Hi guys,
I’m currently a PhD student in my final year (maybe if I can graduate on time lol). I’ve been planning from the start to move on to entrepreneurship after this, and I’ve got an idea that I’ve presented a few times, and gotten some good feedback from various entrepreneurial support groups (e.g. Osaka Innovation Hub, Venture Cafe Tokyo).
Legally, can I found a company on a student visa? Or do I need to graduate first? I don’t plan on dropping out of my PhD at all, but having a registered business would allow me to have more credibility and begin really looking at pre-seed / seed funding, once my first prototype is finished.
I’m obviously going to take Reddit advice with a grain of salt and see an actual lawyer if I decide to follow through with this, but there must be some people who’ve done this before me.
Also, is Japan considered a good health-tech startup environment these days? I can’t network back home while I’m here, but sometimes it feels quite… different from London (though I’m in Osaka, not Tokyo, so maybe I should compare with Manchester). I feel like there’s less competition and therefore funding is actually easier to acquire? And if you make it to Series A or beyond you just Delaware incorporate in the US and access that set of VC funding anyway…
by OkZooplanktonblame18