The "Central Japan Startup Ecosystem Consortium," comprised of organizations including the Chubu Economic Federation, Nagoya University, Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya City, and Hamamatsu City, aims to foster a startup ecosystem. As part of this initiative, the "TechGALA Japan 2026: BEYOND" event will feature the pitch contest "Grand Pitch 2026: BEYOND" on its second day, December 16 (Wed). This pitch contest offers an excellent opportunity for startups to accelerate their growth by discovering new partners and market expansion opportunities in Aichi and Nagoya, the heart of Japan. Applications for participating startups are now open, so we encourage all startups aiming for co-creation to apply. ▼ "Grand Pitch 2026: BEYOND" Application [Application Deadline: September 18, 2026 (Fri)] https://business.form-mailer.jp/lp/7a0a1786352580 Grand Pitch 2026: BEYOND Judges Currently, three individuals have agreed to serve as judges, with more to be announced. (In no particular order, titles omitted) Name Company Shuji Honjo Representative, Honjo Office & Visiting Professor, Tama University (MBA) Emily Wu Partner, Darwin Ventures LLC Takeshi Isaku Chief Innovation Officer, Musashi Seimitsu Industry Co., Ltd. Prizes and Support The winning company will receive prize money and media placement support. All finalist companies will receive support for matching with TechGALA participants, including executives from multinational corporations and diverse industries. ◼︎ 1st Place (Winner) Prize money of 1 million yen (to be awarded as business funds for the next stage) Media placement (support for exposure in various media, including TechGALA media partners) ◼︎ Finalists (Top 15 Companies) Demo table exhibition rights (opportunity to set up a dedicated booth at the TechGALA venue to directly showcase your products and services to attendees) Matching support with partner companies (priority invitations for business meetings with open innovation partners during the TechGALA Speed Networking s