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The Founder Institute, the World's Largest Startup Accelerator, is in the final stage of testing demand for opening a new chapter in Tokyo for the Spring of 2014.  

The testing phase ends soon (May 27, 2024), so if you'd like to help bring this great program to Tokyo, please fill out this form today and spread the word. It only takes five minutes, and there is no obligation.

Over the last few weeks, the feedback we have received in Tokyo has been positive, and we have received a large amount of support from local startup and economic development organizations. In addition, we have reached out to some of the area's top technology entrepreneurs to support the program. 

We are humbled by the list of top local and global entrepreneurs that have pledged their support to mentor new companies in a Tokyo Founder Institute program. 

This list of entrepeneurs includes: 

  • Abe Rezai: Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, H.B. Fuller
  • Aki Ohashi: Vice President, Evolution Ventures
  • Alexander De Vore: CEO, 3D Printing
  • Andrew Shuttleworth: Mentor, Founder Institute
  • Benjamin Joffe: Founder & CEO, Plus Eight Star
  • Cedric Wagrez: VP, ML Tech & Japan AI, TaskUs
  • Chiamin Lai: Managing Partner, UB Ventures
  • Chintan Oza: Founder, Anantam Ecosystems
  • Chris Foltz: Entrepreneur In Residence, Founder Institute + Responsible Solutions Ltd + IRG 100 CMO's & Change Agents
  • Christoph Sollich: Christoph Sollich - The Pitch Doctor, The Pitch Doctor
  • Conrad Kimball: CEO, ADU.Works
  • Daisuke Ito, ad-dice Co., Ltd.
  • Darren Menabney: Lead, Global Employee Engagement, Ricoh Company
  • Dr. Mayank Singh: Co-founder, CEO , Impute Inc.
  • Ed Thompson: Marketing Consultant / Founder, Concept Design I/O
  • Erdinc Ekinci: Co-Director, Founder Institute Korea/Japan, Co-founder, CEO, Openfor.co, inc
  • Evan Burkosky: Head of Enterprise Digital Marketing, TechnoPro, Inc.
  • Fuminori Gunji: Business Coach | Startup mentor & investor | Ex-SoftBank | Ex-Startup COO | M&A exit | Trilingual BizDev expert, Gunji Works
  • Hideki Suzuki: CEO , TSUCREA Co., Ltd.
  • Hiroshi Nishikawa: Representative Director, Solve AI
  • Hiroyuki Anno: Co-Founder and CEO, DELIGHT Global Inc.
  • IBRAHIM ORHAN, Kanaria Tech Inc.
  • Jad Tarifi: CEO & Co-founder, Integral AI
  • Jared Campion: Founder & CEO, Dream Drive
  • Jatin Kataria: Founder & CEO, InMeSta
  • Jay Onda: Director (Investments) | CVC Advisory Board Member, Marubeni Ventures | National Venture Capital Association
  • Jay Ashcroft: Founder, Growth Engine Consulting
  • Jeni Chang: Founder | Investor | Mentor, .
  • Jet Son Tan: Director of Product & Technology, AVANT Corporation
  • Jinho Jang, Agoras Inc.
  • John Kirch: Director, Ichigo Asia K.K.
  • Jordan Fisher: Co-founder & Executive Chairman, Zehitomo
  • Joshua Flannery: Founder & CEO , Innovation Dojo Japan
  • Jun Miyazaki: CEO / Mentor, OrangeTechLab
  • Karin Wellbrock: Mrs. / Partner , Kay Group K.K.
  • Kei Shimada: Executive | Entrepreneur | Award-winning Innovator | Global Keynote Speaker| Startup Mentor | Angel Investor | EMBA, Liquid One Studio
  • Ken Sobajima: Founder & CEO , Tomorrow Access LLC
  • Ken Covey: Investment Manager, QXLV
  • Kevin Brockland: Founder & Managing Partner, Indelible Ventures:
  • Khalil Maaouni: Head of Data and Digital, Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc.
  • Kim Yongho: Co-Founder and CEO, STRA Co., Ltd.
  • Kiyotake Sugita: Founder, KLAR K.K.
  • Kojiro Seto: Startup Advisor, bTANK LLC
  • Kota Fujinuma: Lawyer, Kobayashi Yugeta Law Office
  • Krishan Caldwell: General Manager, Japan, Tellus
  • Kyo Ueda: CEO / Founder, Lingo Mii
  • Lu Dong: Founder and CEO, TakeMe Co.,Ltd.
  • Maaike Doyer: Founder, Epic Angels
  • Mahesh Kasar: SVP, Head of Sales - APAC / Global Partner Alliance and Indirect Channel Sales, Rakuten Symphony
  • Makihara Arisa: Junior Associate , Anobaka
  • Mari Nishiyama: Startup Partner Lead, Stripe
  • Marko Simic: Chief Technology Officer, Ascent Robotics, Inc.
  • Masafumi Kamishiro: Senior Vice President, Bain Capital
  • Masaru Nagura: General Manager, CIC (Cambridge Innovation Center)
