How one female founder used her curiosity to optimize manufacturing and hospitality inefficiencies

The entrepreneurial spirit is often associated with grit and charm than with technical expertise—however, technical prowess is essential to the long-term success of a company. Japanese founder Kyoko Otawa was working at a consulting firm when she became interested in IT and IoT (internet of things) solutions. She set up a weeked study group with her colleagues to discuss AI, big data, fintech, and blockchains. After a year and half of hosting their study group, the crew decided to create a business plan of their own and pitch to VCs. In 2018, Kyoko left her day job to pursue her startup full time: Latona, a technology startup that aims to solve problems in a wide range of industrial sectors, including factories, retail stores, and construction through in-house developed open source and IoT solutions.

By applying edge computing technology, Latona works with major companies to develop new services, including advanced factory automation through adaptable sensing technology without time lags and an analysis system on site; and a service that offers an unprecedented shopping experience through collaboration with POS data from retailers. Kyoko imagines that Latona's edge computing will be able to replace the role of an inspection employee and be able to more efficiently and quickly find gaps in a production or assembly line. Latona’s services would also be able to turn customer information from paper to digital in a manageable and accessible way, potentially even using facial recognition to ensure even smoother hospitality experiences. According to Kyoko,“Latona’s vision is changing the world of traditional and qualified work to an automated system by using edge computing which creates a secured and low cost environment.”

The Latona team spent two years honing their technologies and services before Kyoko decided it was time to scale the business and evolve her skills as a leader. “I have a passion to grow the next generation of AI and IoT industry leaders,” said Kyoko. “In order to achieve that, I needed to grow my business by expanding from the current core area to give our young employees new opportunities.” With the goal of generating more business ideas to scale the business, she enrolled in the Google for Startups Immersion: Women Founders in APAC program in autumn 2020. “Every moment of the program was eye opening. It really revitalized my business ideas,” said Kyoko.

Latona particularly benefited from tailored mentorship from Googlers and industry experts. The Google for Startups team connected her with Poonam Bathla, a Google software engineering manager based in the U.S.. “We had a 1:1 every week throughout the program and we discussed a lot on finding new areas we could explore with our existing tech solutions,” remembers Kyoko. “Poonam understands our technology very well and quickly and gave me great ideas we could proceed for new business.”