The 12th exchange meeting of the Kyoto Startup Support Angel Community
was held on Friday, December 6, 2024 at RIHGA Royal Hotel Kyoto.
This time we welcomed attendees from six startup companies, each of which gave a presentation about their businesses/projects in varied fields, such as how to be net carbon negative, fetal ultrasonography, an energy-saving motor core, and a sports park plan.
A total of 57 people gathered, including Angel Advisors, Angel Investors, previous attendees, as well as those belonging to organizations involved in startup ventures, such as local financial institutions, megabanks, major securities companies, and venture capital companies.
After the 8-minute presentations by the presenting companies, a Q&A session was held, where presenters and Angel Advisors actively discussed the following topics:
■ Detailed plans for the reuse of the high-purity CO2
generated during biomass power generation.
■Current progress and issues in setting up a mass-production plant,
in which there are expected to be a lot of hurdles to overcome.
■Future possibilities for developing a device for sale to consumers,
in addition to the current plan to find a business buyer.
■The need for stronger anti-counterfeiting measures to protect the brand
of these unique and interesting products/projects.
In the information exchange meeting after the presentations and Q&A sessions, attendees from the presenting companies and Angel Advisors had active discussions on diverse topics, including more detailed description of the presented businesses/projects or on possibilities for partnerships. The companies presented gave us some very meaningful feedback:
■They valued the insightful feedback from managers
at leading companies.
■They valued the significance of the event in which they gained
recognition by many participants from financial institutions
and venture capital companies.
■They considered it a great success to have connected with
managers at leading companies in Kyoto.They are confident that
this helped enhance recognition and lay the groundwork
for their business/projects among leading figures in the field.
■They appreciated the generous support they received during
the preparation phase of the presentation,including the
opportunity to receive advice during the pitch consultations
before their presentations.
We will continue promoting the activities of this community so that we can further support the early growth of start-up companies.
| Date and time | Friday, December 6, 2025, 15:00-18:00 |
|---|---|
| Program | 1. Pitches from startup companies, Q&A session Whicker Inc. ／ Tomokazu Yamamoto, Representative Director 2. Information Exchange Meeting |
| Venue | RIHGA Royal Hotel Kyoto |
| Sponsor | Kyoto Prefecture, KYOTO Industrial Support Organization 21 |
| Supported by | Kyoto Chiesangyo Sozonomori |
Whicker Inc.
Representative Director Tomokazu Yamamoto
“Magotomo”―Family-like elderly care through intergenerational exchange
“Magotomo” is a service in which a college student visits an elderly person and offers assistance in the form of outings or meals, or teaching how to use high technology devices such as smartphones or tablets. These services are not offered as part of the public nursing care insurance system. Through the “Magotomo” service, we can provide the elderly with enjoyable and fulfilling activities, in some ways akin to spending time with their grandchildren, by promoting cross-generational communication. This also helps to reduce the caregiving burden on the family of the elderly person, which leads to strengthening of family bonds. In our service, the care-receivers are of the students’ grandparents generation, and clients (caregiving family members) are of the students’ parents generation. The service brings delight to the “parents” and “grandparents,” helping them build and maintain good family ties in their busy lives.
Gifts Inc.
COO Yuki Nakade
Automated fetal ultrasonography system enabling early detection of fetal abnormality
Every year 130 million babies are born in the world. At the same time, however, 4.2 million babies die in the womb.
The introduction of fetal ultrasonography has had a significant impact on reducing the fetal death rate. Reports show that fetal death rates have reduced by 30% in term deliveries and by 50% in post-term deliveries. Automation of the fetal ultrasonography system, which can currently only be performed by physicians, enables early detection of fetal abnormalities by non-physicians, and so offering a real possibility of saving many more lives.
SPORTS X Inc.
Director Takashi Soeda
Kyoto Sports Park Plan―Human and community development through the development of “regional sports infrastructure”
We are planning to build a sports park with six multi-purpose grounds (mainly soccer fields) and an accommodation facility for 600 people in Kyoto, which will attract a total of 500,000 visitors per year. Athletes belonging to top sports teams will be involved in management of the facilities and will work as instructors for sports academies held at the sports park. The sports park will foster human resources who will lead the local community in the future through various exchanges between people of all ages, nationalities, and backgrounds.
Chuhicha Inc.
Representative Director Tsuyoshi Maruoka
Industrialization of “Chuhicha”―Utilizing local plant resources to produce high unit price products
“Chuhicha” is a tea made from excrement of caterpillars that have eaten certain plant leaves. When brewed in hot water, the water turns to a tea-like color and produces a tea-like aroma and flavor. The aroma and flavor varies depending of the type of plant and caterpillar combination.
For example, Chuhicha tea made from excrement of caterpillars that have eaten cherry leaves has taste like “Sakura-mochi” (rice cake with bean paste wrapped in a preserved cherry leaf), and you can feel a strong sense of the flavor of fermented drinks. Such aromas and flavors of Chuhicha teas are highly valued by chefs and tea ceremony masters. The biggest revelation of Chuhicha tea is a rich flavor that defies expectations, especially from such unlikely origins.
Next Core Technologies, Inc.
Representative Director Yuki Yamamoto
Improving motor efficiency to realize a decarbonized society without power loss
Approximately 60% of the world’s electricity consumption is taken by motors. However, a lot of energy is lost due to heat generated during operation. So it follows that reducing motor losses directly leads to energy savings.To reduce motor losses, it is effective to use amorphous materials as the motor core material, instead of conventional electromagnetic steel plates. However, amorphous materials are very thin and hard, making it difficult to process them, accordingly they are unsuited for the use in mass production.At Next Core Technologies, Inc., we have achieved the world’s first mass production of amorphous laminated cores that can reduce motor losses by 10% or more compared to conventional motors, by combining the strengths of three small and medium-sized companies.
Rhinoflux Inc.
Representative CEO Atsushi Mazawa
The more electricity is generated, the less CO2 is emitted―Bioenergy carbon capture project
There is a growing demand for inexpensive and clean electricity. Biomass is a renewable clean energy resource that is present in the range of tens of billions of tons. However, it is not being effectively utilized due to the high cost of using it as an energy resource.At Rhinoflux Inc., we develop advanced technology that utilizes the oxidation-reduction reactions of metallic ions to efficiently and economically extract electrical energy and plant-derived CO2 from biomass resources that could not be utilized as energy resources before. We aim to achieve a large-scale renewable energy supply and contribute to reducing atmospheric CO2 levels through social implementation of this technology.