Okayama Tech Planter 2024

• organizing

  

• organizing

  

• special co-sponsorship

  

Regional Development Partners

cooperation

support

Operational Support

Grand Prix Name

The 7th Okayama Tech Plan Grand Prix

Location

Main Hall, 3rd Floor, Head Office, The Chugoku Bank, Ltd. (1-15-20 Marunouchi, Kita-ku, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture, 700-8628, Japan)

Date & Time

Saturday, February 8, 2025, 13:00-19:30

Application period

Monday, July 1, 2024 - Friday, December 13, 2024

Participation Target

Held on a closed, pre-registration basis (finalists, partners, local businesses and universities)

organizing

The Chugoku Bank, Ltd. and Liberace Co.

timeline

12:30-13:00

inauguration

13:00-13:25

Greetings from the Organizers and Partners

13:25-13:45

keynote speech

13:45～14:30

Presentations by finalists (1) to (3)

14:40-15:25

Presentations by finalists (4) to (6)

15:35-16:20

Presentations by finalists (7) to (9)

16:20-17:10

Screening time, booth interaction, lightning talks

17:10-18:00

Announcement of Judging Results and Award Ceremony

18:15-19:30

information exchange meeting

• 

  head judge

  President and CCO, Liverness Corporation

  Inoue, Jyo

  In 2002, while still a graduate student, he founded REVANES with only undergraduate and graduate students in science and engineering. After completing his doctoral studies, he worked as an assistant professor and lecturer at the Faculty of Science, Kitasato University, an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, and a specially-appointed associate professor at Keio University before assuming and concurrently serving as a professor of advanced pharmacy at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University and a visiting professor at Keio University's Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences from 2018. While conducting research and development, he has been involved in launching joint research projects with universities and research institutions and supporting the establishment of research institutes. He has also been involved in the launch of many venture companies and serves as an advisor. D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, and is a pharmacist.

• 

  Director, Managing Executive Officer, The Chugoku Bank, Ltd.

  Tetsuji Ono

  Born on March 15, 1970, Mr. Kuroda joined Bank of China in 1992, and since 2012 has been the General Manager of the Singapore Representative Office, the Chayamachi Branch Manager, and the Onomichi/Onomichi Ekimae Branch Manager and Ship Finance Center Manager,
  He has served as Executive Officer and General Manager of the Bingo Hiroshima District Headquarters, and has been in his current position since June 2023. His motto is to take on new challenges on a daily basis, believing that "flexible thinking" and "aggressive action without fear of failure" that are not bound by past norms are the strategies that lead to growth.

• 

  General Manager, Knowledge Manufacturing Department, KOBASHI ROBOTICS Co.

  Kazuya Inada

  Born in Ehime, Japan in 1985. After completing graduate studies at Okayama University, he worked in automotive material development, control development, and data adaptation at Honda R&D Co. He joined ITID Corporation in 2018, where he worked in BPR and new business planning support for the manufacturing industry and planning support for local governments. He joined KOBASHI in 2022, sharing the management philosophy of "Cultivate the Earth", which aims to solve social issues. He is working on the formation of an ecosystem to support manufacturing, including startups.

• 

  President and Representative Director, Orba Healthcare Holdings, Inc.

  Yohei Maejima

  Born in Okayama Prefecture in 1967. After completing his graduate studies at Okayama University (M.D.), he worked at Okayama University Hospital (Nephrology) after studying abroad in the U.S. He became a professor at the same university in 2011. 2014, he became a director of the company due to business succession, and in 2015, he became the president and representative director of the company. He has been a professor of nephrology at Okayama University Hospital since 2011, and became a director of the company in 2014.

• 

  Executive Officer, General Manager, Osaka Research Laboratory and General Manager, Okayama Research Laboratory, Tayca Corporation

  Ryosuke Sugihara

  Born in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, he graduated from the Department of Bio-Applications Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Okayama University in 1991, and was engaged in research and development of novel polysaccharides derived from soil bacteria, mainly on their effects on physiological activities at Tayca Corporation. In 1999, he started to develop materials related to conductive polymers, which he commercialized in 2003. He was appointed Director of the Okayama Research Institute in 2017, Director of the Osaka Research Institute and the Okayama Research Institute in 2019, and will assume his current position in 2022. He is currently focusing on creating new businesses in the life science and environmental energy fields.

• 

  Deputy General Manager, Innovation Company Support Department, Mizuho Bank, Ltd.

  Tsukasa Watanabe

  D. (Engineering) from Tokyo Metropolitan University in 2017, joined Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. and engaged in R&D and technical sales of semiconductor materials. 2020, engaged in venture fund operations (sourcing, investment consideration, and overall hands-on support) at NEC Capital Solutions Limited. 2023, In 2023, he joined Mizuho Bank's Innovation Company Support Department, where he worked on open innovation support for large companies and provided support for startup collaboration and new business creation issues.

