Niigata Venture Association (NVA) Pitch Finals

2022.01.25

The Niigata Venture Association (NVA) is calling for business plans from entrepreneurs, working adults, students, etc., and held the NVA Pitch Online Preliminary Round on June 25, 2021.
The final NVA Pitch competition was held on December 8, 2021, with participants who passed the online NVA Pitch preliminaries taking the stage.

*What is the Niigata Venture Association?
This organization was established with the aim of producing the next generation of high-growth ventures and second-time founders, bringing together young managers with ties to Niigata Prefecture, to plan activities related to personal exchanges and collaborations between managers, and to support ventures and startups.

<<Summary of the 2nd NVA Pitch Contest Contestants (4 people)>>

■ DMM Agri Innovation Co., Ltd. Kazuki Sato (company employee and entrepreneur)
"Cheat farming"　
He aims to increase agricultural production without the use of fertilizer through a special cultivation method that uses microorganisms called nitrogen-fixing bacteria, thereby resolving social issues such as food shortages, abandoned farmland, and the slow spread of organic farming. Nitrogen is a material that makes up the body of a plant, and it takes several years for plants to absorb it without fertilizer, and several weeks with fertilizer. However, plants with microorganisms can absorb nitrogen from the air as a nutrient, and this can be done in an extremely short period of one to seven days. He says that by utilizing this mechanism, we can break away from dependence on nitrogen fertilizer, and that this can be expected to improve agricultural practices in terms of the environment, economy, and production.

■ Medical Service Co., Ltd. Representative Director Norio Shirai
"A destination-based shared taxi service that can introduce door-to-door medical services within three months"
As the aging society progresses, the number of elderly people who want to take taxis to medical appointments is increasing, but this business solves the problem of a shortage of drivers due to a decrease in the age group that can drive. Users specify the medical appointment destination and recruit ride-sharers. Those who gather are grouped, and after adjusting their medical appointment schedule, taxis are regularly arranged and the ride-sharers go to the appointment. The benefits include the speed with which it can be implemented within three months of recruitment, and the fact that ride-share groups self-multiply as users form groups based on their needs. In the future, the goal is to expand the target audience beyond just elderly people going to medical appointments.

■HUB SAUNA Co., Ltd. President and CEO Tsubasa Tomita
"HUB SAUNA"
Their vision is to create a world where people cherish their true selves through tent saunas. This vision is based on Tomita's precious experience of rediscovering his true self through a tent sauna. Current sauna stoves are unsafe, often deforming due to the weight of the sauna stones, or the ash trays becoming deformed and impossible to remove, leading to the possibility of fatal accidents. In response to this background, they are developing a product from a domestic manufacturer to realize safe tent saunas. By improving the materials and internal structure, they are increasing the product's durability four times that of previous models and improving portability. They will develop such a product, and initially focus on rentals, with sales expected to reach 4 million yen within the first three to five years.

■ Riparia Inc. CEO Masaki Murota
"Tomorui: A matching service between Niigata Prefecture companies and city workers"
The "Tomorui" service matches urban part-time workers with Niigata Prefecture companies. It satisfies the needs of urban part-time workers who want to be involved in rural areas, and allows Niigata Prefecture to pinpoint and recruit active teams from companies. It also gives young people living in rural areas access to attractive companies in the prefecture, broadening their career options. Furthermore, "Tomorui," which has a pool of part-time workers, helps strengthen recruitment in the recruitment branding business and increase sales and employment in the PR partner business.

In addition to the contest, the second NVA pitch finals also featured special lectures by the first Grand Prix and Runner-up winners, who presented their results on the current state and future prospects of their businesses, as well as business reports by those recommended by the judges.

≪Special lectures by 3 people≫

■Previous Grand Prize Winner: SIIG Inc. CEO Sho Tanigawa
"Fish Ranker"
　The gamification x fishing app "Fish Ranker" allows users to enjoyably post their catches in a game-like manner, and analyzes and provides data collected by other anglers. Fish Ranker incorporates game elements such as medals, rankings, and quests. Additionally, while recording catches by fish species and size traditionally took an average of 24 seconds, hindering continued fishing, AI image recognition has reduced the recording time to just 3 seconds. Combining game elements with AI technology, the app offers a world-first user experience. Going forward, the app will be applied to AR glasses and host tournaments using the app, creating a service that conveys the appeal of experiencing nature through fishing to the next generation of players.

■ Last year's runner-up: Prossel Co., Ltd. CEO Kazuki Yokoyama
"Prossell"
This service allows companies to get to know students and make job offers through online business contests. The gap in attention between students and companies has been an issue, but this service makes it possible to hire based on the essence of the candidate, rather than the name of the company or school. Companies can easily hold one-day business contests on a set theme, which can be used to build a candidate pool for B1B companies. This is one of the largest online business contests for students in Japan, and we are working to attract more participants through credit recognition with schools.

■Sakeai Co., Ltd. President and CEO Daichi Niyama
"Sakeai"
A sake record and purchase service that allows you to discover new sake. It has the largest database of information on sake, with overwhelmingly detailed data compared to competitors. The database also expands automatically with user posts. Men in their 20s and 30s tend to be relatively high-end oriented, and the inability to choose from a large number of brands has been an issue, but with an AI recommendation system and high-quality reviews on the timeline, they can find sake that interests them. In the future, they plan to expand their offering to include alcoholic beverages other than sake.

After the pitch contest, we spoke candidly with the speakers and judges about their impressions of the pitch contest, their business prospects, and the values they hold dear.

