IVS2026 Announces Third Wave of Featured Sessions: 24 Notable Sessions Across Six Categories Including AI, Deep Tech, and Investment, Featuring Kyoto Mayor Takayuki Matsui, Mitsuru Ayano of Euglena, OpenAI, and More

IVS2026, Japan's largest startup conference, will be held over three days from Wednesday, July 1 to Friday, July 3, 2026, with main venues at Miyakomesse, ROHM Theatre Kyoto, and Hotel Okura Kyoto. Today, we announce the third wave of featured sessions taking place at IVS (Miyakomesse and ROHM Theatre Kyoto). Featured sessions for IVS CORE will be announced separately.

Under the theme "Japan is Back," IVS2026 is designed as a three-day event dedicated to showcasing Japan's true startup potential to the world with uncompromising excellence. Following the first announcement featuring a special dialogue between Toru Mikado and Shin Fujita, and the second featuring renowned speakers including Professor Susumu Kitagawa, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, this third release introduces recommended sessions categorized into six themes: "Deep Tech," "Investment & Finance," "Policy & National Strategy," "AI," "Global," and "Industry and Lifestyle," allowing attendees to select sessions based on their interests.

Deep Tech and Frontier Technologies

Four sessions connecting Nobel-caliber science to industry and investment, covering quantum technology, food, bio, and materials.

1. 【A1-1】Japan is Back: Transforming Nobel-Caliber Discoveries into Industry

Overview: Nobel-caliber scientific discoveries hold immense potential not only for advancing human knowledge but also for solving societal challenges such as decarbonization and new energy. However, translating their value into society requires industrialization support distinct from pure research. This session traces the journey of advanced research into societal implementation via startups, using Professor Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University and his work on PCP/MOF as a starting point. It examines how to overcome the "valley of death" in deep tech by exploring intersections of research, entrepreneurship, investment, and government, revealing the potential of Japanese innovation and the "Japan is Back" movement.

2. 【A2-1 / Off the Record】The Final Mile of Public-to-Private Transition: Connecting Supercomputers and Quantum

Overview: Japan's supercomputers were once symbols of national prestige driven by government demand. Against this backdrop, this session questions how the computational power cultivated by the public sector can be re-embedded by the private sector as an operating system to win in global markets. It discusses a grand design for public-to-private transition to transform national projects beyond mere "research" and reclaim global "computational sovereignty," deepening understanding of effective public-private transition models.

3. 【C2-2】Japan-Driven Biotech That Can Win Globally—Japan's Growth Strategy

Overview: Japan ranks second globally in pharmaceutical innovation, yet has produced zero world-first drugs from startups. Despite possessing world-class scientific capabilities, why hasn't Japan succeeded globally, and how can it? Representatives from major pharmaceutical companies, drug discovery startups, policymakers, and venture capitalists will discuss the potential of Japanese biotech from diverse perspectives.

4. 【A2-5】Redefining Food Security: Technology Building a Sustainable Food Breakwater

Overview: Japan's food security faces unprecedented challenges due to population decline, climate change, and resource inflation driven by geopolitical risks. This session brings together government officials shaping policy, major agricultural machinery and seed companies supporting global production bases, bio-startups driving soil innovation, and investors accelerating growth. It discusses a unified public-private roadmap to reconstruct Japan's globally renowned "food" culture as an industry by socially implementing advanced technologies supporting sustainable circular agriculture beyond isolated initiatives.

Investment and Finance

Five sessions covering VC, taxation, late-stage funding, IPOs, and the evolution from entrepreneur to CEO—addressing entrepreneurs' and investors' core concerns about money and management from inception to exit.

1. 【A1-2】Japan’s Venture Moment: The Evolution of VC and the Future of Japan’s Startup Ecosystem powered by CIC

Overview: Japan's startup investment has grown nearly tenfold over the past decade, reaching approximately ¥800 billion annually. However, growth has plateaued, and after three years of a five-year nurturing initiative, only a handful of unicorns have emerged. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to produce global companies at an incomparably faster pace. This gap cannot be explained by funding volume alone. This session discusses the future role of VC in Japan over the next decade and how the startup ecosystem should evolve.

4. 【B1-2】The Moment When Entrepreneurs Become CEOs in Startups powered by CrowdWorks / 90English

Overview: Every entrepreneur faces a moment when they are challenged to demonstrate leadership as a CEO. This may occur during fundraising or organizational scaling. This session focuses on this turning point, discussing the conflicts, decision-making, and required resolve entrepreneurs face as they evolve into executives.

