Build a Great Startup in 2026 with the FI Japan Startup Accelerator

The Founder Institute, the world’s most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups, is excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for the Japan 2026 program!

If you could use a structured process and a lifetime of support from Japan's top investors and entrepreneurs to build a startup, then apply to the Japan 2026 Founder Institute today.

Since 2009, our highly-structured accelerator programs have helped entrepreneurs at the earliest stages grow quickly, know what to do next, and make connections with the largest community of startup advisors.

It all starts with our renowned ‘FI Core’ accelerator, which pushes founders at the idea and pre-seed stages to reach the milestones needed for investment and sustained growth. Alumni of FI Core then receive free access to our advanced ‘Founder Lab’ accelerators for years to come, and can get matched with prospective investors in the FI Venture Network, a collection of global funds actively investing in the earliest rounds of funding.

To celebrate the launch, the Founder Institute will host several free online startup events in Japan, where you can learn from top entrepreneurs:

Japan Events:

Revo Capital’s Cross-Border Strategy: Regional Startups to Global Success : 6:00pm, Jan 27, 2026 (Asia/Tokyo): https://FI.co/e/386105

Global or Regional Events:

Founder Institute Online Information Session: https://FI.co/infosession
Meet Global Alumni from Founder Institute: 3:00am, Feb 03, 2026 (Asia/Tokyo): https://FI.co/e/386945
How to Adopt an Entrepreneurial Mindset: 10:00am, Feb 10, 2026 (Asia/Tokyo): https://FI.co/e/387708
Founder’s Guide to AI: Working with AI as Your Partner: 3:00am, Feb 18, 2026 (Asia/Tokyo): https://FI.co/e/386948
Founder’s Guide to AI: Building a Marketing Engine with AI: 3:00am, Feb 25, 2026 (Asia/Tokyo): https://FI.co/e/387714
Founder’s Guide to AI: Converting Data into Business Value with AI: 3:00am, Mar 04, 2026 (Asia/Tokyo): https://FI.co/e/387718
What Do Investors Really Look For? Startup Funding Q&A: 1:00am, Mar 10, 2026 (Asia/Tokyo): https://FI.co/e/387509
From Zero to Startup Idea: A Practical Founder Framework: 9:00pm, Mar 16, 2026 (Asia/Tokyo): https://FI.co/e/387578

See all upcoming events

The Japan program is led by some of the region's top startup leaders, including Erdinc Ekinci (Co-founder, CEO , Co-capital), Japan Admin, YuLi Shein (Co-founder, COO, Openfor.co, inc).

In addition, some of Japan's top investors, entrepreneurs, and CEOs will be participating in the program, providing them with expert feedback and evaluation. The list of startup mentors for the Japan Founder Institute includes:

