ICT Startup League

The first Startup League Academy was held on September 5th at CIC Tokyo (inside Toranomon Hills) in Minato-ku, Tokyo.

After the secretariat explained the purpose of the Startup League, Mr. Tadashi Fukuda, the Head of the Steering Committee, gave opening remarks: "First, I want to unify everyone's will today." Touching on the current state of Japanese startups, he reiterated the intention behind establishing the league to the participants: "It is said that the Japanese economy has suffered a 'lost 30 years,' but sports leagues have developed significantly over these same 30 years. Referencing this successful 'league' model, we want to create startups from Japan that can compete globally."

He continued, "The steering committee members and selection evaluators are valued colleagues who truly resonate with this project's philosophy and raised their hands to join us. We consider all of you selected here to be our colleagues as well. I want you to participate not with a passive stance of 'I was selected, so do something for me,' but as active creators who will generate startups capable of fighting on the world stage together with us."

Mr. Fukuda also hastily proposed changing the name of the scheduled "Public Mentoring." He announced that the name would be changed after the session, stating, "We won't just offer advice and end it there, like typical mentoring. I want a name that conveys a valuable opportunity where you can be convinced, 'If this is it, I want to take it too.'"

■ Session: How to Become a Startup that Wins Globally

The speaker for the first session of FY2025 was Steering Committee member Masaru Nagura. A message was sent to the selectees that only Mr. Nagura, who knows the current global situation, could deliver.

Point 1: Startup Growth Patterns

First, Mr. Nagura asked the selectees: "Do you want to become a Japan Champion? Or do you want to become a World Champion?"

Based on materials comparing the growth curves of types such as "Domestic Startups," "Global Startups," "Bootstrap Startups," and "General Founding," he explained that "Domestic Startups" grow with some funding but hit a ceiling in the domestic market. "Once you become a Japan Champion, there is a risk that your service or product becomes too specialized for the domestic market and won't sell overseas," he pointed out. He concluded that "thinking you will become a domestic champion first can sometimes prevent you from becoming a world champion," making it difficult to aim globally later.

"What is important is where you set your goals when starting up, and for each selectee to envision their own growth story," Mr. Nagura emphasized.

Point 2: Domestic and International Ecosystems

According to "Startup Genome," a world-class innovation ecosystem research and advisory organization, Tokyo's (Japan) ecosystem is ranked 11th in the world in the 2025 evaluation. Regarding this, Mr. Nagura said, "I'm not saying that Japan's startup ecosystem is undeveloped compared to its economic scale, but it is important to understand that startup ecosystems are growing in their own ways in other countries. And depending on the business or product, expanding business only within Japan is not necessarily the right answer."

Listening to the voices of overseas startups, one of the points they emphasize is the fundraising environment. In fact, in the aforementioned ranking, London (UK) is 3rd after Silicon Valley (USA) and New York, but even startups from the UK move their bases to the US for fundraising. Data shows that many UK startups are considering moving or expanding abroad for fundraising reasons.

Next, Mr. Nagura introduced regions that, like Japan, have small ecosystems. He explained that after inspecting the ecosystem in the Nordic countries, many startups have been born there. "Startups like Wolt (Finland), Spotify (Sweden), and Skype (founded by Nordic natives) have been produced from countries with economies that are by no means large, achieving market capitalizations or exits of over 1 trillion yen. The decisive difference is that in places like the Nordics where the domestic market scale is small, they aim for the world from the very beginning," Mr. Nagura stated.

Furthermore, he advised, "To fight in the world and win in the world, English must be standard equipment." At overseas startup conferences Mr. Nagura attended, presentations and panel discussions were conducted in English at all conferences, even in non-English speaking countries.

Point 3: Team Composition Required for Global Expansion

Next, Mr. Nagura presented data investigating the period from founding to entering the expansion phase. If you start a business alone, it takes an average of about 5 years or more to enter the expansion phase, but if founded by multiple people, expansion begins within 3 years. Interestingly, teams of two produced better results than teams of three or four. From this result, he explained, "You must choose your founding team carefully, and if you don't have the power to involve others, you will struggle."

Also, diversity has been attracting attention in recent years. More startups are including personnel of diverse nationalities in their founding members to target global markets. Data was shown that 64% of US unicorns have immigrants or second-generation immigrants on their founding teams.

He introduced that Japanese startups founded with the premise of aiming to be world champions are including international talent in their management teams. He once again conveyed to the selectees, "I want you to think about what kind of people you will partner with from now on, and what kind of team you should build."

Summary

As a conclusion to the session, Mr. Nagura asked the selectees the following three points again: "What kind of growth do you desire?", "Are you choosing the best country for your growth story?", and "Are you strategically selecting co-founders and management?" He closed the session with words of encouragement: "Creating an ideal member composition is not easy for any startup. That is why this Startup League exists, and many people are trying to extend a helping hand. I hope you acquire various things through this support."

■ Value Up Session (Formerly Public Mentoring)

To rename the originally planned "Public Mentoring," the secretariat created 8 candidates before the academy was held. While looking at these candidates, the steering committee members, selection evaluators, and all selectees brainstormed ideas and decided on "Value Up Session," meaning "to increase value immediately on the spot." A huge round of applause erupted for this live renaming, further increasing the sense of unity in the venue.

InnoJin Inc.: Creating a World Where Everyone Can Access Medical Care

The commemorative first batter for the Value Up Session was Mr. Yuichi Okumura, co-founder of InnoJin Inc.

