schumpeter's two contradictory views, he concludes that both innovation through the creation of startups and open innovation, where existing major companies incorporate it internally through M&A, are both important. It is also true that there are.

This means that ``Japanese-style innovation'' is needed, rather than simply copying from Europe and America, and BIRD INITIATIVE will provide appropriate solutions to this through the creation of various startup companies.

In order for a large company to continue to exist as a large company in the VUCA era, it is essential to "grow while adapting to change and differentiating yourself." To this end, we have entered an era in which large companies must promote innovation. In order to achieve firm differentiation, it is important not only to obtain patents, but also to own intellectual property rights with a strong awareness of where and how they will be used. As a co-creative R&D platform, BIRD INITIATIVE will also be responsible for realizing the intellectual property strategies of the startup companies it creates, including differentiation strategies, alliance strategies, and sales strategies.

By making full use of my background as an engineer, investor, entrepreneur, and intellectual property strategist, I will continue to promote innovation and create new ideas for our company's activities and beyond. We hope to contribute to the realization of "Japanese-style innovation."

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There has never been a time when we have more expectations for startups to change Japan than we do now, with the Japanese government's ``Five-Year Startup Development Plan'' and the Japan Business Federation's ``Startup Advancement Vision.''

Although companies, universities, and research institutes in Japan have wonderful technologies, until now the know-how and support systems to commercialize them have not necessarily been sufficient.
BIRD (Business Innovation powered by R&D) will make this happen and change Japan and the world by managing innovation through the correct process.

I started working at a major company's research institute and worked in both technology and management at joint ventures and startups of major companies, and have experienced founding companies four times. During this time, I experienced both the excellent human resources and abundant resources of a large company, and the speed with which a startup focuses on its business goals.

By leveraging this experience, we will become a bridge between large companies and startups and will embody the philosophy of BIRD INITIATIVE, so that we can produce many innovations that combine mutual benefits.