  • Masumi Shimafuji: Co-Founder and CEO, xRsion Inc.
  • Maximillian Naza: Chief Executive Officer , PasciVite
  • Michael Sheetal: Founder / CEO, PlayBrain Inc.
  • Michael Sudano: Senior Robotics Operations Engineer, Woven Planet Holdings
  • Mikio Kawahara: Chief Investment Officer / Head of Investment and Business Development, UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd.
  • Naoko Kurosawa: Senior Manager, TSUCREA Co., Ltd.
  • Naoko Fujihira: Founder/CEO, Kachibin
  • Naotake Murayama: Head of Global Operations, SplitX
  • Niklas Karvonen: Community Director, Nordic Innovation House - Tokyo
  • Noriya Tarutani: Director of Innovation Division, JETRO / J-Startup Affairs
  • Paloma Lecheta: Regional Director - LatAm, Founder Institute
  • Paul Ashton: Country Manager, Japan, Nord Security
  • Raphael Hodé: CEO, Design Director, nowthen
  • Rebecca Chai: Ventures Associate, Plug and Play Japan
  • Reisa Matsuda: Community Manager, Google Japan
  • Roger Do: Co-Founder, QSearch
  • Ryan Micheletti: Head of Global Operations, Founder Institute
  • Ryoichi Kaneko: Partner, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
  • Sameer Sortur: Founding Partner, SquareCircle Ventures
  • Schyler Alexandra Cole: Associate, Incubate Fund
  • Sergio Elias Wilson: Foreign Associate, So & Sato Law Firm
  • Serkan Toto: Founder, CEO, Kantan Games, Inc.
  • Shigeru Sumitomo: Founder and Representative Director, Conselux Corporation
  • Shinya Yamamoto: Founder & CEO, Link & Innovation, Inc.
  • Sho Sato: CEO, LUDiMUS Inc.
  • So Saito: Founder, So & Sato Law Offices
  • Steve Monaghan: General Partner, Finmirai
  • Takaaki Ono: Co-Founder, BlueCircle, LLC
  • Takeshi Maruyama: President / Chief Marketing Officer, Sekisui Fuller
  • Taku Furukawa: Founder & Organizer, Tokyo Fabhub
  • Takujiro Oto: Co-Founder and CEO, Drive Japan Inc.
  • Tao Romera Martinez: Chief Operating Officer, Soundraw
  • Taruho Kuroda: Senior Director, R&D Asia-Pacific Hub, LEO Pharma
  • Theodore Kee: Founder, The Elect Advisory
  • Todor Panev: Co-Founder, Managing Partner, Web Factory, Sigoor, Talnets
  • Tom Moss: CEO, Skydio APAC
  • Tomohiro Uchida: Partner, Translink Capital
  • Tyson Batino: Founder 創業者, Scaling Your Company
  • Xinmei Cai: Engineering Director, Google Japan
  • Yamato Sasagawa: Investor, World Innovation Lab (WiL)
  • Yoichi Ito: Dean of entrepreneurship dept., Musashino Univ.
  • Yoshiki Kimura: lawyer , MURATA & WAKATSUKI LAW OFFICES
  • Yoshimi Shinohara: Founder / CEO, Yokohama Ventures LLC
  • Yoshiro Tasaka: Director of Global Strategy Division, Shibuya City Government / Shibuya Startup Support
  • Yuichi Terada: Founder & President , Hiyoura Lab
  • Yuji Tanabe: Founder and CTO, Aeterlink
  • Yuki Shirato: Managing Director, Yakumi
  • Yuki Sato: Co-founder, CEO , Obniz Inc
  • Yu Li Shein: Co-Director, Founder Institute Korea/Japan, Co-founder, COO, Openfor.co, inc
  • Yves Lehmann: Mr., if21
  • Zak Murase: Managing Director, Pacific Sky Partners

  • And many more to be announced. 

 

In the Founder Institute's structured, step-by-step program, these mentors will provide promising startup entrepreneurs in Tokyo with expert feedback and support to build their companies. In addition, participants are not required to quit their day job to participate, so they can begin building a business around their ideas without putting their livelihood at risk.

If we get enough demand to officially launch a Tokyo Founder Institute chapter, then we will secure approximately 10 - 20 additional mentors. In fact, in most Founder Institute semesters the ratio of Mentors to Founders is greater than 1:1. 

Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200 cities and 100 countries, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 7,000 companies form and improve their business ideas, develop their marketing strategy, create an advisory board, recruit co-founders, improve their pitch, launch a product, prepare to raise capital, bootstrap to profitability, generate revenue, and more. 

 

Help bring this world-renowned program to Tokyo and fill out an Interest Form today.

 

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