The application period ended on March 31st.
Thank you for all your applications!
Now accepting applications for the acceleration program [Blooming UPs]!
**Blooming Ups** is an acceleration program organized by the "StARTs UPs" Secretariat.
As a prize for winning, the winner will be given the right to make the final pitch at "StARTs UPs".
[Application deadline: Friday, May 2nd]
Click here for details on Blooming UPs
About
About StARTs UPs
StARTs UPs is a business contest focused on the creative economy * , with the aim of developing the culture, arts and leisure industry that can solve cross-sectional social issues.
We will explore new business approaches in the cultural, artistic and leisure industries, maximize the appeal of Japan's culture and the arts, and contribute to realizing sustainable development.
*Creative economy: art, design, music, fashion, games, advertising, tourism, urban development, architecture, manga, animation, entertainment, food, etc.
Finalist
Finalists
8 finalists selected!
*In no particular order
Purpose
Purpose of the project
1
Through supporting target companies, the aim is to develop and expand the market for culture, arts and entertainment, and to create jobs.
2
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By increasing awareness and understanding of the art, culture, and entertainment market, we aim to increase the number of people involved and create momentum.
Award
About the Awards
Grand Prize
ARTLOGUE Award
Sponsor Award
Details of each prize will be announced at a later date.
Outline
Recruitment and Schedule
01
Recruiting participants Thursday, February 13, 2025 - Monday, March 31, 23:59
We are accepting applications from across the country via the Internet. Regardless of the series, this is open to companies that aim to create and expand the creative economy market. Please read the application guidelines and apply through the application form.
02
Finalists selected: Early April 2025
Applications will be judged based on the documents and videos submitted.
Based on the judging criteria, the management team and judges will select six finalist teams (tentative). Successful candidates will be notified by email.
03
Art Accelerator Program Late April to early July 2025
This program is open to finalist teams and provides mentoring with experts in the creative economy.
04
Final Pitch Contest Wednesday, July 23, 2025
The pitch event will be held at the Osaka International Convention Center (Grand Cube Osaka) in Nakanoshima, Osaka. Each team will give a 5-minute presentation. After a Q&A session with the judges, the final judging will take place and the winners will be announced.
Judging
About the screening
Judging Criteria
1 Creativity and originality
The business will be judged on its creativity and originality.
2 Scalability and sustainability
The business model will be evaluated for scalability and sustainability.
3.Contribution to culture and the arts
Ideas and works will be evaluated on their contribution to the cultural, artistic and leisure industries.
4. Impact on local communities
Your ideas and work will be evaluated on the impact they have on the local community.
5. Project Feasibility
Your project will be evaluated to see if there is a realistic plan to secure the necessary technology, resources and manpower.
6. Presentation skills
Your proposal will be evaluated on whether it is communicated clearly and in an appealing way.
Judges
ASO Yoichi
Entrepreneur, Artist, Painter
Representative Director of the General Incorporated Association Entrepreneur Art Association
Founder, President and CEO of AlphaDrive Inc.
HIROSE Fuminori
Director and COO, ZOZO, Inc.
TOYAMA Masamichi
Smiles Co., Ltd. Representative
CEO of The Chain Museum Co., Ltd.
DOHDA Takeaki
Head of Business Development at Google Venture Capital
and more!
Mentor
Introducing our mentors
CREATIVE ECONOMY MENTORS
We have formed the "CREATIVE ECONOMY MENTORS," consisting of VCs, large corporations, entrepreneurs, experts, artists, communities, media, and others who will create the next generation of art, entertainment, and culture and lead the creative economy. Companies selected as finalists will be able to receive mentoring from experts in a variety of fields.
KOIKE Ai
Managing Partner of THE CREATIVE FUND, LLP
After graduating from the Faculty of Law at Keio University, he experienced a startup during his university years and joined Hakuhodo in 2010.
From 2012 to 2015, he worked at Advantage Partners, a private equity fund, in buyout (LBO) investments, managing the investments and running new businesses, and from 2016 he worked at Asuka Holdings, investing in startups in Southeast Asia and India, before going independent and providing management and new business advice to companies.
In 2020, he founded THE CREATIVE FUND (formerly GO FUND), a venture investment fund in Japan.
He will also strive to deepen his knowledge of contemporary art and to promote its collection and dissemination. In 2021, he will also be appointed as a full-time lecturer at the Faculty of Arts, Kyoto University of the Arts. In 2022, he will be appointed as an outside director of AD Works Group Co., Ltd. In 2024, he will be appointed as a director of the Japan Venture Capital Association.
TAKAHASHI Masami
Group Chief Operating Officer, Scrum Ventures
After joining Sony, he was in charge of LCD TV marketing in Tokyo and Paris, and engaged in venture company discovery, acquisition and investment projects in Silicon Valley. In 2014, he joined Uber and led the expansion of the mobility business as president of the Japanese subsidiary, and launched Uber Eats in Tokyo. In 2017, he joined WeWork. As general manager and vice president of sales and marketing, he led the expansion to more than 30 locations in six cities in two years from the opening of the first location. In 2020, he became chief strategy officer. In 2021, he joined Scrum Ventures and became head of the studio business. He is involved in creating new businesses for Japanese companies and global startups through open innovation. He has been in his current position since 2023. He graduated from the University of Chicago (majoring in economics) and obtained an MBA from INSEAD.
