Omicale Inc., operator of the matching-event platform Omicale and led by Representative Director Masahito Kurumiya, announced that it launched an industry-academia collaboration project in April 2026 with the Business Research Project of Konan University’s Faculty of Management and Innovation (https://www.konan-u.ac.jp/), supervised by Professor Kei Aoki. Students in the faculty will develop business ideas that create opportunities for people in their 20s to meet through 15 lectures, with final presentations scheduled for July 2026. Background and purpose: One factor behind Japan’s declining birthrate is that many unmarried people feel they have no opportunities to meet potential partners, making the creation of such opportunities an urgent social issue. At the same time, marriage and meeting opportunities have often been discussed as isolated moments, with insufficient attention paid to their connection with broader life design. Although the decline in opportunities to meet is a clear social issue, it is also a topic deeply tied to personal privacy and values. The sensitive nature of terms such as marriage hunting and dating can sometimes distance people from serious discussion. Even so, as a leading matching platform provider, Omicale intends to continue facing this issue directly through a fundamental approach. The company sees its role not only as providing places for people to meet, but also as contributing to a shift in social awareness that reframes marriage as part of life design. The project was realized through collaboration with Konan University’s Faculty of Management and Innovation (CUBE), which shares this awareness of the issue. By having next-generation students analyze and design meeting opportunities from business perspectives such as well-being and marketing, the project aims to generate practical insights for both industry and academia. Project overview: The project is hosted by Konan University’s Faculty of Management and Innovation (CUBE) and O