Founder Institute Japan Fall 2025 Produces 13 New Technology Companies

Celebrated Graduation Demo Day Virtually and Physically

We hosted a virtual graduation on February 25, 2026, followed by a physical in-person graduation party on March 12, 2026, at Venture Café Tokyo. Together, both events drew an audience of 170+ participants, including 25+ global and local mentors from our network and an enthusiastic crowd from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and beyond.

Here are quick highlights of this cohort

- 𝟏𝟑 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝟑𝟐 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝟏𝟐 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.

- 𝟔𝟎+ 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟐𝟒 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲.

- 𝟐𝟐 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 (𝟏𝟑 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 + 𝟗 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩-𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬).

- 𝟒𝟎+ 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐭𝐨-𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟑+ 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫.

- 𝟑𝟎+ 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟏𝟎𝟎+ 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦.

Virtual Graduation Demo Day 

The Virtual Graduation Demo Day brought together founders, mentors, and a global audience in an engaging online setting. Each founder delivered a 5-minute pitch, showcasing their startup, business model, and future vision to both global and local mentors and a wider public audience.

Alongside the main pitches, founders also shared 1-minute insights, reflecting on their journey, key learnings, and growth throughout the program.

The event also featured a 15-minute keynote session in which VC expert Jeffrey Paine shared valuable perspectives on venture building and the startup ecosystem. Local leaders added their own insights, offering guidance and encouragement to the graduating founders.

To close the session, mentors were invited to the stage to share their reflections on the cohort, highlighting the founders’ progress, potential, and readiness for the next stage of their journey.

If you’d like access to the full pitch deck videos, apply through the link or scan the QR code above in the picture.

Key Note Speaker (Jeffery Paine) 

​Jeffrey Paine is the Founding Managing Partner of Golden Gate Ventures, a leading Southeast Asian VC firm with $250M+ AUM that has backed 90+ startups, including 9 unicorns. He’s also a long-time ecosystem builder and early-stage investor known for supporting ambitious founders across Asia from day one. He delivered a 15-minute keynote speech on titled “Invest in Clarity, not Potential.”

And he dropped these three hard truths:

• On problem clarity: "To get to clarity, you probably need to sleep under your customer's desk for 3 weeks and watch them work for probably 12 hours a day. Then you really know the problem."

• On VC funding: "98% of you shouldn't be raising money anyway... most of you actually should just raise two small rounds from your friends and break even."

• On location: "If you are operating from Palo Alto, you are already behind. If you're not in that time zone or that area code, you are one year behind by far. In fact, you're probably 18 months behind."

For more insights, check out the full video.

Key Note speaker (Ryan Nakata)

Ryutaro (Ryan) Nakata is the General Manager and Representative Director of Japan at Alumni Ventures, one of the most active VC firms globally with over $1.5B in assets and a portfolio of 1,600+ startups. He was keynote speaker in our physical event where he delivered a 5-minute keynote speech, sharing key insights on"Why VCs Only Invest in Billion-Dollar Potential — The Math Behind Venture Capital".

key takeaways from his speech

• VC is math, not motivation. "Venture capital is actually a math problem." The entire model runs on one company returning the whole fund.

• One company carries the portfolio. In most venture funds, a single startup generates most of the returns. That is the power law, and it is why VCs only bet on potential giants.

• Don't just think big, understand why. "Understand the math, then build something worthy of it." Knowing the equation behind VC changes how you pitch, plan, and build.

He also took part in a Q&A session, answering questions from founders and offering practical advice for building and scaling startups.

Check out his full video for more insights.

Graduation Founders Presentation ( 2 mins without presentation) 

Speed Networking with Alumni , Mentors & Investor

The event continued with an engaging speed networking session, bringing together founders, alumni, mentors, and investors from both online and in-person audiences. Each participant introduced themselves in around one minute, sharing what they are building, their background, and how they are looking to connect.

This fast-paced format created an open and energetic space for meaningful interactions, making it easier to quickly identify shared interests, explore potential collaborations, and build new relationships within the ecosystem

👏Special Thanks to the Mentors and Speakers who Supported and Contributed to the Cohort

We sincerely thank our partners for their invaluable support in this cohort. Leading technology organizations from Japan, Korea, and Taiwan played a key role in making the program a success.

We would first like to appreciate the hard work and support of the Local Directors of the Founder Institute Japan , Korea and Taiwan : Erdinc Ekinci (Founder, Investment Lead of Co-capital, Co-Founder, CEO of Openfor.co , Managing Director of Founder Institute Japan/Korea/Taiwan), YuLi Shein (Venture Partner of Co-capital,Co-Founder, COO of Openfor.co, Director of Founder Institute Japan / Korea / Taiwan). Our Local Leaders play an incredibly important role in building the local Founder Institute program and creating an environment and network in Japan that is conducive to building great companies.

Highlights of FI Japan, Korea, and Taiwan

Over the past four years, Founder Institute Japan, Korea, and Taiwan has become one of the most active pre-seed communities in the Asia-Pacific region. The impact is clear: the three chapters has engaged 140+ enrolled founders, built a network of 250+ mentors and advisors, and helped launch 73+ alumni companies. The community has also hosted 115+ local events with 6,500+ attendees, supported by a network of 6,500+ companies, 2,000+ investors, and reaching over 700,000 people on social media.

This journey is made possible thanks to the support of Openfor.co and Co-Capital, who share our mission of nurturing world-class founders right here in Asia.

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Graduation Founders’s Testimonial