<Post-contest interview>

■ Riparia Inc. CEO Masaki Murota
First of all, I'm really happy that we were able to win this pitch competition. Winning gives you a sense of accomplishment, like, "I'm finally being recognized!" When I've been running my business, I've sometimes felt unsure about the direction I was heading in. However, winning this time made me feel happy, as if my path up to that point has been recognized to a certain extent. As I continue to grow my business, I'm sure I'll have doubts and anxieties, but I hope to be able to move forward with a strong, self-centered approach, in a good way. "In the end, I've benefited others through my self-centered approach." That's the kind of business development I dream of.

■HUB SAUNA Co., Ltd. President and CEO Tsubasa Tomita
　I originally disliked saunas, but after being invited by a director of the Niigata Venture Association, I became completely hooked. From there, inspired by this year's winner, Mr. Murota, and other senior collaborators, I commercialized a tent sauna and participated in this pitch. Participating this time made me keenly aware of how unprepared I was.

■SIIG Inc. CEO Sho Tanigawa
I was honored to speak this time as the winner of the first tournament. Since the last tournament, we have been working to improve the quality of the product, so we were unable to present results such as a dramatic increase in the number of users, but going forward, we would like to increase the number of users by stepping up promotion through running tournaments in regional areas.

■Prossel Co., Ltd. Representative Director and CEO Yokoyama Kazuki
I was the runner-up in the first pitch and participated in this one as a guest speaker. My business model is a service that matches job-seekers with companies, and the inspiration for this business model came from studying abroad. I studied abroad from August of my second year to August of my third year, and I found myself unable to even apply for jobs. This made me wonder, "Why aren't people who have gained experience studying abroad allowed to even apply for jobs?" This made me think, "I need to create a place where more people can see students!" and so I created the current online platform that connects job-seekers with companies.

■ Sakeai Co., Ltd. President and CEO Daichi Niyama
　Although I was unable to participate in the preliminary round this time and was not a participant, I was given the special opportunity to give a presentation during the pitch session as we are currently in the fundraising stage. Our app, Sakeai, is a purchase history recording app that specializes in sake. I myself have never been a big fan of sake, but after moving to Nagaoka, I discovered various types of sake and became addicted to them. Perhaps because of that, I have gained 15 kilograms. In the future, we will strive to make the app easier to use and to help users find the perfect sake for them.

Norimasa Usami, Director, Corporate Strategy Division, Deputy General Manager, Regional Revitalization, KDDI Corporation
As a telecommunications company, we are always keen to solve problems with new telecommunications technology. With that in mind, we also want to promote new business innovation by supporting startup companies in each local government. For each local government to flourish, it is essential to have people who can lead the way. That is why we help out with events like this and work to support newly born businesses. We hope that the development of business innovation will make many things more convenient and accessible.

Shuta Shibuya, Chairman and CEO of Fuller Corporation
Niigata Prefecture actually has a low rate of entrepreneurship. "I want to do something about this!" That's why I decided to participate in this pitch as a judge. Although the world is still being affected by COVID-19, I hope that we can all work together to help Niigata's venture companies grow. In order for venture companies to grow, they need support, such as mentoring from people in the company and creating opportunities to communicate, like pitches. After all, people can work hard and grow when they have support from others.

■START Co., Ltd. President and CEO Hiroyuki Nakamata
I consider myself a "business geek." I'm the CEO of four companies and an executive at five others, and I don't just invest in my investments; I always get involved as an executive and grow together with them. By getting inside a company, I get to learn more about different types of businesses, which is fun. I decided to use this quality of mine to participate in the idea pitch because I wanted to increase the number of companies that can revitalize the prefecture as a whole. I want to make everyone in Niigata happy by supporting startups and existing, successful companies.

■Partner of Stars Co., Ltd. CEO Yoshinobu Hoshino
Niigata Prefecture had consulted us on how to improve Niigata's entrepreneurship rate, which is one of the lowest in the country. Together with Nakamata and other colleagues who had consulted with us, we began working to create an environment that is conducive to startups, as well as promoting the further growth of existing companies and attracting innovative companies. We believe that we are able to undertake these initiatives because the prefecture is serious about it.

■Uesugi
There is a soccer team called Albirex Niigata. The name "Albirex" was decided by public vote, and I was rooting for a different candidate. I was disappointed and frustrated when my favorite's name was eliminated. So I founded a game company named after the other candidate. I've since sold it, but I was involved in that kind of business.
　As a judge for these pitches, I sometimes give harsh criticism to the contestants, but it makes me really happy to see them not give up and instead absorb each lesson and grow.

■Tanaka Kento, Director of the Startup and Innovation Promotion Division, Industry and Labor Department, Niigata Prefecture
I'm originally from Tokyo, but I felt that a change of scenery would suit my lifestyle, so I requested a transfer to Niigata. I didn't know much about Niigata at first, but once I started living here, I found that there are many kind people and I think it's a great place. I also feel that there are many quiet people in Niigata, in a good way, but I would like more people from Niigata to step forward and spread the word about its appeal. That's why I want to liven up Niigata through pitches like this one.

Yoshitaka Sasaki, Policy Planner, Startup and Innovation Promotion Division, Industry and Labor Department, Niigata Prefecture
　Niigata Prefecture's business start-up rate is second from the bottom according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and 36th in the Economic Census, although this varies. However, it ranks third in the nation in the number of long-established companies celebrating their 100th anniversary, with a high proportion of businesses in manufacturing, wholesale, and retail. To continue to develop these strong companies and revitalize Niigata, it is essential to bring in fresh IT companies and start-ups. Against this backdrop, we are working to stimulate existing companies and promote sustainable growth by attracting and supporting innovative companies that can serve as role models for venture companies. We are also promoting reforms through the establishment of coworking spaces directly connected to stations and collaborations with universities.

Interviewed by Masato Yamamoto, a third-year student at Meiji University and Kokoro Sato, a second-year student at Tsuda University