Abdellah Aouf: Chief Executive Officer, GO PLATFORM
Adam Najberg: Senior Advisor, CorpBridge Advisors
Ahram Chui: Director , Gyeongnam Venture Investment
Aki Ohashi: Vice President, Evolution Ventures
Alex Chang: Senior Vice President (& TIEF Fund Leader), Industrial Technology Investment Corp.
Alexander De Vore: CEO, MadeHere
Alyssa Chen: Principal of Accelerator and Community, AppWorks
Andreea Marinescu: CEO, Tech Add-Venture
Andrew Shuttleworth: Mentor, Founder Institute
Andy Cheng: Head of Japan, GrandTech Cloud Services Inc.
Anna Leshchuk: Founder & CEO, Breamsresearch
Arcui Usoara: Global Board Advisor and Brand Strategist, Founder, Iaculus
Asuka Kondo: Design Director , D4V (Design for Ventures)
Benjamin Joffe: Founder & CEO, Plus Eight Star
Brian Yoo: Startup Advisor, LinkedIn Branding Expert, Founder at CareerLab
Cedric Wagrez: VP, ML Tech & Japan AI, TaskUs
Cenk Baladura: Founder&VC Partner, Namcebawon Group & Co-Capital
Cenk Bayrakdar: Managing Director, Revo Capital
Chiamin Lai: Managing Partner, UB Ventures
Chintan Oza: Founder, Anantam Ecosystems
Chris Foltz: Global Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Founder Institute
Christoph Sollich: Christoph Sollich - The Pitch Doctor, The Pitch Doctor
Conrad Kimball: CEO, ADU.Works
Darren Menabney: Professor and Partner Faculty , GLOBIS University - Graduate School of Management
David Yeng: Managing Partner, Founders Venture Capital
David Yi: General Partner, Ethos Fund
David Kenji Chang, A-N Partners
Donald Soo ドナルド•ソー: Former CEO
Donghwa Chung: Attorney, Star Law Firm
Dr. Ish Anand: Board member, iCapital Ventures
Dr. Joe Hüg: Managing Director / Professor of Practice, IOAK, Corp. / iU University
Dr. Mayank Singh: Co-founder, CEO , Impute Inc.
Ed Thompson: Marketing Consultant / Founder, Concept Design I/O
Edgar Chiu: Co-founder & Managing Partner, SparkLabs Taiwan
Erdinç Ekinci: Founder, Investment Lead of Co-capital, Co-Founder & CEO of Openfor.co & Co-capital.co, Managing Director of Founder Institute Japan/Korea/Taiwan
Eugene Lee: CEO, Socialtext
Eugene Kim: Co-Founder, Managing Director, SEATTLE PARTNERS LLC.
Eugene Noh: Investor, Self Employed
Evan Burkosky: Co-founder & CEO, kimaru.ai
Fion Lee-Madan: Technical Co-Founder, COO and Customer Success, Fairly AI Inc.
Francisco Soares: Founder, Furious Green
Franklin Kamnang Ngansop: Co-Founder, Vitamin CS Coaching
Fujiyo Ishiguro: ＣＥＯ, Netyear Group Corp.
Fumiaki Koizumi: CEO, Fumiaki Koizumi & Associates
Fuminori Gunji: Global Head of GTM, ZooKeep
Gaurav Malhotra: CEO and Founder, Hire Pundit
Giang Trịnh: Managing Partner, VMCG Capital
GRAEME OGILVIE: Independent Advisor, Fractional Executive, Angel Investor , Who says I can't - Senior Partner
Hany Sayed: Chief Digital Officer, Gyozer Proptech
Haru Noda: Senior Capitalist, YANMAR VENTURES
Hideki Suzuki: CEO , TSUCREA Co., Ltd.
Hirokazu Nagano: CEO, KLab Venture Partners株式会社
Hiroko 裕子 Nishiyama 西山: ディレクター, NPO Seitaikai
Hiroshi Nishikawa: Representative Director, Solve AI
Hiroyuki Anno: Founder and CEO, DELIGHT Global Inc.
Hooi Yen Chin: Director, Polaris Law Corporation
Ian Huang: General Partner, Good People Ventures
Ibrahim Orhan: CEO - CoFounder, Kanaria Tech Inc.
Ikuo Hiraishi: CEO, SunBridge Global Ventures Inc.
Ippei Takushima: Partner, Kimura Takushima & Yamaguchi
Iva Buschmann: Director, Tokyo Leadership Institute
Ivan E. Germanov: Certified Coach, Founder Institute
Jack Huang: Managing Partner, Dreamhub Ventures
