Find a counterparty
You state a requirement. We search both ecosystems against it, come back with named organisations and the reason for each, and brief both sides in writing before anyone meets.
TSUKUBA, JAPAN · SOFIA, BULGARIATell us what you are looking for.
Tell us what you are looking for.
We will build the room around it.
KyoLink is a Japanese general incorporated association in Tsukuba, connecting Japanese and Bulgarian companies, research institutions, investors and government. We take a stated requirement, find the counterparty, introduce them by name, put in writing what each side agreed to do, and report in ninety days whether it happened.
Tsukuba, Japan
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the corridor
Sofia, Bulgaria
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We do not sell attendance, and we do not sell contacts. We sell the work that carries a requirement to a decision.
- 01Requirementstated by you, in one paragraph
- 02Counterpartya shortlist of two or three, with reasons
- 03Briefingboth sides prepared in writing, before meeting
- 04Introductionby name, and only with consent on both sides
- 05Ninety daysthe outcome, classified and reported
Have a requirement?
Send it in one paragraph. We reply within five working days with whether we can take it and who we would approach.
Want a position in the Japan and Europe corridor?
Partnership is a place inside the route: one owned requirement a year, a named owner, a quarterly decision review and the intelligence that goes with it.
Which direction are you going?Japan to Europe →Bulgaria to Japan →
Not sure which of those you are?
Seven other kinds of organisation have a place in this route: research institutions, public bodies, associations, investors, journalists, specialists. Find the one that is yours, or just tell us what you need to move.
ABOUT
We are not an events organisation
The event is how we produce qualified introductions. The introduction is where the work starts rather than where it ends, and what we are accountable for is the decision it leads to.
That distinction has consequences we accept. A well-attended evening with no tracked follow-through is a failure. A modest session that produces five qualified meetings and five written follow-ups is a success. Attendance is not something we sell.
KyoLink is a general incorporated association registered in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, corporate number 6050005013747. Its founding team combines Japanese academia, European research and cross-border commercial development. External institutional affiliations are disclosed in full on the About page and do not imply institutional endorsement of KyoLink's activities.
What we do
Land in the other market
We map the market-entry route in either direction and coordinate the specialists it needs: the Tsukuba landing route for a European company entering Japan, and the appropriate Sofia and EU establishment route for a Japanese company entering Europe, coordinated with the relevant legal, tax, immigration and public-support specialists.
Reach research funding neither side can reach alone
Japan is associated to Pillar II of Horizon Europe, so a Bulgarian and a Japanese partner can sit in the same funded consortium. We map the instruments, check entity and call-specific eligibility before proposing one, and help write the application.
Convene around your requirement
Members place a requirement on our annual calendar and we build the session around it: we source the counterparties, brief both sides and issue the notes. It is what the membership buys.
Why Bulgaria
Satellite platforms built at production cadence. Semiconductor wafer-handling systems. Precision optics. Enterprise knowledge graphs. Metal-hydride hydrogen storage. Euro-area membership from 1 January 2026 removes the BGN to EUR conversion layer from euro-denominated contracting and treasury, so the companies behind those capabilities invoice in the same currency as a German supplier. The yen to euro exposure is unchanged.
JAPAN · TSUKUBA
- Tsukuba Science City
- 304 University of Tsukuba ventures as of 1 September 2026, fifth in Japan by university spin-offs, and dozens of national research institutes in one city
- Registered here
- KyoLink's office sits inside a Tsukuba incubation facility, in the same block as the national space centre
- Pillar II association
- Japan can now sit in the same funded Horizon Europe consortium as an EU partner
BULGARIA · SOFIA
- Euro area
- Member since 1 January 2026, so no BGN conversion layer in euro-denominated contracting and treasury
- Corporate tax
- Standard corporate income tax rate ten per cent. Pillar Two top-up taxation applies to in-scope large groups.
- Capability, not cost
- Satellites at production cadence, semiconductor wafer handling, precision optics, knowledge graphs, hydrogen storage
Next event
22
Oct 2026
{'title': 'What companies are looking for now', 'lede': 'Live requirements that KyoLink is working on, published with the permission of the company that stated them. These are not results. They are open questions, and the reason they are here is that the answer may be reading this page.', 'description': 'Live requirements KyoLink is working on, published with permission: what the company is looking for, the sector, the geography and the stage the work has reached.', 'home_heading': 'Open requirements', 'home_link': 'See what companies are looking for', 'cta_head': 'Could your company be the counterparty?', 'cta_text': 'If one of these is close to what you do, say so in one paragraph. We will tell you honestly whether it is a fit before anyone is introduced to anyone.', 'cta_link': 'Tell us it could be you', 'could_be_us': 'This could be us', 'looking_for': 'Looking for', 'sector': 'Sector', 'geography': 'Geography', 'stage': 'Stage', 'listed_until': 'Listed until', 'state_qualification': 'Qualification', 'state_counterparty_search': 'Counterparty search', 'state_introductions': 'Introductions under way', 'consent_note': 'Published only where the company has given permission for its requirement to be described. Organisations are described, not named, unless they have separately agreed to be named.'}
Bulgaria × Japan Business and Innovation Nexus
A working session for Japanese companies with a specific requirement.
Read more →
10
Dec 2026
Save the date
KyoLink First Anniversary: matchmaking and reception
One year of the corridor, and the requirements it has carried.
Read more →
Latest
06
Oct 2026
Registration is open for 22 October in Tokyo
The Bulgaria × Japan Business and Innovation Nexus takes place on 22 October at JOI in Chiyoda, Tokyo, onsite and online. Registration closes on 20 October.
Read more →
30
Sep 2026
What euro adoption simplified for a Japanese company
Bulgaria joined the euro area on 1 January 2026. It removed one conversion step. It did not change the tax code, and it did not remove your yen exposure.
Read more →
MEMBERSHIP
Ten founding places, and a reason they are limited
The founding cohort is up to ten companies. Each place reserves delivery capacity: one owned requirement a year, a named KyoLink owner, a quarterly decision review and opportunity intelligence filtered for that company.
That is why the number is small, and why there is no eleventh place waiting behind it. Founding partner enquiries are open; the remaining terms are being settled, and we would rather talk them through than publish a figure we are not ready to be held to.
The founders
Dr Eng. Lidia Vitanova
Representative Director and Co-Founder
Climate resilience, smart cities and research leadership. Collaborative researcher at the Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba.
Prof. Doan Quang Van
Director and Co-Founder
Computational science and regional climate modelling. At the Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba.
Iskren Krusteff
Director and Co-Founder
Startup and scaleup growth, corporate innovation and cross-border partnerships. No institutional affiliation, and the signatory for every commercial approach.
START HERE
What are you looking for?
One paragraph is enough. Tell us the requirement, the constraint and the deadline, and we will tell you within five working days whether we can help and who we would approach. If we cannot, we will say so, which is faster for both of us.