Interstellar vs SpaceX
Nippon Nuggets, SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2021
Takafumi Horie’s Rocket startup, Interstellar Technologies, will attempt to launch a payload into space and recover it when it falls back to earth. Interstellar will be the first privately owned Japanese company to do so, if it can crowdsource the $50k launch costs. Interstellar’s goal is to launch cheap, lightweight satellites into space - a Corolla (not a Tesla Roadster) for the stars!
Read More Interstellar, Nikkei
A test for Japan’s Digital Prowess. The vaccine rollout is a key test for Prime Minister Suga’s key digital transformation policies. Towns and cities across Japan have been instructed to print out vaccination tickets and mail them to each resident. The massive vaccination program will involve millions of paper documents and man-hours, a key reason that Japan’s roll-out hasn’t even started yet. Compare that to the Indonesian system that will be run via WhatsApp, with reservations handled by a ChatBot.
Read More Nikkei Electric Vehicles prices could fall to three grand in the future according to the visionary founder of Nidec, Shigenobu Nagamori. The disruption is already happening, as GM’s Wuling MINI is already selling at a price tag of $4,200 in China, with volumes surpassing those of TESLA. Nagamori, never shy from making bullish forecasts, expects cheaper EVs to drive the entire global auto market from the current 90mn units to 300mn. Nagamori sees an EV price war ahead and is already preparing for prices to fall 80% from current levels.
Read More Nikkei  AutoblogKubota Pharma may have developed a therapy to treat myopia. A prototype of its smart glasses, Kubota-Glasses, is still in testing, but so far show promising results. Myopia is an issue that affects many people, especially in East Asian countries. Kubota hopes that by wearing the smart glasses for an hour a day, the refractive error can be corrected.
Read More The Tech Lead
SMALL CAP MOVERS
🔺+19% Wills Inc (4482) – the provider of digital shareholder benefits (yutai) and virtual Investor Relations services – rose as Covid-19 continues to lift demand for virtual shareholder meetings services.
🔺+18% Pharma Foods (2292) – the biotech company that researches and develops functional food ingredients – rose as it entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Mitsubishi Tanabe (4508.T) for its antibody to treat autoimmune disease.
😥 Major Losers: Were punters too busy checking out Reddit posts?
Goodpatch (7351) -23%; Hennge (4475) -22%; BASE (4477) -20%; West Holdings (1407) -17%; BayCurrent (6532) -17%; Renova (9519) -17%; Yappli Inc (4168) -15%