• 

  Director, UntroD Capital Japan K.K.

  Hajime Yamaya

  After graduating from Tohoku University and working in corporate planning at an R&D-oriented semiconductor venture, he joined Realtech Holdings (his current company) in 2015, leading the formation of the Glocal Deep Tech Fund, which will actively invest in ventures originating from the region in 2020. He aims to solve global issues and revitalize local economies by supporting and fostering ventures with outstanding technologies in cooperation with participating regional financial institutions and business companies.

• 

  Protecting the beautiful earth and human health with the power of seaweed

  Representative Director, Ulva Co.

  Takuji Namba

  D. (Pharmaceutical Sciences), Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University. Convinced that a better future will come if we can live healthily while protecting the beautiful earth, he established URBA, Inc. in April 2024 to realize this future. Aiming to achieve "environment x health improvement," he is developing a system to grow seaweed that can efficiently fix CO2 as a way to reduce CO2, a greenhouse gas, and developing products that achieve anti-aging as one way to utilize seaweed.

• 

  ReAxel Technologies

  Presenter] Seiya Torigoe

  

  The world's most circular motor "motoloop

  motoloop" is the world's most advanced circular economy type product that recycles end-of-life EV motors into ultra-efficient industrial motors using proprietary recycling and conversion technology.
• 

  Team TkSP

  Yuichi Koga / Okayama University of Science

  

  Providing new value with the world's best thermostable protease

  The company has established a technology for mass-producing proteases (proteolytic enzymes), which are rare enzymes that work even at 100°C. The unprecedented "enzyme reaction at 100°C" enables new manufacturing. New applications will be developed and marketed to create new technological fields that will benefit society.
• 

  Kibi Innovatives

  Akira Yamauchi / Kawasaki Medical School

  

  Developing Patient-First Drugs for Pancreatic Cancer

  Pancreatic cancer is one of the cancers with the lowest 5-year survival rate. We have discovered compounds that regulate the dynamics of pancreatic cancer cells using our original cell function evaluation method. We would like to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that control tumor growth and metastasis, and to commercialize inexpensive anti-tumor drugs with fewer side effects.
• 

  Okayama Medical Venture Lab

  Takahiro Hirayama / Faculty of Science, Okayama University

  

  Introduction of Medical Continuity Plan and Disaster Response Capacity Enhancement Project

  Develop a "medical resource management system" to improve the effectiveness of power outage countermeasures and BCPs for medical institutions in the event of a disaster, utilizing IoT data and AI to support BCP creation and training. The system will simultaneously realize cost reductions during normal times and energy security during disasters by improving efficiency.
• 

  immunization agency

  Yoshinori Matsumoto / Okayama University Hospital

  

  Transforming Autoimmune Disease Treatment!

  We have elucidated the mechanism by which the inflammation-inducing protein "3BP2" causes inflammation, and that it is the cause of various intractable inflammatory diseases. We will change the world's medical care by launching "3BP2 inhibitor," a next-generation therapeutic drug with fewer side effects that can replace existing drugs.
• 

  biologic

  Presenter] Takashi Tamura / Okayama University

  

  Prescription for a near future where antibiotics will no longer work.

  Against drug-resistant bacteria, the idea of antibiotics that kill pathogenic bacteria does not give humanity a chance to win. We aim to develop a breakthrough antimicrobial agent that pinpoints and freezes the infectious capacity and gene transmission of pathogenic bacteria through a new concept, and to build a society free of the threat of drug-resistant bacteria.
• 

  Visual Servo Co.

  Presenter] Mamoru Mimami

  

  Engineering Reproduction of Spatial Measurement Capability of Animals and its Application to Robots

  Engineering the spatial measurement capability of animals that can measure the space between objects in real time, unaffected by noise such as brightness and turbidity from weather, ocean conditions, etc. Contribute to solving social issues through implementation in outdoor autonomous work robots and other devices.
• 

  JSR Innovation

  Presenter] Junpei Shirakawa / Kochi University

  

  Ultimate Regenerative Medicine Using MUSE Cells Derived from Dental Pulp Stem Cells

  For the first time in the world, MUSE cells derived from human dental pulp have been accurately isolated and a culture system has been established. The company aims to establish the ultimate system for tailor-made regenerative medicine, in which, when a body tissue is damaged, the damaged tissue can be regenerated by injecting these cells into blood vessels.
• 

  CELLCALTEC

  Presenter] Ken Kataoka / Okayama University of Science

  

  Development of AI evaluation system for cell culture technology

  In the field of cell culture for regenerative medicine, etc., a certain level of technology is required to ensure safety. We have developed an AI evaluation system for cell culture technology with a view to educating technicians, improving the efficiency of the medical field and industrial applications, and are aiming for its implementation in society.