Rules ”Japan Challenge for Society 5.0-Accelerate Innovation with Japan-”

Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)

June 2021

1. RULES

Article 1 - Purpose

As part of its worldwide activities to support innovation in the Japanese ecosystem, the Organizer, (as such term is defined hereafter) is launching the first edition of the Japan Challenge for Society 5.0 – Accelerate Innovation with Japan - (the "Contest").

The Contest is divided into three (3) Challenges, each dedicated to a thematic chosen by the Organizer, in collaboration with Japanese corporates/ Japanese authorities/ local governments/ industrial associations, to help achieving Society 5.0 in Japan and make people’s lives more conformable and sustainable thanks to digitalization and innovation:

(1) Environmental Friendliness

(2) Labor Shortage & Improving Productivity

(3) Smart & Resilient Japan

The Organizer wishes to support startups willing to collaborate with Japanese corporates/ Japanese authorities/ local governments/ industrial associations and to help startups break into an established industry in order to accelerate their integration in Japan.

The purpose of the Contest is to bring innovative solutions to challenges unique to Japan by creating partnerships between startups and Japanese stakeholders.

The Organizer wishes to take the opportunity of the organization of the Viva Technology Paris event, which will take place from June 16 to June 19, 2021 (the "Event") to launch the first edition of the Contest.

Candidates’ submissions will be reviewed and assessed by a panel of experts on the basis of qualitative criteria as set out in the present Rules.

No registration fees are required from the Candidates (as such term is defined hereafter) to participate to the Contest.

Article 2 - Organizer

The Contest is organized by Japan External Trade Organization - JETRO having its registered headquarters in Japan at Ark Mori Building, 6F 12-32, Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-6006 Japan and its French office in Paris at 27, rue de Berri 75008 Paris- France ('JETRO" or the “Organizer”)

JETRO is a Japanese governmental organization with 76 offices in 55 countries, promoting international trade and investment.　As one of their activities, JETRO will bridge Japanese corporates and foreign startups who have cutting-edge technologies and disruptive business strategies by offering opportunities for foreign startups to accelerate innovation with Japan (https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/).

Article 3 - General conditions

The present rules governing the edition of the Contest (the "Rules") are available on Viva Technology’s web site at https://challenges.vivatechnology.com/en/challenges/japan (the "Website").

They shall also be sent, at no charge, to any Candidate requesting them from the Organizer.

The Organizer reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to withdraw or amend this Contest (or to amend these Rules) in any way, especially in the event of an error, technical problem, computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failure or any other cause beyond the reasonable control of the Organizer that interferes with the proper conduct of this Contest as contemplated by these Rules.

Any attempt to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of this Contest is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, the Organizer reserves the right to seek remedies and damages to the fullest extent permitted by law.

The Organizer reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend this Contest, or to amend these Rules without prior notice or obligation, for any reason whatsoever.

Any possible changes made to the Rules shall enter into effect at the time they are published online on the Website. Any participant who refuses to accept the modification(s) to the Rules must cease to take part in the Contest process.

In addition to the acceptance of the Rules, by submitting an application to the Contest, each Candidate is deemed to have read, understood and agreed to the Website’s general terms and conditions of use (the “General Terms of Use”) available at https://challenges.vivatechnology.com/en/terms, the privacy policy available at https://challenges.vivatechnology.com/en/privacy and to JETRO privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”) available at https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/privacy/privacy_policy_eea.html.

If the provisions of the General Terms of Use conflict with the provisions of the Rules, the Rules shall take precedence.

Article 4 - Eligibility

To be eligible to enter the Contest, you must: (1) be above the age of majority in the state or jurisdiction where you reside at the time of your submission to the Contest; and (2) be a director, officer (CEO, CFO, etc.),  

general manager, president, etc. of an incorporated company or a company which has a legal existence and which gives you the legal right, under the law applicable to the formation and incorporation of that company, to act in the name of the company (individually a "Candidate" and collectively the "Candidates").

There is no nationality or residency requirement for participating in the Contest.

However, regardless of their nationality, director, officer (CEO, CFO, etc.), general manager, president, etc. of the companies which are incorporated under Japanese law (hereafter a “Japanese Company”) are not allowed to participate in the Contest.

Employees, interns, contractors of JETRO, and their offices located outside Japan, and their respective directors, officers, employees, representatives, and agents (“Contest Entities”), and members of the Contest Entities’ and their immediate families (parents, siblings, children, spouses, and life partners of each, regardless of where they live) and members of the households (whether related or not) of such employees, officers and directors are ineligible to participate in this Contest.

