Suntory as an International Venture
May 7, 2026
Sayako Tamai
In recent years, new businesses created inside Suntory have begun to expand not only in Japan but also overseas. One symbolic example is Mokable, a startup that offers a new way to enjoy coffee by eating it.
In 2025, Mokable established a North American subsidiary and started its global expansion. Their product turns finely-ground coffee beans into a chocolate-like form, creating a sustainable and unique consumer experience. The company also raised 150 million yen in seed funding, with Suntory as one of the investors.
In-house Dojo of Entreprenuership
Why is a large company like Suntory able to create such innovative businesses? The answer lies in its internal entrepreneurship program called Frontier Dojo. This program encourages employees to propose new business ideas and to develop them step by step through mentoring and reviews by Dojo. Dojo, like traditional Japanese Judo Dojo, has a system of evaluating the maturedness of ideas by categorizing with levels, such as white belt, brown belt, black belt, and maaster. Employees who pass the final stage must take responsibility and lead the business themselves. This makes the program not just an idea contest but a system to train real in-house entrepreneurs.
Child of Dojo: Mokable
Mokable, an edible coffee made from micro-ground whole coffee beans, allowing consumers to enjoy the entire bean rather than discarding most of it through brewing, is one of the projects born from this program. Through Frontier Dojo, the idea of was refined, supported by experts, and developed into a full business plan. After that, the project moved on to raising funds as an independent company.
Suntory's Business Creation
This process shows that Suntory provides more than a place to share ideas, it offers a full pathway to turn ideas into real businesses. Suntory is also active in working with external startups. Through its corporate venture capital (CVC) function, the company invests in areas such as food, health, biotechnology, and sustainability. Working with outside innovators helps Suntory bring in new technologies and speed up business development, including projects that began inside the company.
Mokable’s expansion into North America is a strong example of how Suntory combines internal talent with external partnerships to create new business models. Even though it is a traditional major company, Suntory continues to build systems that support innovation and global business growth. Through Frontier Dojo and its CVC activities, more new projects like Mokable are expected to emerge from Suntory in the future.
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