2. 【B3-2】The Shock of Strengthened Minimum Tax—"Success Penalized" Taxation and the Ecosystem’s Future

Overview: The strengthened "minimum tax" taking effect in 2027 will raise the effective tax rate on entrepreneurs’ capital gains from stock transfers to a maximum of approximately 35.6%. This session confronts the reality of this tax increase, which risks weakening domestic entrepreneurial incentives and driving talent overseas. Drawing on voices from around 1,400 stakeholders and global trends, it discusses the path forward for Japan’s ecosystem.

3. 【A3-4】What Next for Late Stage? Navigating Rapid Market Shifts and the Current Frontline of Late-Stage Startups powered by Vanta Inc.

Overview: With changes to the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth market listing requirements, declining valuations of growth stocks due to rising interest rates, and the dizzying advancement of generative AI—so much so that "SaaS is Dead" is being said—the landscape is undergoing tectonic shifts. Late-stage startups now face multiple risks. While the environment appears harsh, such conditions also foster new ideas and winning strategies. What are leaders at the forefront thinking today?

5. 【B3-4】Beyond the IPO Goal—How to Build a Startup Market Where Shareholders Choose You

Overview: In Japan’s startup market, IPOs have long been criticized for being designed not as milestones but as "exits." Beyond initial public offering prices, fundraising amounts, and media buzz, what does it take for companies to grow market capitalization post-IPO, build trust with shareholders, and become sustainably chosen by institutional and individual investors? This session seriously addresses long-standing issues such as "IPO as the goal," "shareholder neglect," "immature IR," and "management’s inability to explain cost of capital," with capital market experts discussing the conditions for a healthy startup market.

Policy and National Strategy

Three sessions where politics, government, and finance converge at the core of "Japan is Back," bringing together sitting politicians and bureaucrats with startups and major financial institutions.

1. 【A1-4】Japan-Led Startup National Strategy Unlocked by AI and On-Chain Finance

Overview: AI, stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and on-chain settlements are not only transforming finance but redefining industrial competitiveness and capital market structures. This session discusses regulation design, financial institution transformation, startup challenges, and integration with capital markets. It explores what is needed for Japan to balance the reliability of existing finance with the innovativeness of new technologies to build a next-generation financial ecosystem, uncovering pathways for Japan-led startups through public-private collaboration.

2. 【B1-5】Government as a Catalyst: Ecosystem for Next-Generation Industries Created by Government Demand

Overview: Innovation driven by government demand, using national challenges such as space, defense, and climate as starting points for new industries. Can government procurement and policy become engines for startup growth? Building on global case studies, this session discusses the industrial creation model Japan should aim for.

3. 【B2-1 / Off the Record】Frontline of Defense Startups: How Are the Ministry of Defense and Startups Currently Collaborating, and How Should They Move Forward?

Overview: Government procurement from startups by the Ministry of Defense has increased in recent years. While startups' advanced technologies are highly anticipated, the nature of these collaborations remains largely opaque externally. This session provides the latest insights into how the Ministry of Defense and startups interact, covering prime contractor involvement, contract formats, and internal bridging roles. It aims to help audiences discover ways to engage within the dynamic relationship between the Ministry of Defense and startups.

AI

Covering generative AI, AI agents, AI infrastructure, and AI coding—this year’s thickest theme at IVS, addressed across five sessions from frontier models to Japanese corporate implementation and organizational redesign.

2. 【C1-1】Physical AI and the New Automation Stack (English Session)

Overview: AI is moving beyond text, code, and digital workflows. The next frontier is physical—AI systems that sense, decide, and act in real-world environments, including robotics, industrial automation, and field operations.

2. 【B1-3】Domestic Cloud and Domestic AI as National Infrastructure—Sovereign Digital Foundations and Startups

Overview: Competitiveness in the AI era depends not only on models and applications but also on digital infrastructure such as cloud, computing resources, data platforms, and administrative systems. This session discusses how to nurture Japan-born digital infrastructure companies, focusing on domestic cloud, domestic AI, GovTech, and public procurement.

3. 【C1-5】Current State and Next Generation of AI Agents (English Session)

Overview: Discussions around AI are shifting from what frontier models can theoretically do to how refined agent architectures are being implemented in the real world. This session explores the critical gap between raw model capabilities and the chaotic reality of execution across gaming, localized services, and autonomous physical systems.

4. 【B2-2】How Should Japanese Companies Compete in the Age of AI Agents powered by DeNA AI Link

Overview: As generative AI and AI agents rapidly spread, this session examines how companies should evolve and compete. Featuring DeNA, a leader in Japan’s internet industry betting fully on AI; the AI lead of a domestic AI startup driving transformation in large enterprises; and a startup developing Japanese-optimized speech recognition models (transcription AI), the session discusses how startups, large corporations, and government should leverage AI going forward.

