[Aoba-BBT Group Anniversary Project] The Origin of 'Breakthrough Power' of the Man Who Changed Japan's Rules: 'Legal Tech Pioneer x DX Innovation Strategy'

Aoba-BBT Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Iwao Shibata, hereinafter Aoba-BBT) will hold a special online talk event on Wednesday, April 23, 2026, as a symbolic project of its group-wide 'Anniversary Project'.

Our guest speaker will be Mr. Yoichiro Horie, Representative Director, President, and CEO of Bengo4.com, Inc. He laid the foundation for his entrepreneurial journey at our Attacker's Business School (ABS) and is currently known as the founder of Japan's first listed company with a legal qualification.

Mr. Horie, who built a company from scratch to become a Prime Market listed company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and at one point grew its market capitalization to over 300 billion yen, will engage in a deep discussion with our President, Iwao Shibata, about 'entrepreneurial decisions' and 'strategies for social change' in an era of uncertainty.

■ Background of the Event

This talk event is one of the key initiatives of the Aoba-BBT Group's 'Anniversary Project ~Life-time Empowerment in Invisible Continent~', which will be promoted from 2025 to 2027. Centered around 2026, several educational institutions within our group, including Attacker's Business School (ABS, established 1996, 30th anniversary), Business Breakthrough University, and Graduate School, will reach significant milestones. We view this period not merely as a passing point, but as a starting point for creating new value for the 'next 50 to 100 years'.

■ Objective of the Project

The objective of this project is to communicate how our philosophy of 'Life-time Empowerment' can become a force for social change, through the challenging journeys of the diverse alumni nurtured by the Aoba-BBT Group.

Despite having a stable career path as a lawyer, Mr. Horie decided to start a business in the then-unexplored domain of 'Lawyer x IT' after his studies at ABS. His journey, which directly confronted industry norms, changed access to legal services with the lawyer search portal 'Bengo4.com', and even transformed Japan's 'hanko' (seal) culture with the electronic contract service 'CloudSign', is the very definition of innovation.

How an alumnus who once spread their wings of challenge at our school became a leading company in Japan...