CHOI Gyu-sik
CEO of CrewwKorea Co., Ltd. CSO of TR Co., Ltd. CEO of Innoriver Inc. / Advisor of InboundPlatform Inc. (listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange)
Since 2015, he has been working in the Korean startup ecosystem on business strategies, overseas expansion consulting, startup acceleration, and investment collaboration and attraction. In 2023, he established CrewwKorea Co., Ltd. and, together with Creww in Japan, operates a cross-border innovation Asian startup global expansion support and acceleration business between Korea and Japan.
HAYASHI Nobuyuki
Journalist / Consultant / Honorary Visiting Professor at Kanazawa College of Art, Outside Director of Revolver Co., Ltd.
He seeks and disseminates values that should be preserved in the 22nd century in the fields of technology, design, and art. He began working as a technology journalist in 1990. He has interviewed many engineers and visionaries who built the PC industry, as well as founders, managers, engineers, and designers of major IT companies such as Apple and Google. He has also followed the front lines of the spread of the Internet and smartphones. Since around 2007, he has participated in lectures and advisory boards for home appliance manufacturers, communication companies, and IT ventures. Since around 2010, he has changed his view that technology does not necessarily enrich people, and has focused on promoting a design-oriented attitude that creates a better future. He has also been appointed as a director of the Dyson Foundation, which promotes design engineering education, and a judge for the Good Design Award. Since around 2015, when the footsteps of the AI era began to be heard, he has focused on contemporary art, believing that an artistic approach that seeks issues and questions themselves is more important than a design approach that seeks to solve problems. He has written many books, including "Why did Twitter and the iPhone succeed?" and "Jobs created everything without inventing anything." He is an outside director of Revolver Inc. Honorary visiting professor at Kanazawa College of Art.
OKA Takahiro
Representative Director of Japan Startup Support Association
After experiencing many business transformations since his student days, he launched his current online mail order business in 2005. In 2013, the company was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers. Afterwards, in 2015, he formed a capital and business alliance with Rizap and joined the group. In 2016, with the cooperation of fellow IPO managers, he established the Japan Startup Support Association, a general incorporated association, to provide venture support specializing in startups with the goal of IPOs and M&A so that entrepreneurs can exit as quickly as possible. In October 2020, he was appointed visiting professor at Osaka University, where he also devotes his efforts to nurturing university-based ventures.
MITSUNAGA Takaya
CEO and Creative Director, HYTEK Inc.
While working on creative projects for global brands and artists, he is also active as an artist himself, appearing on NBA official games, America's Got Talent, TEDx, and other stages both in Japan and overseas. He was selected as one of Forbes JAPAN's "Next 100 Hopes to Save the World."
SETO Kojiro
Representative of bTANK LLC
Former Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan Representative for Television
Using his experience turning zero into one in a wide range of industries including entertainment, technology, and finance, he runs bTANK LLC, a company that provides strategy and tactical advisory services specializing in sales and marketing to startups.
HAGA Masahiko
Visiting Professor, iU Information, Management and Innovation University
At an advertising agency, he was involved in branding for CEOs, implementing J-League concepts, developing products and businesses, and revitalizing companies' businesses. Currently, he is the organizer of the Japan Gen Z tournament for the XPRIZE Foundation, which works to solve human problems, and is also involved in the commercialization of traditional crafts and anime using the power of Japanese otaku.
SANADA Shotaro
SBI Investment Co., Ltd. General Manager of CVC Business Department and Investment Department
At SBI Investment, he was in charge of investment practice and fund management as a fund manager for the CVC investment target. He also worked at the Osaka headquarters, mainly in the Kansai region, sourcing, investment consideration, university collaboration, LP sales, etc. In his previous job, he worked as a news reporter, TV advertising sales, and human resources recruitment manager at Mainichi Broadcasting System. He was transferred to the new business division, where he launched an in-house venture and was involved in startup investments, before moving to SBI Investment.
MIYANAGA Maiko
VISIONGRAPH Inc. Mirai Yoho Inc. / SXSW Japan
CEO of VISIONGRAPH Inc., a company specializing in creating a vision of the future (HOPE), Mirai Yoho Inc. / Futurist / Representative of SXSW Japan.
Graduated from the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University. As a futurist, he has been publishing SXSW analysis reports and presenting various visions of the future for 12 years. In 2016, he co-founded Visiongraph Inc., and the following year released Work Styles 10 Years from Now: Seizing the Signs of Innovation from "I've Never Heard of This Job!" (Impress). He has given numerous lectures, including as an official speaker at SXSW2020/2022.
