[Japanese] Phoenixi, a Kyoto-based residential incubator for corporate intrapreneurs and social entrepreneurs, held the Showcase for the 11th cohort of its Incubation Program on 17 September at toberu 1, the company’s residential incubation facility. The event welcomed over 90 attendees, exceeding the event capacity.
As in the previous cohort, half of this cohort’s Fellows are from overseas, bringing together a highly diverse group in terms of nationality and professional background. Reflecting this diversity, the event was conducted in both Japanese and English. AI-powered real-time translation subtitles were also introduced, ensuring that all participants could fully engage in the event.
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Pre-show loop
- A 4-minute recap of a 4-month residential incubation program: Cohort 11
Opening remarks | Facilitator
- Yutaka Iijima | COO & Executive Director, Phoenixi
Opening remarks from the judges:
- Katsunori Ishii | Executive Officer, Daikin Industries
- Shintaro Iwatani | Corporate Executive & R&B Planning General Manager, Ajinomoto Co Inc
- Taka Nakamura | Founder & CEO, taliki
- Asli M. Colpan | Professor, Kyoto University Graduate School of Management | Outside Director of Kansai Paint and Sumitomo Electric Industries
- Francesco Ukon | Senior Finance Director, Diesel Japan | Contract Professor, Doshisha Business School | Former Executive Director, European Business Council in Japan | Former President, Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan | Former COO & Vice President, Giorgio Armani Japan
Final pitches by Cohort 11 Fellows:
- Toshiyuki Yamada | Ajinomoto Co., Inc. | MitasuVege: one meal, a day’s worth of greens — freedom from “Gotta eat veggies!”
- Kaori Tada | Daikin Industries | AmPle: a platform for ambience place of hay fever
- SuKha | Fashion designer & icon | Something to Wear by SuKha Never Dies
- Yuya Ogawa | Founder & CEO, Noevis Inc. | Picopal: an Interactive Entertainment Platform for Neurodivergent Children
- Pandi Agnes | Doshisha Business School, Global MBA ’25 | Xplore!: a platform connecting tourists and local mobility providers
- Brian Roy Tan, PhD | Co-founder & CEO, Wisdom Approach Pte Ltd | Scam Protect: identification using elemental fingerprinting
Closing remarks:
- Yukiko Hashitera | CEO & co-founder, Phoenixi
➡️ See event photos & voting results
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About Phoenixi Co Ltd
Phoenixi operates a residential incubation program and a fund for program graduates to foster both business ideas that address social challenges and the entrepreneurial talent behind them. Program participants (Phoenixi Fellows) — including corporate employees, university faculty, students, and entrepreneurs — live for four months at the company’s facility “toberu”, where they engage in daily cross-sector interactions, startup-focused skill training, and personalized mentoring and coaching. Through this process, they develop new businesses that generate both profit and social impact. Founded in 2018 in Kyoto by CEO Yukiko Hashitera, Dr Sachiko Kuno, and Izumi Kobayashi, Phoenixi is built around the concepts of “creating corporate-born ventures” and “sharing unusual time and space.” Since its inception in 2019 and run by COO Yutaka Iijima, the company has supported a total of 13 cohorts and 96 Fellows (44 sponsored Fellows and 52 independent Fellows), with 31% women and 21% international participants.