Business Overview and Challenge:
InnoJin Inc. was established in December 2020 as a startup from Juntendo University. They aim to popularize digital medical care by developing smartphone apps that serve as medical devices and an ophthalmology online medical platform. The research theme selected this time is "Development of a Program Medical Device for Pediatric Amblyopia Training using VR." The idea is to have children with amblyopia play VR games like kendama or tennis, which in itself becomes a treatment for their eyes.

Issue 1: Media Exposure:
Specific clinical research using the VR app for pediatric amblyopia training is scheduled to start in October. They want to increase exposure in the press, etc., to conduct it with actual amblyopia patients.

Issue 2: Business Expansion of Online Medical Care "Tenohira Ganka" (Palm Ophthalmology):
For "Tenohira Ganka," which uses the online medical platform started as the main business, they are considering medical support initiatives for medically underserved areas and municipalities with many inbound tourists. They are also eyeing support for athletes and e-sports players, and collaborations with operating companies that emphasize eye health, such as taxi and bus companies. Although they have many ideas, they want advice on where to focus.

Issue 3: Fundraising:
As part of their future growth strategy, they are considering Series C round fundraising. They would like introductions to operating companies that can cooperate in business expansion with them, and Venture Capital (VC) firms interested in the health tech field.

Golden Words from Steering Committee Members and Selection Evaluators:
Selection evaluator Mr. Motoki Tani (Representative Director and CEO, Caravan Japan), who has connections in the sports industry, touched upon the service InnoJin is developing to solve eye problems such as eye strain. Citing a product from a US startup he acquired that uses video and sound to induce a relaxed state in minutes, he expressed expectation for their potential to win globally.

Furthermore, in order to get more people to touch the ophthalmology medical app, specific support suggestions developed, such as converting it for racers suggested by Mr. Isao Tanimoto (Representative Director and President, TOM'S Co., Ltd.), a selection evaluator member involved in the management of the prestigious racing team "TOM'S," and collaborations with mass retailers where many people gather, suggested by Mr. Fukuda.

ToyEight Holdings Inc.: How to "Reverse Import" Business Deployed in Southeast Asia to Japan

On the day, due to a sudden vacancy, the second speaker was recruited on the spot. Mr. Masaki Ishibashi of ToyEight Holdings Inc. leaned forward and raised his hand vigorously. After winning a rock-paper-scissors battle with another candidate, he took the stage with high hopes for a value-up.

Business Overview and Challenge:
ToyEight Holdings Inc. is researching "Comprehensive Preschool Support Utilizing AI Developmental Assessment." Enabling developmental checkups using smartphone apps, they are currently expanding their business mainly in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

In Malaysia, the system for developmental checkups is not well-established, and there are cases where admission to kindergartens is refused due to lack of experts or manpower when developmental disabilities are suspected. Rehabilitation centers exist as a safety net for such children, but they face long waiting lists due to a lack of human resources and know-how. To solve this problem, the company approached the Malaysian state government and introduced developmental checkups via the app. This initiative made it possible to objectively grasp children's developmental status, establishing a mechanism to connect them to appropriate rehabilitation while preventing unnecessary expulsion. Currently, a project to reduce the number of approximately 400 waitlisted children suspected of having developmental disabilities to zero is being implemented with the budget of the state government's 5-year plan.

They are proceeding with similar business developments in Indonesia, Laos, and Singapore, but Mr. Ishibashi says that a major issue is that the ministries in charge differ by country, and "it is always a groping process to figure out where to talk to." And this issue stands as a similar barrier in their future prospect of "how to introduce this business to Japan."

Proposals from Steering Committee Members and Selection Evaluators:
Mr. Fukuda presented a clue to the solution on the spot: "Wouldn't it be better to have doctors and schools use it? Since someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is here today, it would be better to take the discussion to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology via the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications," promising to bridge the gap to the Ministry. "This is the greatest merit of being in this league. For the challenges held by startups with similar worries, we want to provide support that leads to concrete solutions, not just advice," he said.

■ Event Summary
After the Value Up Session, networking time was provided, and enthusiastic discussions about exchanging business cards and concrete support took place everywhere.
Through Mr. Fukuda's opening remarks and Mr. Nagura's session, the participants' perspectives were firmly aligned, and the event proceeded while maintaining an atmosphere of upward ambition. With the sudden renaming of the session and decisions on support made with speed, it became a time that truly embodied the philosophy of the league. Even after it ended, the speakers of the Value Up Session remained wrapped in that excitement.
Looking back on the entire event, Mr. Okumura of InnoJin Inc. summarized, "I strongly felt the consciousness that we are all going to build this together." When asked about what he gained from this event, he smiled and said, "I am very happy that they showed a stance of working on it together with a very fast sense of speed in drilling down into ideas concretely and presenting solutions."
Mr. Ishibashi of ToyEight Holdings Inc., who made an "emergency pitching appearance," also commented with a fulfilled expression, "The biggest harvest was having various people talk to me."
Also, Mr. Nagura evaluated the participants of this time highly, saying, "They have won through considerable competition odds. They have the potential to fight globally." Furthermore, he spoke of future prospects: "It was good to hear the stories of two startups that can fight globally (in the Value Up Session) this time. How we can guide them from now on will be the crucial point for this league."
Having finished the 1st League Academy, will this meeting become the catalyst for creating future excitement? Attention gathers on the movements of the participants.