[9/18 in person] Incubation Program | Cohort 10 Showcase | All attendees to vote for the best pitches

[Japanese] Phoenixi is holding its incubation program’s Cohort 10 Showcase [PDF flyer], an in-person pitch event at toberu, a Kyoto-based residential incubator for corporate intrapreneurs and social entrepreneurs. This event will feature an audience-participation pitch competition for the first time. The eight Fellows will pitch their impact-driven business ideas that they developed over the past four months at toberu. A Q&A and networking session will follow, with refreshments served. Winners of the pitch competition will then be announced and awarded a gold, silver, and bronze medal along with Amazon Gift Cards.

• When: Thursday 18 September 2025, 18:00–20:00
  • 17:30 Doors open
  • 18:00 Event begins | Pitches
  • 19:00 Q&A/networking | Voting | Winners announced
  • 20:00 Event closes
• Where:
  • toberu 1 [Access]
• Registration: required. Sign up here.
• Capacity: 70 people (first registered, first served)
• Language: mostly Japanese (no English interpretation provided)

Notes:

• No bicycle/car parking available.
• Please bring your business cards.
• Entering/Leaving halfway through the event acceptable.
• This event will NOT be livestreamed.

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[17:30] Doors open (toberu 1)

[18:00] Event begins

• Opening remarks: Yutaka Iijima | Phoenixi COO & executive director
• Guest remarks:
  • Masaru Takayanagi | Executive Officer & Vice President, Ajinomoto Co Inc
  • Kiichiro Miyata | Executive Vice President & CTO, Omron
  • Katsunori Ishii | Executive Officer, Daikin Industries

Cohort 10 Fellows’ pitches:

• Erina Ando | Ajinomoto Co Inc | Physical conditioning support business for female athletes
• Masahiro Itoh | Omron | Streamlining farm labor for a sustainable next-gen agriculture
• Hiroki Yoshida | Omron Social Solutions | Bringing global tourists to unfound Japan: rideshare x inbound tourism strategy
• Kazuhiro Ishida | Daikin Industries | Cool Shelter at Home: protecting you from heatstroke
• Dr Mutsumi Hayashi Abiru | Kirin no Uta CEO, founder & music therapist | An AI platform connecting music therapy and medical care for Parkinson’s disease patients
• Shingo Akita | Seed Bank advisor | SOPHiART: Transvaluation of values on nature starting from microalgae
• Soraya Umewaka | MatchHat co-founder & CEO | MatchHat: Connecting Creators in Film, Music, Gaming
• Hanna Nguyen | Kyoto University economics senior | CampusLink: Digital Solution to Bridge International Diversity & Collaboration on Campus

[19:00] Q&A/networking

• Q&A/networking session with the Fellows, judges, and event attendees. Refreshments will be served.

• Judges: corporate
  • Masaru Takayanagi | Executive Officer & Vice President, Ajinomoto Co Inc
  • Kiichiro Miyata | Executive Vice President & CTO, Omron
  • Katsunori Ishii | Executive Officer, Daikin Industries
• Judge: academic
  • Yoko Ogushi | Professor of Doshisha Business School
• Judge: journalistc, social-impact
  • Sakiko Kondo | Economics staff writer, The Asahi Shimbun newspaper

In addition to the judges, the audience will also take part in the evaluation. How it works: Upon check-in, each attendee will receive four stickers. After listening to the pitches and Q&A session, please place your stickers on the business ideas you feel most inspired to support and want to see succeed. You may distribute the stickers however you like (eg, all 4 for one Fellow, 1 each for four different Fellows, 2 each for two Fellows, etc.).

• Winners announced by Yutaka Iijima | Medals and prizes awarded by Yukiko Hashitera | CEO & co-founder, Phoenixi

[20:00] Event concludes

Join us to discover how our Fellows challenge the status quo, what drives their work, and how together we can help them create meaningful social impact.