Regional Issue Resolution DX Consortium Publishes "Activity Report - Industry-specific DX Status and Advanced Cases"

Firstlight Capital Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Osamu Iwasawa; hereinafter "Firstlight"), serving as the secretariat for the "Regional Issue Resolution DX Consortium," has published the "Activity Report - Industry-specific DX Status and Advanced Cases," summarizing two years of activity since its establishment in July 2024.

This consortium, in collaboration with nine regional financial institutions that form the backbone of the regional economy, is working to solve issues in core industries stemming from population decline and to promote wide-area collaboration with regional issue-solving startups. Over the past two years, we have progressed in organizing industrial challenges across six industries—construction, logistics, manufacturing, retail, medical/nursing care, and real estate—and built a network with over 55 startups.

■ Download the Activity Report here

■ Main Overview of the "Activity Report - Industry-specific DX Status and Advanced Cases"

Japan, which has entered the world's fastest declining population society, faces an urgent social challenge of labor shortages in its core industries that have supported regional economies. With no short-term recovery in the working population expected, it is an urgent task to improve per-capita productivity through the utilization of technology such as DX, AI, and hardware. Regional issue-solving startups that achieve productivity improvements in core industries are increasingly expected to play a part in this.

On the other hand, there are geographical and psychological gaps between regional companies and regional issue-solving startups, and their collaboration remains localized.

This report consists of Part 1, which independently scores the DX status by industry from the perspectives of "urgency," "startup sufficiency," and "DX penetration in the region," and Part 2, which introduces advanced DX initiatives of regional companies. It also includes an expert interview with Mr. Seito Furuya, Senior Researcher at Recruit Works Institute.

– Table of Contents –

Introduction

・Overview of the Regional Issue Resolution DX Consortium

・Activity Achievements

・Activity Results

・List of Participating Startups

PART 1 Industry-specific DX Overview

・Construction Industry

・Logistics Industry

・Manufacturing Industry

・Retail/Store/Service Industry

・Medical/Nursing Care

・Real Estate Industry

PART 2 Advanced DX Cases

・Advanced Case 1 Construction Industry (Equipment Installation Company) ── Forward Inc.

・Advanced Case 2 Manufacturing Industry (Parts Manufacturer) ── Ishibashi Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Expert Interview

・Mr. Seito Furuya (Advisor, Regional Issue Resolution DX Consortium)

* Some parts of "Part 1 Industry-specific DX Overview" and "Part 2 Advanced DX Cases" (P8, P27) are available for download.

Download "Activity Report - Industry-specific DX Status and Advanced Cases"

https://firstlight-cap.com/insights/depopulating-society/dx-consortium-report2026/

What is the "Regional Issue Resolution DX Consortium"?

This consortium is Japan's first wide-area collaboration platform, where nine regional financial institutions and venture capitalists (VCs) integrate to aggregate information on "regional industrial issues due to population decline" and "startups that achieve productivity improvements in core industries."

It resolves the "information fragmentation" that was traditionally difficult for individual financial institutions or local governments to solve alone. By integrating knowledge across a wide area, it establishes a mechanism to quickly deliver effective DX solutions to regional communities. Through the "deep trust and customer base" held by regional financial institutions and the "startup support expertise" held by VCs, these two wheels aim to redefine Japan's core industries through the power of technology and realize a sustainable regional economy.

■ Consortium Structure (in alphabetical order, titles omitted)

Full Members: Kagoshima Bank, Saga Bank, San-in Godo Bank, Shikoku Bank, Shizuoka Bank, Joyo Bank, Chugoku Bank, Fukuoka Bank, Yamaguchi Bank

Secretariat: Firstlight Capital Co., Ltd.

Advisors: Mr. Seito Furuya, Next SaaS Media Primary (Craft Data Inc.)

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