[Startup World Cup 2026 Nagoya Qualifier] Luxurious Guests from Industry, Academia, Government, and Finance to Speak!

Pegasus Tech Ventures (Headquarters: San Jose, California, USA; CEO: Anis Uzzaman) has announced that a luxurious lineup of guests from financial institutions, local governments, major operating companies, and educational institutions that support the ecosystem of the Tokai area will take the stage at the "Startup World Cup 2026" Nagoya Qualifier.

The Nagoya qualifier for the "Startup World Cup 2026," one of the world's largest business pitch contests with qualifying rounds held in over 130 countries and regions worldwide, will be held on Thursday, April 23 at Station Ai and Okaya Koki Nagoya Public Hall. In this tournament, the government, financial institutions, major operating companies, and educational institutions of the Tokai area will unite to support the tournament as a region. The magnificent speakers who will appear in this tournament are as follows. (*Excerpt)

Click here for viewing tickets for the Nagoya qualifier: https://swc2026-nagoya.peatix.com/

*This is an excerpt.

Hideaki Ohmura, Governor of Aichi Prefecture Ichiro Hirosawa, Mayor of Nagoya City Seiichi Matsuo, Chancellor, Tokai National Higher Education and Research System Shinichi Odo, Director and Senior Advisor, Niterra Co., Ltd. Naoko Kitagawa, President & CEO, Tokai Tokyo Securities Co., Ltd. Seiichiro Yonekura, Professor Emeritus, Hitotsubashi University Makoto Takano, Founder & GP, D4V / Founder, Forbes JAPAN Mitsuru Izumo, President & CEO, Euglena Co., Ltd. Yukiko Kato, Executive Officer and General Manager of CVC Business Division, SBI Investment Co., Ltd. Akira Morikawa, President & CEO, C Channel Corporation (Former CEO, LINE) Fujiyo Ishiguro, Founder, Netyear Group Corporation Yuichiro Shimizu, President & CEO, for Startups, Inc. Naoto Obitsu, Senior Managing Director & Partner, Midas Capital, Inc. Hiromi Okuda, CEO, WizGroup Inc. Takehiro Suzuki, President & CEO, The Aichi Bank, Ltd. Yuko Hayashi, Specially Appointed Professor, Graduate School of Technology Management, Yamaguchi University Yoichiro Hirano, President & CEO, Asteria Corporation Shinichiro Isago, President & CEO, Gen-AX Inc. Asumi Ota, Partner, D4V

In addition to the above guests, many other leading figures and celebrities from various fields representing Japan will take the stage at this tournament, which is expected to attract approximately 3,000 viewers both at the venue and online, to enliven Japan's startup ecosystem.

In the pitch contest held at this tournament, a heated pitch will be deployed by the top 10 startups that have passed a strict document screening from among approximately 120 applicants nationwide, and one company will be selected to challenge the world as the representative of Japan. And the company chosen as the Nagoya representative will advance to the world finals held in San Francisco in November, where they will compete for a $1,000,000 (about 150 million yen) investment prize. Let's support the startups taking flight to the world together!

2025 Tokyo Qualifier Representative: Acompany Co., Ltd.

Nagoya Qualifier Overview Date: Thursday, April 23, 2026 Venue: STATION Ai, Okaya Koki Nagoya Public Hall 1-1-3 Tsurumai, Showa-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture 466-0064 Organizer: Pegasus Tech Ventures Official Website: https://www.startupworldcup.io/nagoya-regional Click here for viewing tickets: https://swc2026-nagoya.peatix.com/

About Startup World Cup The Startup World Cup is one of the world's largest pitch contests where innovative startups gather, with qualifying rounds held in over 130 countries and regions around the world. From over 30,000 startup entries worldwide each year, the representative companies that win each regional qualifier participate in the world finals in San Francisco, USA, competing for an investment prize of 1 million US dollars (about 150 million yen).