In June 2020, Shibuya City launched the Testbed City Project. The initiative sources new technologies and ideas from startups, universities, and research institutes to solve local social issues.
Our support network includes access to facilities such as coworking spaces within Shibuya and select locations around Tokyo.
Shibuya City also offers its local infrastructure for product and concept testing, and operates a pool of local volunteers for product testing with over 2500 residents registered in 2025.
One of the identified causes for Japan’s declining birthrate is lack of ready access to childcare after the parents rejoin the workforce. ChiCaRo seeks to address this with robot-assisted daycare programs. Now the whole family can participate in raising children, no matter how far apart they live. ChiCaRo’s prototype childcare robot was given fertile ground in their testing phase, with access to Shibuya City’s own employee daycare! Feedback from real parents proved invaluable for their R&D.
Vacan’s AirKnock service utilizes IoT technology in conjunction with AI to ensure that limited services and facilities are not overwhelmed by spreading usage over the full infrastructure.
One such use-case was demonstrated right here in the Shibuya City office, with Vacan’s Airknock preventing restroom congestion on the 1st to 4th floors.
“Hachi-Sanpo" provided by Shibuya Ward and bspr Inc is a project that aims to promote health and revitalize commerce in the ward by utilizing a health app and health point service. Users can earn points for exercising, managing their diet, and brain training with the app, and the points earned can be converted to "Hachi-Pay". This is a groundbreaking service that boosts both health and the local economy.
In our first year over 70 companies participated in various Testbed City programs. Shibuya City plans is committed to expanding our collaborators further in the future!
Businesses, mainly startups, and universities and other research institutions that aim to solve social issues through technology and services.
We are looking for new technologies and solutions to solve social issues. Any genre is welcome. The following is a list of topics in high demand within the Shibuya Ward Office. Please consider these as well. We look forward to hearing from you.
Please use the entry form below to register as a user and submit your entry:
Please attach any reference materials (up to 20 MB) to supplement your proposal, such as a description of your business or services.Upload any reference videos to supplement the proposal, including business and service details (maximum 500MB).
What opportunities exist in specific sectors? Who to partner up with? Shibuya Startup Support’s team is happy to help. Hop on an online call to speak to one of our staff today!
*Submissions for the demonstration experiment will be closed from 3/21 to 3/31 due to system maintenance.