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A Year of Impact for the EU Business Hub: Wrap-up of a Successful 2025 Across Japan and the Republic of Korea

As 2025 draws to a close, the EU Business Hub – Japan and the Republic of Korea celebrates a year marked by strong engagement, new market opportunities, and deepened cooperation between European innovators and Asian industry leaders.

Throughout the year, the programme has continued to advance its mission: supporting EU SMEs and start-ups in expanding their presence in two of Asia’s most dynamic markets. With a focus on creating meaningful business connections, the EU Business Hub delivered a robust programme of activities designed to accelerate international partnerships and foster long-term commercial relations.

6 business missions, 3 strategic sectors

By the end of 2025, the programme will have organised six high-impact business missions across 3 key sectors – green and low-carbon technologies, digital solutions, and healthcare and medical equipment.

Across these business missions, the programme will have supported over 250 participants from across the European Union; each selected for their strong potential for establishing business collaboration in the target market.

 

A diverse representation of EU companies

The EU Business Hub participants represented a wide spectrum of high-potential European SMEs and start-ups, bringing expertise in:

  • Green and low-carbon technologies, including clean energy technologies, energy systems, environmental monitoring analysis, and circularity.
  • Digital solutions, ranging from semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), software, digital technologies, robotics, cybersecurity, data, NextGen computing, and blockchain.
  • Healthcare and medical equipment, with companies specialising in assistive technologies, medical equipment, AI applications in healthcare, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, ICT for healthcare, telemedicine and remote health monitoring.

Participant satisfaction remained consistently high across all missions – reaching up to 97% in digital solutions and green and low-carbon technology sectors – confirming both the strong demand for European innovation in Asian markets and the value of the EU Business Hub’s hands-on support. 

 

Over 4,300 business meetings facilitated

Throughout the year, participating companies engaged in 4,323 business meetings with local Japanese and Korean stakeholders. These B2B matchmaking sessions have enabled EU companies to build targeted connections, explore pilot projects and investment opportunities, and refine their entry strategies into both markets.

To highlight the impact of these connections, the programme captured success stories from participating SMEs across different sectors:

  • Methanol Reformer’s (Spain) participation in the EU Business Hub @ Smart Energy Week Autumn 2025 business mission proved to be a turning point. “Japan can be intimidating for newcomers, but the EU Business Hub made it accessible” says Emilio Vicente Yepes, the company’s Business Development Manager for the Japanese market. Full article available here
  • The Greek engineering company SARM Project participated in the Green and Low-Carbon Technologies Korea 2025 business mission as part of its strategy to target the Korean market. “The EU Business Hub gave us the opportunity to learn, connect, and engage with a market that had previously been out of reach,” Stephanos Savvakis, Co-Founder of the SARM Project explained. “Thanks to the exceptional organisation and support, we achieved far more – in far less time – than would have been possible on our own.” Full article available here
  • Comptek Solutions, a deep tech company from Turku, Finland, participated in the EU Business Hub @ SEMICON Japan 2024 business mission. “Our experience at SEMICON Japan 2024 largely confirmed our expectations: a partnership-oriented and thoughtful approach to new business, within a market that moves at its own deliberate pace. Japan is a sophisticated and rewarding market — and with the EU Business Hub’s support in building trust and opening doors, we are well placed to take the right next steps,” explains Vicente Calvo Alonso, CEO & Co-Founder at Comptek Solutions. Full article available here
  • The Bulgarian company BGO Software joined the Healthcare and Medical Equipment Korea 2025 business mission. “The EU Business Hub allowed us to see where we stand among European and Korean innovators,” reflects Dimitar Dikov, Ph.D. Eng., COO of BGO Software. “It gave us invaluable exposure, created new business connections, and showed us the specific efforts needed to succeed in Asia”. Full article available here.
  • The Germany-based cybersecurity company Mitigant joined the EU Business Hub @ Japan IT Week Spring 2025 mission in Tokyo. Backed by thorough preparation and tailored support from the programme, the company reached a key milestone: signing a strategic Memorandum of Understanding with a Kyoto-based cloud service provider. “The business mission provided the structure and momentum we needed to move from discussions to a signed partnership,” said Dr. Muhammad Sukmana, the company’s Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer. “Being able to meet in person, with clear coordination and translation, helped us build trust quickly and align on shared goals.” Watch the video below, and read the full article here.

More success stories from this year’s business missions are available on our website: Success stories | EU Business Hub

 

Looking ahead to 2026

As the programme prepares for 2026, the EU Business Hub remains committed to expanding its support and unlocking new opportunities for EU SMEs and start-ups in Japan and the Republic of Korea.

For 2026, the programme has already announced the first four business missions of next year, signalling strong and growing demand from European companies eager to engage with both markets. 

Notably, the upcoming year will also include the first healthcare-focused business mission to Japan, further broadening the programme’s sectoral coverage and opening new avenues for EU innovators in medical and health technologies.

With continued strategic business mission missions, wider sectoral engagement, and sustained interest from both European and Asian industry players, 2026 is set to build on the strong momentum achieved this year.

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***

EU Business Hub – Japan and the Republic of Korea is an EU-funded programme launched in 2024 to support EU SMEs and start-ups in the Green and Low-Carbon, Digital, Healthcare and Medical Equipment sectors in expanding into the Japanese and Korean markets. Between 2024 and 2027, the programme is organising 20 sector-focused business missions – 10 in each market – with services including strategic coaching, matchmaking, local interpretation, and full logistical support. The EU Business Hub is the successor programme of the EU Business Avenues / EU Gateway to Japan.

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