JAL Hosts Business Networking Event for New Venture Development Featuring Sauna and Space Themes

Japan Airlines (JAL) launched a networking event called ‘Lab CROSS’ on December 7 to promote open innovation. Through interactions and idea exchanges with different industries, they aim to foster new business development and build a network.

JAL has been ramping up its efforts in new business development based in their open innovation facility ‘JAL Innovation lab’ in Tennozu, Tokyo, as part of its mid-term management plan through 2025, which includes the promotion of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) strategies.

This year, the company has focused on four core areas: ‘Space’, ‘Next Mobility’, ‘Food Tech’, and ‘Sauna Tech’. In the summer, they held an external business contest ‘JAL Wingman Project’ to select external partners. The contest winner Beer the First began collaborating with JAL in September, and they initiated the production and sale of a craft beer ‘Japan Arigato Lager’, which upcycles surplus white rice from lounges at Haneda and Narita airports.

Lab CROSS, a follow-up to the business contest, will be held about every two months with the four core areas as its themes. The inaugural event on December 7 focused on space business. Former JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki and entrepreneur Hideo Aoki, who is involved in the space business, were invited to participate in a panel discussion with Yusuke Yabumoto, General Manager at JAL Innovation Lab, discussing the compatibility of space and new business development as well as prospects for manned space transportation and travel. About 70 participants from approximately 60 companies in various industries such as trading, pharmaceuticals, and transportation joined the exchange of views with the panelists and each other.

Sayaka Shimizu from JAL’s Digital Innovation Division, Business Development Department, says, “Our innovation business has just started moving, and we still have a small network outside the company.” The event aims to first spread awareness of JAL’s new developmental ventures. The next event will focus on Food Tech and is planned for February 2024.