Organizer reserves the right to verify eligibility and to adjudicate on any dispute at any time.

This Contest is void where restricted or prohibited by law.

Article ５ - How to participate

No purchase necessary to participate or win the Contest.

The Candidate must meet the Submission Requirements described below in Article ６.

Submissions (as such term is defined hereafter) are void if they are in whole or part illegible, incomplete, damaged, altered, counterfeit, obtained through fraud, or late. A Submission will be deemed made by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at the time of filing the Submission and the Candidates may be required to show proof of being the authorized account holder for that email address.

LIMIT ONE (1) SUBMISSION PER CANDIDATE AND PER COMPANY. If multiple Candidates represent or purport to represent the same company in their Submissions, only the Submission that is received first by the Organizer will be considered; all other Submissions referring to such company will be disqualified.

To enter this Contest, you must do all of the following:

provide all information requested in the online application form on the https://challenges.vivatechnology.com/en/challenges/japan (the “Application”);

and submit a pitch deck through the Application (the “Pitch Deck” and, collectively with the Application, your “Submission”).

Article ６ - Submission Requirements

Your Submission must conform to all of the following guidelines

The Pitch Deck must be in PPT or PDF format;

Your Submission must be in English;

Your Submission must be your original work of authorship. You must not copy or otherwise imitate any content from any third party, nor may your Submission include any third party copyrighted material or artwork, without such third party’s permission;

Your Submission must not contain any names, likenesses, photographs, or other images of any other person, without their permission;

Your Submission must not violate the rights of any third party, including any intellectual property rights or rights of privacy;

Your Submission must not contain any trademark, copyrights and/or designs of any third party, or advertise or promote any brand or product of any kind, without the appropriate third party’s permission;

Your Submission must not contain any confidential or proprietary information of any party whatsoever;

Your Submission must not: (1) be defamatory or libelous; (2) include any nudity, animal cruelty, illegal activity or substance, or offensive or obscene subject matter; (3) include any content that is sexually explicit or suggestive, violent or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group, profane or pornographic, or any dangerous activity; (4) promote alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or firearms/weapons, (or the use of any of the foregoing); (5) promote any unsafe or dangerous activity; (6) promote any particular political agenda or message; (7) reflect any obscene or offensive statements or endorse any form of hate or hate group.

The Organizer, its agents and/or the members of the jury will be evaluating each Submission to verify that the Submission meets the Submission Requirements. The Organizer reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any Candidate who submits a Submission that does not meet the Submission Requirements.

Article 7 - Indemnity from you for your submission

You shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Organizer and all of its officers, directors, employees, agents and other representatives, from and against any and all claims arising from your Submission.

Article 8 – Intellectual property

As between the Organizer and the Candidate, the Candidate retains ownership of all intellectual and industrial property rights (including moral rights) in and to the Submission.

As a condition of participation to the Contest Candidates (on behalf of themselves and their startups) grant JETRO, its agents and partner companies, a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, adapt, modify, publish, distribute, publicly perform, create a derivative work from, and publicly display the Submission for the purposes of allowing JETRO and the judges to evaluate the Submission for purposes of the Contest.

No party acquires any intellectual property rights under these Official Rules except the limited rights necessary to use the Submission for the purposes described in these Official Rules.

Article 9 - Consent to use your name

By entering this Contest, the Candidate also hereby grants to the Organizer and its designees the right to use your name, voice, signature, biographical information, photo, and likeness for advertising, publicity, promotional and other purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter devised, throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification or permission, except where prohibited by law.

Article 10 - Review of the Submission and Selection

A jury composed of highly qualified experts coming from the JETRO, and/or players within the ecosystem of startups (such as venture capital partners, incubators, accelerators, etc.) (the “Experts Committee”) will judge each eligible Submission in order to select the Contest Winners (as such term is defined hereafter).

The Experts Committee shall proceed to review the Submissions on the basis of qualitative criteria provided herein to study their admissibility and completeness.

Any Submission that is incomplete, submitted late, or that contains false or misleading information, shall be declared inadmissible, with the Organizer having no obligation to inform the concerned Candidate of this fact, and without the Candidate whose file was discarded being entitled to any indemnification; this is applicable at any stage of the process of granting the Contest.

