'Enjoyment is What Leaders of New Businesses Need Most': What Gen Z and a Company Proved Through 15 Weeks of Co-creation.
Momoyama Gakuin University and welzo held a talk session in Fukuoka sharing the results of their 15-week industry-academia PBL. A 'gardening subscription for kids' proposed by Gen Z students is moving toward commercialization.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 14, 2026 at 18:30
- 🔍 Collected: April 14, 2026 at 10:01
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 19, 2026 at 18:40 (128h 39m after Collected)
Momoyama Gakuin University (President: Mizuhiko Nakano) and welzo Co., Ltd. (President & CEO: Yoshifumi Kanao) held a talk session titled 'How can companies and students collaborate to create attractive new business ideas?' at Venture Café Fukuoka on Thursday, April 2, 2026. The speakers revealed the full picture of the 15-week industry-academia collaboration PBL 'PBL Applications I' conducted in the fall semester of 2025, and spoke candidly about what was born from the co-creation between Gen Z students and the company. Lively discussions took place with a diverse group of participants including entrepreneurs, local businesses, and students.
## 'Earnest Co-creation' Initiated by welzo — 5 Design Elements
welzo designed this PBL not simply as classroom cooperation, but as an experimental ground for new business development. Specifically, it incorporated the following five elements:
- Setting a mindset that treats students as equals, like an 'external venture entrepreneur team'
- 7 employees from multiple internal business departments participated as mentors, providing feedback from a frontline perspective
- Direct presentation to the President & CEO by the team that won the Grand Prize out of 42 teams
- Establishment of the 'welzo Prize' awarded to the best proposal — clarifying evaluation criteria as a business
- Starting commercialization studies for the winning proposal 'Growing Adventure Box' (a gardening subscription for children)
This session was positioned as a venue to unveil the entirety of this initiative to the entrepreneur community known as Venture Café Fukuoka, and to externally broadcast a new business development model driven by co-creation with Gen Z.
## The Reality of Industry-Academia Co-creation Discussed in the Session
The session proceeded under the moderation of MC Keisuke Sone (i-NNO Inc.), covering a single narrative flow from the PBL's design philosophy to the students' transformation, the ripple effects on the company, and the mindset needed to generate new business.
First discussed was the unique structure of Momoyama Gakuin University's PBL. Professor Fujita explained that the LA (Learning Assistant) system established by the faculty—a mechanism where senior students support their juniors—underpins the quality of this program.
'The management capability of the LAs is extremely high, and their presence brings a sense of tension and a challenging attitude to the students in the class.' — Professor Katsutoshi Fujita
From the corporate perspective, Mr. Goto frankly spoke about the 'earnestness' welzo put into this PBL. He noted that as employees became deeply involved as mentors, the students' perspectives brought unexpected stimulation to the company internally.
'It was precisely because they were not experts that they came up with leap-frog ideas, which became a positive stimulus for the company.' — Motofumi Goto
Regarding the transformation of the students over the 15 weeks, both the walls they faced and their breakthroughs were discussed. The difficulty of setting goals amid information overload and narrowing down target audiences—the catalyst to overcome such walls was not found at their desks, but in the field. A student made the following remark about the moment their idea was born:
'It suddenly came to me while taking a walk. When I touched the field and primary information, I saw the possibilities for the first time.' — Student
This comment drew deep empathy from the audience. Professor Fujita also reflected that the difference between teams that emphasized the field and those that didn't was clearly evident in the precision of their proposals.
'The teams that were able to enjoy themselves grew. That was the most impressive thing over the 15 weeks.' — Professor Katsutoshi Fujita
Towards the end of the session, when asked about the conditions for successful co-creation, Mr. Goto spoke of the importance of a certain stance common to both companies and students.
