Welcome to Asia Tomorrow's eighth weekly news! For this week, I completely overhauled the content format for a better reading experience. With a mix of a deep dive into the entrepreneurial journey and a collection of valuable resources, I hope the new format delivers a better insight for you.

Challenger Deep Dive:
How a Campus Club Became a Japan’s Leading Social Innovator

A Social Accelerator with 16 Years of Proven Profitability Records

Very50 is a business accelerator startup focusing on social impact businesses. Since 2008, the investor has supported over 50 projects encompassing 10 countries. The projects include the Traditional Healthy Market of Indonesia and a Training Center for the disabled in Vietnam. What’s unique about Very50 is that the company can generate a steady profit while continuing social investment. This is possible thanks to the startup’s MBA-style entrepreneur training programs, social innovation education for students, etc.

From Musician to McKinsey Consultant and a Social Innovator

Ryosuke Sugaya, founder of Very50, has a unique story of founding a social startup. The Japanese founder was initially a professional keyboardist with seven years of experience. However, after facing global issues like child prostitution in Cambodia and lack of medical aid in Pakistan, Ryosuke realized that solving social problems is possible with an understanding of business. This led to a career as a consultant at McKinsey Hong Kong and a social startup founder afterward.

Key to a Sustainable Social Startup: “Search & Jump In”

Very50 does not rely on donations, grants, or investments from outside. The company generates 99% of its total revenue from its business, including entrepreneurial coaching, consulting in public relations and sales promotions. Ryosuke underlines that “looking for opportunities to establish a steady revenue foundation” is crucial for sustainable social activities. To achieve this, relentlessly looking for and challenging business opportunities is necessary. Ryosuke’s story shows that continuously developing services for revenue and making competitiveness is essential, even for social startups.

Insights Quick View

• Establishing Your Startup in Japan 101 (🕰 3 Mins)

• Reasons for Korean Startups to Focus on Japanese Startup Scene (🕰 4 Mins)

• Three Factors Why Many Startups Fail in Southeast Asia (🕰 6 Mins)

• Singapore Startup Environment Overview (🕰 2 Mins)

• How to Create a SaaS That Recorded a 7.5x Growth in Six Months (🕰 4 Mins)

Collaboration with the underdogs team is also available! underdogs will be your partner in the format below:

• Get your story published on Asia Tomorrow and get yourself noticed.

• Be interviewed by professional journalists on Asia Tomorrow.

• Join a training program for Asian entrepreneurs as a coach.

• Looking for an entrepreneurship program that will boost your business? Let us know if you’re interested in or need it!

underdogs Supports Asia Tomorrow!

underdogs, the company behind Asia Tomorrow, is South Korea’s largest entrepreneurship education company. It has trained over 15,000 entrepreneurs to date!📈

With more than 150 corporate partners in Korea, underdogs has created a supportive environment for entrepreneurs to challenge themselves and grow. 

The vision of underdogs is to change the world by fostering underdogs who turn possibilities into reality.

(Work in Progress(W