The Experts Committee may select, from the Submissions deemed to be admissible, and, if needed, additional material submitted by the Candidate at the request of the Experts Committee, approximately forty-five (45) startups that will be named individually a "Contest Winner " and jointly, the "Contest Winners", for the three (3) challenges, on the basis of the following qualitative criteria:

1. Candidates' profile.

2. Originality and innovation of their business.

3. Entrepreneurial spirit.

4. Appropriateness between the startup and the Japanese industry.

5. Potential contribution of the business of the relevant startup.

6. Potential of commercial partnership between the relevant startup and Japan.

The decision of the Experts Committee shall be final. No appeal shall be admitted.

The Experts Committee is not required to select any Candidate as Contest Winners if the quality of the Submission is not deemed to meet the relevant qualitative criteria and may therefore select less than forty-five (45) startups. Similarly, the Organizer reserves the right to grant any other award or special mention to any Candidate at its sole discretion.

Determinations of judges are final and binding.

Article 11 - Announcement of the Name of the Contest Winners

The name of the Contest Winners shall be announced on the Organizer's website, and/or by any other means determined by the Organizer. The Organizer reserves the right to inform the Contest Winners personally, subject to the Contest Winners undertaking to keep this information confidential until the official public announcement by the Organizer.

Article 12 - Nature of the Awards

The Contest Winners shall receive the following awards (the”Awards”):

Exhibiting a booth at CEATEC2021, one of Asia's largest IT/digital events digitally, and business matching with Japanese companies digitally.

Mentoring by experts to help you to collaborate with Japanese corporates/ Japanese authorities/ local governments/ industrial associations, bring about innovative solutions to challenges unique to Japan, and develop your business in Japan

Invitation to Japan and interaction with startup ecosystems members around Japan (depending on the status of COVID-19). This award is only available to a maximum of fifteen (15) startups among the forty-five (45) startups as Contest Winners, and that will be selected by the Organizer based on the qualitative criteria referred to Article 10. The invitation feasibility will be based on the status of the COVID-19 in the country where the Contest Winners reside and in Japan. Determinations of Organizer are final and binding.

The Award is strictly personal and may not be transferred to or used by any person other than the Contest Winners. The Contest Winners may not assign or transfer the rights and obligations derived from the Award to a third party.

JETRO reserves the right at any time and for any reason to change the format, content, venue, location and timings of the Award (including, without limitation, any installation and dismantling periods) without liability. If the change is made, JETRO will inform the Contest Winners of such change as soon as reasonably practicable.

By submitting, the Candidates understand that they will not receive any compensation or offer other than what is described in the Rules. For the avoidance of doubt, neither the Organizer nor any of JETRO entities shall be obligated to cooperate or pursue any contacts with the Candidates after the selection of the Contest Winners in September 2021.

Article 13 – Terms for all Awards

Odds of winning any award depends on the number of eligible Submissions received. Awards will be awarded in the name of the startup, and not in the name of any individual person. No transfer, substitution or cash equivalent for awards is allowed.

The Award(s) may be subject to restrictions, authorizations and/or licenses.

The Contest Winner(s) shall bear all responsibility for use of the Award(s) in compliance with any conditions imposed by such Award provider(s), and any additional costs associated with its use, service, or maintenance.  

The Organizer has not made and the Organizer is not responsible in any manner for any warranties, or guarantees, relating to the Award(s), regarding the use, value or enjoyment of the award(s), including, without limitation, its quality, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose.

Article 14 - Release

By entering this Contest, each Candidate and Contest Winner hereby agrees to release, waive and discharge the Organizer and each of its officers, directors, employees, agents, and other representatives from any and all claims, demands, obligations, causes of action and liabilities which now exist or may hereafter arise that relate in any way to such Candidates and Winners’ participation in the Contest, including from any use, redemption, acceptance, possession, ownership, or misuse of the prize(s) or any portion thereof, or any participation in any activity, or event offered in connection with the prize(s) or any portion thereof.

Article 15 - Calendar

The calendar for the 2021 edition of the Contest is as follows:

Upload of the Submissions on the Website before July 31, 2021 11:59 pm (Paris time);

Review by the Experts Committee of the admissibility of the Submissions and selection of the forty-five(45) startups of Contest Winners and announcement in September 2021;

Mentoring by experts will be provided in Oct 2021;

Exhibiting a booth at CEATEC2021 digitally in Oct 19-22 2021;

Selection of the fifteen(15) startups to be invited to Japan and announcement after CEATEC2021;

Invitation to Japan and interaction with startup ecosystems members around Japan till March 2022 (depending on the status of COVID-19 ).