SHIKI Ryosuke
Creww Inc. Western Japan Area Manager
NAGOYA INNOVATOR'S GARAGE Mentor
TIB Students Entrepreneurship Development Program Supporter
Since 2020, he has been working at the Osaka Innovation Hub, supporting startups and venture businesses and working in industry-academia collaboration, where he has been deeply influenced by the passion that startups generate. Resonating with the company's vision of "creating an era of great challenges," he joined Creww Inc. in 2022. He currently serves as the Western Japan Area Manager, and is a project manager for open innovation and incubation projects in Hyogo Prefecture, Okayama City, Miyake Town in Nara Prefecture, and Toyota City.
INOHARA Yukiko
Representative Director of Yamayama Co., Ltd.
She has developed multiple social businesses based on her experience of suffering from postpartum depression. "Additive-free Children's Gummy" has sold over 120,000 bags on social media, creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities from discarded fruit in Wakayama. "Kutsurogi Taino Mo Yamana" is a place that has been regenerated from abandoned farmland, and is in a depopulated area, but is inundated with families with children from all over the country. Using her experience, she is the founder of "SBC", a community for female social entrepreneurs. She has appeared in over 300 media outlets, given numerous entrepreneurial lectures, and won the Japan Entrepreneur Award. She is a mother of three siblings, aged 5th, 4th, and 1st grade.
YAMASHITA Ryo
Principal, ITOCHU Technology Ventures Inc.
Joined Itochu Corporation in 2017. Worked in the Finance and Insurance division, where he was responsible for the management and support of domestic and overseas group companies, M&A of domestic business companies, creation of intra-group synergies, and investment and sales support for startups. In 2022, he moved to JAFCO Group Co., Ltd. After working in investment activities mainly in startups in the Western Japan area, he joined ITOCHU Technology Ventures Co., Ltd. in 2023 and is currently in his current position.
DAICHO Takanori
THE CREATIVE FUND General Partner
After joining Dentsu in 2007, he joined The Breakthrough Company GO. While providing support that leads to business growth for companies, he also implements creativity in the areas of government agencies and political parties. He is also a member of THE CREATIVE FUND, and invests in startups as a VC. I provide creative support and strive to increase value. I enjoy seeing the business grow. The contribution that this makes to society and nature is what we place the most importance on.
HIRONAKA Ryoya
iFund Partners
Born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. At independent venture capital firm iFund, he has invested in over 10 companies, mainly in consumer-oriented businesses such as entertainment, tourism, and food. He also runs the acceleration program "iFarm," which provides support from business launch to fundraising in two months.
IMAI Jun
Representative Director, IMAJUN Inc.
After graduating from university, he worked at the founding of 17LIVE before joining a new business venture at Amuse Inc. In 2021, he founded IMAJUN Inc. as an emcee, and in 2023, he joined Headline Asia and was in charge of managing IVS and other projects. He also serves as an advisor for SusHi Tech Tokyo's "ITAMAE" and a judge for TIB PITCH.
KITADA Jun
ABC Dream Ventures Inc. Investment Department
Asahi Broadcasting Group Holdings Corporation Business Development Department Leader
After graduating from Kyoto Institute of Technology where he studied architecture and design, he joined Asahi Television Broadcasting Corporation in 2007. After working as a news cameraman and in the radio station sales department, he transferred back to the news department in 2012, where he interviewed startups as a reporter and broadcast them on news programs. Since 2019, he has been involved in startup investment at ABC Dream Ventures, the CVC of the Asahi Broadcasting Group.
Application Guideline
Application details
Creative Business Contest
StARTs UPs
Target companies
- Companies that aim to develop and expand the creative economy market, including culture, arts, and entertainment, and to create jobs.
- Applicants must be start-up companies (regardless of series) or new businesses of companies.
*Creative economy refers to areas such as art, design, music, fashion, games, advertising, tourism, urban development, architecture, manga, anime, entertainment, and food.
How to Apply
Please prepare the necessary documents listed on the application form and submit your application.
Schedule
Participant recruitment period: Thursday, February 13, 2025 - Monday, March 31, 23:59
Finalists selected: Early April 2025
Art Accelerator Program: Late April to early July 2025
Final Pitch Contest: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Final pitch contest venue
Osaka International Convention Center (Grand Cube Osaka)
Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City, Kita Ward, Nakanoshima 5-3-51
Venue information here >
［Organizer］
ARTLOGUE Inc.
[cooperation]
Clay Co., Ltd.
Culturepreneur Collectives
[alignment]
Japan startup support Association
As a social enterprise, we aim to solve social problems using art, and we receive social impact investment. Our vision is "Arts for Human and Planet," and we have a mission to protect and utilize cultural arts and create a world where art can be enjoyed. As an arts tech company, ARTLOGUE not only brings innovation to the art industry with the power of technology, but is also a social art media that provides dialogue and enrichment to society through art. Art has the power to bring light to people and show them the world through special and wonderful stories. We also believe that art brings people compassion, imagination, and creativity, and helps solve social issues. ARTLOGUE aims to realize a better society by utilizing the power of art.
Contact
Inquiry
[Inquiries regarding applications]
"StARTs UPs" Office
E-mail: startsups@artlogue.org
[Inquiries regarding coverage of this event]
ARTLOGUE Inc.
Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival Office
Email: pr@artlogue.org
Phone number: 06-6467-8656