Jacky Lou: Advisor/Coach for , Startups and Founders
Jad Tarifi: CEO & Co-founder, Integral AI
Jan Kaiser: Vice President, Head of Corporate Finance | Turnaround & Transformation | IPO | Private Equity | Value Creation, Marelli
Jared Campion: Founder & CEO, Dream Drive
Jason Everaert: Product Manager, Fintech
Jatin Kataria: Founder/MD, InMeSta & Managing Partner, JK Venture Studio
Jay Onda: Director (Investments) | CVC Advisory Board Member, Marubeni Ventures | National Venture Capital Association
Jed Ng: Super Angel & Founder, Angel School
Jeffrey Paine: Founding Partner, Golden Gate Ventures, Singapore
Jeni Chang: Founder | Investor | Advisor
Jennifer Lin: Investor , Headline
Jeongwoo Lim: Associate, W-inc.
Jet Son Tan: Founder & CEO, TrendRider
Jihun Yeon: Investment manager, Nautilus Investment
John Kirch: Director, Ichigo Asia K.K.
John Millar: Dr, Techbridge Capital
Jonathan Nguyen: Founder & CEO, Unsensible
Jordan Fisher: Co-founder & Executive Chairman, Zehitomo
José Francisco Fernandez Serna: Angel Investor, AgriFood Founder and Executive, CEO of E-motion Foods, Partner in DesertTech Ventures, and Board member in different organizations
Joshua Flannery: Founder & CEO , Innovation Dojo Japan
Julie Oh, Coach Julie Oh
Jun Kojima: Venture Capitalist, Golden Egg Ventures / Egg FORWARD Inc.
Karin Wellbrock: Executive Leadership Coach and Co-Founder., Kay Group K.K.
Karthik Rampalli: Venture Capitalist, Beyond Next Ventures Inc
Kazuo Nagasaki
Kei Shimada: Executive | Entrepreneur | Award-winning Innovator | Global Keynote Speaker| Startup Mentor | Angel Investor | EMBA, Liquid One Studio
Kei Watanabe: Co-founder, Glasp Inc.
Keigo Shimada, D.Sc.: Investment Associate, Coral Capital
Ken Covey: Investment Manager, QXLV
Kevin Brockland: Founder & Managing Partner, Indelible Ventures:
Khalil Maaouni: Head of Data and Digital, Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc.
Kiyotake Sugita: Founder, KLAR株式会社
Kojiro Seto: Startup Advisor, bTANK LLC
Kotaro Mori: Deputy Secretary General, Yokohama Future Organization
Krishan Caldwell: APAC Commercial Solutions Leader (Flexibility) , Kraken
Lauren Nham: Investor, MetaCap Ventures
Leo Ma: Founder, EO Studio Japan, EO Studio
Lu Dong: Founder and CEO, TakeMe Co.,Ltd.
Luca Meguro: Investor, MS&AD VENTURES
Luca Meguro: Manager, Strategic Partnerships & Investment Senior Associate, MS&AD VENTURES
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
Marco De Biasi: Startups Investor & Advisor /Program Director/Conselheiro Fiscal, LGA/Italcam/Mobicity
Mari Nishiyama: Startup Partner Lead, Stripe
Marko Simic: Chief Technology Officer, Ascent Robotics, Inc.
Masahiro Samejima: Founding Partner, UCHIDA & SAMEJIMA LAW FIRM
Masumi Shimafuji: Co-Founder and CEO, xRsion Inc.
Max Zheng: Director of Investments, Blockchain Founders Group
Maximillian Naza: Chief Executive Officer , PasciVite
Michael Sheetal: Founder / CEO, PlayBrain Inc.
Michael Sudano: Senior Robotics Operations Engineer, Woven Planet Holdings
Michael Lee: CEO and Founder , CreBiz Factory
Mikio Kawahara: Chief Investment Officer / Head of Investment and Business Development, UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd.
Milad Moazzenzadeh: Founder and CEO, Driven Global Consulting Co,. Ltd
Mohammed Kashif: Senior Quality Assurance Automation Engineer, Department of Motor Vehicles
Naoko Kurosawa: Senior Manager, TSUCREA Co., Ltd.
Neeti Virmani: LP and Advisor, Loyal VC
Niklas Tawast: Venture Capitalist, Digital Garage, Inc.