These dates are provided solely as an indication. They may be changed at the discretion of the Organizer if circumstances so require. The Organizer may also curtail, suspend, postpone, modify, or cancel the organization of the Contest without being held liable for any damages or lack of opportunity to the Candidates arising therefrom, even at the stage when the Contest Winners are being selected by the Organizer.

Article 16 - Provision Applicable to the Contest Winners

The name of the Contest Winners will be announced in a press release issued by the Organizer, to be available specifically on the Website and on the Organizer's company website, and/or by any other means determined by the Organizer. In this context, the Organizer may decide to have an audiovisual and/or photographic news story, which will be publicly released, produced about the Contest Winners, news story for which the Contest winners undertakes to make themselves available and to participate in.

In no event shall the Organizer be held responsible for any problem that might occur to the Candidates due to data leakage.

Article 17 - Personal data

Participation in the Contest requires the submission of personal data relating, in particular, to the identity of the Candidates (including names, mailing and correspondence addresses, phone numbers, etc.) (collectively the “Personal Data”) as described in the Privacy Policy annexed to the present Rules.

In no event shall the Organizer be held responsible for any problem that might occur to the Candidate due to data leakage.

Article 18 - Internet

The Organizer is not responsible for any malfunction of the Website or any late, lost, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, illegible, undeliverable, or destroyed Submissions due to system errors, failed, incomplete or

garbled computer or other telecommunication transmission malfunctions, hardware or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections or technical malfunction(s), which may limit a Candidate's ability to participate.

In no event shall the Organizer be held responsible for any problem that might occur to the Candidates due to data leakage.

Article 19 - Liability

The Organizer shall not incur liability in the event that force majeure, or unforeseen circumstances against its will, harm the organization and management of the Contest.

The Organizer shall not be liable in the following cases:

for any direct or indirect economic loss, loss of profits and of business, loss of reputation or any other loss of a Candidate in connection with participating in the Contest and/or the Event;

for not having selected a Candidate;

for any delays in providing the Award(s) to a Candidate;

if a Candidate is not able to receive the Award(s) at all or may only receive part of it due to circumstances beyond the control of the Organizer;

in the event of cancellation, termination, suspension or modification of the Contest or the Rules;

for the disqualification of any Submission or Candidate;

for any breach of the law by the Candidate;

for any false or misleading information contained in an Submission provided by a Candidate;

for any data leakage;

for any loss or damage due to the use of the Website. The Organizer does not control, operate or have access to the Website and cannot therefore be held liable for any loss or damage arising out of such use.

Each of the Contest Winners undertakes to pay any taxes, levies, social contributions, or any other possible fee of any kind whatsoever, that it may due pursuant to applicable law; with the Organizer being held harmless from any liability in such regard.

Article 20 - Severability of the Clauses

If one of the clauses in these Rules is declared null or unenforceable, in whole or in part, by virtue of any provision of applicable law, such clause shall be considered void, and such nullity or unenforceability shall not affect the other clauses herein.

Article 21 - Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution

These Rules and this Contest shall be governed by, subject to, and construed in accordance with the laws of Japan, excluding all conflict of law rules.

All disputes, controversies or differences which may arise between the parties hereto, out of or in relation to the legal relationship and the derivative rights and obligations with respect to the Contest shall be settled by arbitration in Tokyo, Japan, in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association. The arbitration shall be conducted in English. The Arbitration award rendered shall be final and may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.

Any notice or correspondence in relation to a dispute should be addressed to:

JETRO　Tokyo

Ark Mori Building, 6F 12-32, Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-6006 Japan

Japan_Challenge@jetro.go.jp

Article 22 - Contact details

Any correspondence with the Organizer with respect to the Contest and the Rules should be addressed to:

Japan_Challenge@jetro.go.jp (Ms.Isabelle Comtet and Ms.Tomomi ENDO, JETRO Paris)

2. ANNEX- PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY

This Personal Data Protection Policy of the Japan External Trade Organization Office located in Paris (27, rue de Berri 75008 Paris- France) – the JETRO Paris - and the Japan External Trade Organization headquarters located in Japan (Ark Mori Building, 6F 12-32, Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-6006 Japan) - JETRO Tokyo - (JETRO Paris and JETRO Tokyo being named together “JETRO” or “we” or “us” or “our”) - details the process of Personal Data provided on the website  (https://challenges.vivatechnology.com/en/challenges/japan) by Candidates in relation with the Contest “Japan Challenge for Society 5.0-Accelerate Innovation with Japan-”.

JETRO Paris and JETRO Tokyo are data joint-controllers for the processing of the Candidates’ Personal Data collected via Viva Technology‘s Website.

