Optify is now an official partner of Tokyo Innovation Base (TIB), the startup hub launched by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in Yurakucho. This is a short note on what TIB is and why we joined.

What Tokyo Innovation Base is

Tokyo Innovation Base is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's startup hub in Yurakucho. It opened in 2024 as the year-round home of the same initiative behind SusHi Tech Tokyo, the city's annual startup event, which brought 770 exhibiting startups and around 60,000 people to Tokyo Big Sight this April. The idea is simple: one place in the middle of Tokyo where founders, investors, companies, and students can meet, work, and test ideas.

The line on the wall says it plainly: "Becoming a NODE for innovation around the world."

In practice that means a free community workspace, monthly pitch nights, mentoring, a hardware lab, a shop floor for trying products on real customers, and a constant run of events from TIB and its partners.

What being a TIB partner means

TIB partners are companies, universities, municipalities, venture firms, and non-profits that plan and run programmes and events for the community: workshops, meetups, mentoring, pitch nights. There are now more than 500 of them, from KDDI, Fujitsu, and Mitsubishi Estate to Plug and Play Japan and prefectural governments across Japan. In return, partners get access to TIB's event spaces and equipment and, more importantly, to the people who pass through them.

Optify is now listed among those partners. You can find us on the official TIB partner page.

Jokubas Martysius, founder of Optify, standing in front of the Tokyo Innovation Base stage backdrop that reads 'Becoming a NODE for innovation around the world', wearing a TIB pass.
Jokubas Martysius（ヨクーバス・マルティーシュス）, founder of Optify, at Tokyo Innovation Base in Yurakucho.

Why we joined

Optify was founded in Japan in 2023. Almost everything we build, from Webflow marketing sites and Shopify stores to Next.js and Astro platforms and AI-driven internal tools, is for companies that are growing: startups launching a first site, scale-ups replacing one that no longer keeps up, and Japanese companies expanding overseas. TIB is where a large share of those companies in Tokyo actually spend their time.

We also wanted to put down roots. Working from Tokyo is one thing. Being part of the city's ecosystem in a way that is visible and accountable is another. A partnership with a Tokyo Metropolitan Government initiative is a commitment we are glad to make.

"I'm excited to be part of such a network of innovators, founders, companies, and creators, and to build something more lasting here in Tokyo." Jokubas Martysius, founder of Optify