'A humble attitude is what makes collaboration successful. And only teams that can enjoy it can truly create something new.' — Motofumi Goto
At the conclusion of the session, it was revealed that the winning proposal, the 'Growing Adventure Box,' has currently entered the commercialization study phase within welzo. It was a fitting end, demonstrating that a new business originating from Gen Z ideas can indeed culminate in an actual business.
## Future Developments — The 'Co-creation with Gen Z' Model Envisioned by welzo
Moving forward, welzo plans to position collaboration with universities and students as a pillar of its new business development, aiming to continue and expand this model. The 'Growing Adventure Box' born from this PBL is moving forward with concrete studies for commercialization as a proposal that challenges Japan's first category of a gardening subscription for children.
## 'Earnest Co-creation' Initiated by welzo — 5 Design Elements
welzo designed this PBL not simply as classroom cooperation, but as an experimental ground for new business development. Specifically, it incorporated the following five elements:
- Setting a mindset that treats students as equals, like an 'external venture entrepreneur team'
- 7 employees from multiple internal business departments participated as mentors, providing feedback from a frontline perspective
- Direct presentation to the President & CEO by the team that won the Grand Prize out of 42 teams
- Establishment of the 'welzo Prize' awarded to the best proposal — clarifying evaluation criteria as a business
- Starting commercialization studies for the winning proposal 'Growing Adventure Box' (a gardening subscription for children)
This session was positioned as a venue to unveil the entirety of this initiative to the entrepreneur community known as Venture Café Fukuoka, and to externally broadcast a new business development model driven by co-creation with Gen Z.
## The Reality of Industry-Academia Co-creation Discussed in the Session
The session proceeded under the moderation of MC Keisuke Sone (i-NNO Inc.), covering a single narrative flow from the PBL's design philosophy to the students' transformation, the ripple effects on the company, and the mindset needed to generate new business.
First discussed was the unique structure of Momoyama Gakuin University's PBL. Professor Fujita explained that the LA (Learning Assistant) system established by the faculty—a mechanism where senior students support their juniors—underpins the quality of this program.
'The management capability of the LAs is extremely high, and their presence brings a sense of tension and a challenging attitude to the students in the class.' — Professor Katsutoshi Fujita
From the corporate perspective, Mr. Goto frankly spoke about the 'earnestness' welzo put into this PBL. He noted that as employees became deeply involved as mentors, the students' perspectives brought unexpected stimulation to the company internally.
'It was precisely because they were not experts that they came up with leap-frog ideas, which became a positive stimulus for the company.' — Motofumi Goto
Regarding the transformation of the students over the 15 weeks, both the walls they faced and their breakthroughs were discussed. The difficulty of setting goals amid information overload and narrowing down target audiences—the catalyst to overcome such walls was not found at their desks, but in the field. A student made the following remark about the moment their idea was born:
'It suddenly came to me while taking a walk. When I touched the field and primary information, I saw the possibilities for the first time.' — Student
This comment drew deep empathy from the audience. Professor Fujita also reflected that the difference between teams that emphasized the field and those that didn't was clearly evident in the precision of their proposals.
'The teams that were able to enjoy themselves grew. That was the most impressive thing over the 15 weeks.' — Professor Katsutoshi Fujita
Towards the end of the session, when asked about the conditions for successful co-creation, Mr. Goto spoke of the importance of a certain stance common to both companies and students.
'A humble attitude is what makes collaboration successful. And only teams that can enjoy it can truly create something new.' — Motofumi Goto
At the conclusion of the session, it was revealed that the winning proposal, the 'Growing Adventure Box,' has currently entered the commercialization study phase within welzo. It was a fitting end, demonstrating that a new business originating from Gen Z ideas can indeed culminate in an actual business.
## Future Developments — The 'Co-creation with Gen Z' Model Envisioned by welzo
Moving forward, welzo plans to position collaboration with universities and students as a pillar of its new business development, aiming to continue and expand this model. The 'Growing Adventure Box' born from this PBL is moving forward with concrete studies for commercialization as a proposal that challenges Japan's first category of a gardening subscription for children.