Personal Data has the meaning set out in EU Regulation 2016/679 (the “GDPR”). This includes any information about an individual from which that person can be identified.

Candidates are informed that the Personal Data processed for the purposes of the Contest and Event are necessary to take into account their participation.

JETRO will treat Candidates’ Personal Data with care and will do its utmost to ensure proper data management so that Candidates can participate in the Contest and Event in complete safety.

Purposes of processing

We collect your Personal Data directly from you when you complete the Contest Application and your Submission through the Viva Technology‘s Website.

We may also collect your Personal Data indirectly, when we take pictures of you, during the Event organized in relation with the Contest and for the Contest Winners during their trip to Japan.

Your Personal Data is subject to computer processing, the purposes of which are the organization of the Contest and Event, to manage your Submission to, and participation in, the Contest and Event, granting the award(s) and potentially inviting you to Japan, and the development of business opportunities.

Other lawful basis for processing Personal Data by us will be one of the following:

the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract you are party to or in order to take steps at your request prior to you entering into a contract;

the processing is necessary in order for us to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations (such as compliance with anti-money laundering legislation and for conflict checking purposes);

the processing is necessary for the pursuit of our legitimate business interests (including that of the delivery and the promotion of our services);

processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims; or

the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal Data for one or more specific purposes.

Personal Data provided will be used within the scope necessary to achieve the purposes of use and will not be used for any purpose other than the purposes of use without the consent of the Candidates.

Data categories

The categories of Personal Data necessary for the management of the Contest are:

last name and first name, date and place of birth,

email address,

telephone number,

startup name and your position within the latter;

address, city, country,

pictures of you,

Data recipients

When you complete the Contest’s Application and your Submission through the Viva Technology‘s Website, you expressly consent to your Personal Data being communicated to the following recipients:

- The JETRO Paris;

- The JETRO Tokyo;

- The organizer of the Viva Technology Fair;

- The members of the jury.

We may also need to share your Personal Data with other third parties like business partners, service providers and other affiliated third parties, to enable us to provide our services to you.

We require that when Personal Data of a Candidate is received by a recipient for processing, the Personal Data must be processed in accordance with contractual provisions stipulating that the information will be protected, processed in accordance with applicable data protection laws, and used only in accordance with our instructions.

Lastly, we may communicate your Personal Data to third parties when such communications are required by law, regulatory provisions, or judicial decisions, or if such communications are necessary to provide for the protection and defense of its rights.

Transfer of Personal Data outside the European Union

JETRO Paris hereby informs the Candidates that on 23 January 2019, the European Commission announced that it had adopted an adequacy decision in relation to Japan, to enter into force immediately. The mutual agreement, which covers Japan as the whole of the European Union (EU), allows personal data to be transferred between Japan and the EU without the need for additional safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses.

By participating to the Contest, you expressly consent that your Personal Data which have been collected by JETRO Paris will be transmitted by JETRO Paris to JETRO Tokyo and to the members of the jury.

Personal Data transferred from the European Union to Japan will be used for the only purpose of organizing and managing the Contest the purpose for which the Personal Data were initially received.

Under no circumstances may a subsequent transfer of Personal Data be made to a third party outside Japanese territory without the prior consent of the Candidate.

Data retention periods

- The Candidates: With regard to the Personal Data of the Candidates, they will be kept by us for 12 (twelve) months following the announcement of the Contest Winners. Beyond this period, Personal Data will be kept, for evidentiary purposes, in accordance with the applicable legal limitation periods.

- The Contest Winners: With regard to the Contest Winners’ Personal Data, they will be kept by us for a period of 24 (twenty four) months following the announcement of the Contest Winners. Beyond this period, Personal Data will be kept, for evidentiary purposes, in accordance with the applicable legal limitation periods.

Your rights

In line with applicable law, you have the right to request access to and rectification of your Personal Data, meaning you may ask for rectification, addition to, update or erasure of your Personal Data that is inaccurate, incomplete or obsolete. You also have the right to request restriction or to object to processing of your Personal Data for legitimate reasons.

You may also, at any time and without giving reason, oppose the processing of your Personal Data for communication purposes.

To exercise these rights or for any questions about the processing of your Personal Data, you can contact the Data Protection Officer of the Organizer at the following address: Ark Mori Building, 6F 12-32, Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-6006 Japan
E-mail: DPO@jetro.go.jp

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority.

This "Personal data" Annex is part of JETRO's policy on personal data that you can find by referring to the following URL link: https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/privacy/privacy_policy_eea.html