“From this day forth, change the future and achieve breakthroughs!”
Venture Ecosystem Summit 2025 was held on Thursday, October 2, 2025.
The idea for the summit started with a strong desire to provide a day of inspiration and learning that would transform entrepreneurs, with a vision of “From this day forth, change the future and achieve breakthroughs!” Over time, that concept evolved into a one-of-a-kind event that brought together top leaders from various fields, including Dr. Sachio Semmoto, co-founder of KDDI, and Ichiro Fujisaki, former Japanese Ambassador to the U.S.
This article summarizes the second half of the lecture portion.
(See the previous article about the first half here.)
Following a short break for lunch, the summit continued with a high-energy pitch session entitled “Next Breakthrough: Young Entrepreneurs Carving Out the Future”, featuring three speakers.
First was the president and CEO of Adora Inc., Naoto Tomita. His company operates “Kodomamo”, which is a parental control app designed to keep children safe during smartphone use.
Next was the president and CEO of Payke, Inc., Keisuke Furuta. His company operates the Payke app, which allows users to scan product barcodes with their smartphones to receive product information in their preferred language.
The third speaker was the president and CEO of M&A Cloud, Atsuhiro Oikawa. His company operates the first M&A matching platform in Japan where the faces of potential buyers are visible.
All of the summit attendees were incredibly inspired by the pitches from these three entrepreneurs in their 20s and 30s, who are each scaling services that solve societal issues.
This was followed by a panel discussion entitled “Why Support Startups Now?” featuring the chairperson of Shibuya Startups KK, Shiho Watabe, and advisor to D-POPS GROUP Co., Ltd., Genta Sugihara.
Both of them have worked at Google Japan in the past, and both are currently supporting startups in Shibuya. Drawing on their extensive global experience, they held an impassioned discussion about the appeal of Japanese startups and their shared desire to revitalize Japan.
Next, a panel session entitled “Next Billion: The Challenge of Reaching 100 Billion Yen in Sales” featured Yasushi Kobayashi (president and CEO of MarketEnterprise Co., Ltd.), Kiyoshi Shoji (president and CEO of Dive Inc.), Hiroaki Kabashima (president and CEO of LTS., Inc.), and Toru Saito (president and CEO of NEXT ONE Inc.).
They discussed key factors for reaching 10 billion yen in sales, the hurdles they faced, and their future visions, all while incorporating market analysis. Having overcome numerous challenges, they shared invaluable insights regarding what matters most to a business leader.
Following this, Executive Vice President of NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, Inc., Shoichi Motodaka, took the stage. Mototaka has been involved with operating “docomo shops” since before the establishment of D-POPS Corp., so he has ended up working together with us for a long time. At present, he is involved in various business ventures as a leader within the NTT Group, including AI and regional revitalization in Japan.
At this summit for entrepreneurs, Motodaka delivered a presentation aimed at sparking collaboration with NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS. It turned out to be such a highly successful networking opportunity that he reportedly went through an entire box of business cards during the after-party.
Next, former Japanese ambassador to the U.S. and current president of The America-Japan Society, Inc., Ichiro Fujisaki, spoke on the topic of “How Will Japan Survive the Trump Era?” With his typical brilliant humor sprinkled throughout, Ambassador Fujisaki provided an easy-to-understand presentation on the dynamics of the relationship between Japan and the United States.
At first glance, it might seem strange for a diplomat to speak at a seminar for entrepreneurs, but there was a lot for business leaders to learn from his methods of negotiating with superpowers and his meticulous analytical skills. Furthermore, Ambassador Fujisaki’s unique perspective on Japan’s current situation—including insights that cannot be gained from only reading the news—contained invaluable lessons for business owners with overseas operations to consider in their future planning.
Finally, co-founder of KDDI and serial entrepreneur, Dr. Sachio Semmoto, took the stage. His opening words ignited a fire in the hearts of the participants: “I believe that less than 0.1% of people in Japan have the ambition to tackle new things…and everyone here today is part of that 0.1%. The thirty years of stagnation in Japan are over. The next thirty years will be a period of total recovery and growth.”
He told the story of KDDI’s founding, spoke on the current global situation, and the importance of taking risks in facing new challenges. His talk resonated deeply with the business leaders in attendance, as evidenced by the numerous comments that participants shared afterward, such as “My soul was profoundly stirred” and “I was so deeply moved, there were tears in my eyes”.
To conclude, a raffle was held, and the lucky winner was given the “ambition” (志) calligraphy panel created by artist Yuuna Okanishi earlier that day!
As a whole, the seminar was so full of learning opportunities, it was almost like drinking water from a firehose. Our final article is a report on the social gathering that took place after the seminar, which was also a huge success!