5. 【C3-1】AI Coding and the Redesign of Product Development and Engineering Organizations powered by Google Cloud

Overview: In an era when AI writes code, where does the essence of development lie? As the focus shifts from implementation to design and value creation, how does competitive advantage in product development change? This session discusses the core of the ongoing tectonic shift.

Global

Four sessions (three in English) for participants seeking cross-border opportunities, covering Kyoto and Silicon Valley, emerging 3-billion-person markets, U.S.-Japan AI collaboration, and global expansion of Japanese entertainment.

1. 【C1-2】BIG Exploding Giants!—India & Africa's 3 Billion People Market Frontline (English Session)

Overview: India and Africa together account for about 40% of the world’s population. Both markets are currently experiencing explosive economic growth, a consumption revolution, and rapid technological innovation simultaneously. This session begins with a Japanese-language overview of market conditions in India and Africa, clearly unpacking the latest trends. Then, frontline guests actively operating in these markets will share unique, on-the-ground insights. India is now the world’s third-largest consumer market, with its Gen Z alone spending $800 billion annually. Africa is achieving the world’s fastest leapfrog-style innovation and is projected to become a 2.5-billion-person market by 2050. What do all these mean for Japanese companies and investors? This session marks the first step into the 3-billion-person market.

2. 【C1-3】The Potential of Ultra-Long-Term Capital Common to Silicon Valley and Kyoto

Overview: Modern startups are often pressured to pursue short-term IPOs within a few years, leading to fragmented growth. Yet both SpaceX, which is changing the world, and Kyoto’s centuries-old traditional crafts operate on "ultra-long-term" strategies. This session discusses the future of innovation through the shared philosophy of "ultra-long-term capital (Patient Capital)" that looks decades ahead.

3. 【B2-4】Japan’s Winning Edge—How Can Japan’s Entertainment Industry Advance Further Globally?

Overview: While Japanese anime, manga, games, and music enjoy global popularity, overseas companies currently dominate the industry in terms of scale and profitability. Numerous structural barriers hinder growth, including IP rights structures, production systems, capital strength, and global expansion. This session frankly discusses why Japan’s entertainment industry fails to win globally. It explores breakthroughs to elevate Japanese content into a true global industry, examining IP business models, returns to creators, and the use of capital and technology.

4. 【C2-4】Global AI Landscape: US-Japan Synergy and Strategies (English Session)

Overview: As AI reshapes global industries amid rising geopolitical tensions, bridges connecting Silicon Valley’s cutting-edge innovation with Japan’s unique markets are becoming increasingly vital. This session brings together key leaders from OpenHome, OpenAI, Headline, and Techstars to explore how the U.S. and Japan can generate powerful synergies in AI development, investment, and deployment.

IVS2026 Introduces Satellite Check-In to Avoid Congestion!

To reduce congestion, IVS2026 has set up satellite check-in locations where attendees can collect their passes before the event. The location is "KOIN," directly connected to Shijo Station.

KOIN (3rd Floor, Kyoto Economic Center / Right outside Shijo Station) Check-in Hours • June 30 (Tue): 3:00 PM–8:00 PM • July 1 (Wed): 9:00 AM–1:00 PM

Overview of IVS2026

IVS is Japan’s largest startup conference, launched in 2007. Bringing together startups, investors, major corporations, and creators from Japan and abroad, IVS2026 will be held in Kyoto under the theme "Japan is Back."

This year, IVS introduces a new dual-zone format: the evolved "IVS" zone (Kyoto Kaikan "Miyakomesse" and ROHM Theatre Kyoto), building on IVS2023, IVS2024, and IVS2025 held in Kyoto; and the newly established invitation-only "IVS CORE" zone (Hotel Okura Kyoto).

Name: IVS2026

Theme: Japan is Back

Dates: July 1 (Wed) – 3 (Fri), 2026

Venues: Kyoto Kaikan "Miyakomesse," ROHM Theatre Kyoto, Hotel Okura Kyoto, and others

Organizer: IVS KYOTO Executive Committee (Headline Japan / Kyoto Prefecture / City of Kyoto)

Official Website: https://www.ivs.events/

Official X: https://x.com/IVS_Official

About the IVS KYOTO Executive Committee

Established jointly by Headline Japan, Kyoto Prefecture, and the City of Kyoto to further develop the startup ecosystem and boost regional industries through the Kyoto-hosted IVS. The committee aims to promote integration between startups and Kyoto’s concentrated enterprises, universities, research institutions, and cultural resources, fostering new industries and nurturing world-class startups.

Member Organizations: Headline Japan Inc., Kyoto Prefecture, City of Kyoto