Kickstarting Kansai: Rocket Pitch Night launches in Osaka for the second time

J-STORIES - After a successful event last year, Rocket Pitch Night 2024 is back in Kansai, gathering some 600 startup enthusiasts in Osaka on Friday (September 6). Launched in 2019, Rocket Pitch Night is a flagship project of Venture Café Tokyo that aims to “accelerate entrepreneurial activity in Japan.” 

The event in western Japan was held as part of collaboration between Ritsumeikan University and Boston-based non-profit group Venture Cafe's Japan branch. It drew 40 startups across Japan participating in four categories: medical/healthcare, social/education, AI/VR, and design/agriculture. Each startup was given three minutes and three slides to present their innovative ideas, following the pitch format from Babson College, which has been ranked as No. 1 in entrepreneurship for the past 31 consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report. 

In the medical/healthcare category, participants offered tech-powered solutions to medical issues such as loneliness, stress management, and early detection and treatment of diseases like cancer and diabetes.

One of the startups was Kyoto-based medical company Second Heart, which aspires to eliminate diabetic foot amputations using a health management app. Yukihiro Ishida, founder and CEO of Second Heart, told the audience that it plans to provide services in Malaysia, which has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the world.   

“After Malaysia, we’ll probably expand into Singapore and Indonesia and try to IPO in Singapore. We believe that will be a natural path for our growth,” he said. 

With nearly two decades of experience as a clinical engineer in Japan, Ishida had met hundreds of diabetic patients, including some who eventually had to have their limbs amputated.

“Now that we have everything we need to combat this global problem, we want to fulfill our mission to end foot amputation,” he said.

Venture Cafe plans to open its second and third Asian office in Fukuoka and Yokohama late this year, which it hopes will serve as gateways for startups between Japan and Asia. 

Writing by: Lucas Maltzman

Editing by: Toshi Maeda,  Desiderio Luna

Photos: Courtesy of Venture Cafe Tokyo

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Click here for the Japanese version of the article.