Nitin Mistry: Founder, MC Squared Solutions
Noriya Tarutani: Director of Innovation Division, JETRO / J-Startup Affairs
Omar Munawar: Senior Investment Associate, SEEDRA Ventures
Paloma Lecheta: Regional Director - LatAm, Founder Institute
PASCHAL OFFORDUM: Associate , Shujaa Capital
Pina (Yoichiro) Hirano: CEO, Asteria Corporation
Rancho Lee: Co-founder & APAC Partner, Simsan Ventures
Raphael Hodé: CEO, Design Director, nowthen
Rebecca Chai: Ventures Associate, Plug and Play Japan
Reisa Matsuda: Community Manager, Google Japan
Rene Budeck: Venture Capitalist, Stealth
Roger Do: CEO, Co-Founder, Watchdog Cyber Defense
Rosario B Casas: Co Founder, XR Americas, LLC / Business Creative Partners SAS
Rosario B Casas: Co-Founder, BCPartners Tech
Ryan Micheletti: Head of Global Operations, Founder Institute
Sameer Sortur: Founding Partner, SquareCircle Ventures
Sameer Karulkar: Founder and Partner, Coverpage Ventures Advisory LLP
Sanjaykumar Patel: Founder -Patent & Trademark Attorney, EXCELON IP - Patent & Trademark Attorneys
Satoshi Nunokawa: Associate , Incubate Fund
Schyler Alexandra Cole: Entrepreneur in Residence, Value Create Ventures
Sergio Escobar: CEO & Partner, BCF Ventures, Managing Director, Lalotte Ventures
Sergio Elias Wilson: Foreign Associate, So & Sato Law Firm
Serkan Toso: Co-Founder, byFood
Sertac Yeltekin: Founder & Executive Director, InVirtuoLabs
Shinya Yamamoto: Founder & CEO, Link & Innovation, Inc.
Shuji Honjo, Tama Graduate School of Business
So Saito: Founder, So & Sato Law Offices
So Yeon Kim: Founder & CEO, Lapis APAC Pte Ltd.
Stella (Jeehyon) Yoh: Principal, SOSV and Orbit Startups
Steve Monaghan: General Partner, Finmirai
Steve Sidhu: Senior Director/Owner, CSS Partners LLC
Sujan Sanku, Mba, Llm, Bse: Japan Channel Partner, Paramount Consortium of Companies INC
Sung Jae Lim: Venture Capitalist, Headline
Sush Bapna: General Partner, 10Ten Ventures
Takahiro Hayashi: CEO, HEROZ
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
Ta Wei Wang: Managing Director, Pinehurst Studio
Tilo Bonow Piabo: Investor, Cavalry Ventures
Timothy Connor: CEO & Founder, Synnovate
Todor Panev: Co-Founder, CBDO, Talnets AG, Sindex, Sigoor
Tomohiro Uchida: Partner, Translink Capital
Toshio Furuta: CEO, Clair law firm
Tunc Berkman: SIF Ventures CoFounder, TreeoVC LP, Angel Investor, and Founder, .
Tyson Batino: Co-Founder, SmartStart Japan
Vinod Vasudevan: Vice President, Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support
Vladimir Pletyukhin: Founder and Creative Director, Launch Deck
Walied Albasheer: founder and managing partner, Intuitio Ventures
Wei Chen: Venture Capitalist, Fubon Financial Holding Co., Ltd.
Woohyun Nahm: Early Stage Investor, Korea Investment Accelerator
XIAOXI GUO: COO and Co-Founder, I.W.G.
Xinmei Cai: Engineering Director, Google Japan
Yamato Sasagawa: Investor, World Innovation Lab (WiL)
Yasuchika Wakayama: CEO, Breakpoint
Yoichi Morimoto: Head of Business Development, HiJoJo Partners Inc.
Yoichi Ito: Dean of entrepreneurship dept., LINE Yahoo academia
Yu Hosaka: Lawyer, NEXAGE Law Office
Yuichi Terada: Founder & President , Hiyoura Lab
Yuji Tanabe: Co-Founder and CTO, Aeterlink
Yuki Shirato: Managing Director, Yakumi
Yuki Sato: Co-founder, CEO , Obniz Inc
Yu Li Shein: Co-Director , Founder Institute Japan/ Korea/ Taiwan
Yusuke Kohno: CEO, JITSUBO Co., Ltd.
Yvie Tai: Director, Business Development, Qualcomm
Zolboo Bayarsaikhan: Co-founder and CEO, START