A large-scale business matchmaking event arrives once again this year
The presenters, reverse pitch topics, and participants are all diverse!
A collection of unique players
create collective knowledge across disciplines
November 2024, i2.JP celebrated its 4th anniversary. Taking this opportunity, i2.JP teamed up with LINK-J, one of the leading life science communities in Japan, and QUINTBRIDGE, one of the largest open innovation facilities in Kansai, to hold business matching events in Tokyo and Osaka, respectively.
The event was marked by "reverse pitches," wherein companies/organizations presented healthcare-related issues they want to address to seek for new collaborators and ideas, and "group discussions” to foster exchange of views amongst participants with a multidisciplinary perspective. Like last year, we provided the field for many meet-ups and seeds of collaboration to grow. Please find below the summary of the event, supported by voices of the participants.
Event Starts!
Reflection of last year’s event
- Past year presenters provided updates
This event is “a starting point” for creating meet-ups that lead to healthcare collaboration.
Reverse pitchers from last year provided updates on how they came to find a way to collaborate.
The fusion of several different perspectives led to ideas that we could not have arrived at on its own.
Taisuke Yamada, Alexion Pharma LLC
We participated in an event last November on the subject of rare diseases, our area of expertise, and began contacting several companies at the beginning of 2024. After many discussions and advice and clearing up of various issues, we have just decided on a pilot project in October. The event helped connect multiple different perspectives to form a single idea. We were able to take a major step toward solving an issue that we could not have handled on our own. I believe that the breakthroughs came along by having out-of-box discussions with diverse players at this gathering.
We also held a workshop in Okinawa to deepen the discussion with partners
Katsuyuki Oohama, Okinawa Prefectural Government
Last year, we saw unexpectedly higher turnout of participants in our group that addressed the challenge of “regaining healthy longevity.” Therefore, we decided to offer the Okinawa version of the workshop event titled “Tackling Okinawa’s unique healthcare challenges” in August this year in partnerships with i2.JP and QUINTBRIDGE. We also held a workshop in Okinawa in September. Various business proposals have been generated, and some programs have begun to take form towards PoC.
The biggest takeaway from this event was the realization that there are many potential partners with promising assets and ideas. It takes time and ingenuity to realize collaboration, but the initial impetus for us was to have had dialogue with many people during this event.
Reverse Pitch
- Companies and organizations presented issues for which they were looking for collaborators and ideas
The speakers, who came to the stage with a passion for “creating innovation for patients and communities”, included representatives from local governments and pharmaceutical companies, as well as a diverse range of other industries, including electronics, finance, logistics, and gaming. One pitch was a collaboration between an insurance company and a startup.
A total of 21 diverse topics, such as "comprehensive sex education" and "gamification," not usually seen in the healthcare industry, also caught the attention of participants.
Group Session
- Participants gathered for group discussion on each issue
The key point of this event is that it is not just a one-on-one meeting between companies/local governments that have presented issues and participants who want to propose assets and ideas, but also a group session where participants exchange opinions with each other. There were many attendees from outside the healthcare industry, and the cross-industry exchange took an unexpected turn, with heated discussions in all groups.
The discussions included:
Theme: “We want to roll out an attractive story that prevents dementia etc. simply by listening to music.”
Looking for ideas for situations where music can be used to prevent and improve dementia, how it can be combined with existing services, and PoC sites (Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd. + VIE Co., Ltd.)
Discussion: We discussed ideas for getting people to continue using the app. We also discussed the direction of the business model, whether to aim for widespread use as a BtoC app or to aim for insurance coverage as a therapeutic app.
Ideas: 1) Use in the entertainment field (e.g. background music for brain training apps) 2) Integrate into everyday life (e.g. background music for places where elderly people gather for radio calisthenics) 3) Use in medical settings (e.g. background music in hospital waiting rooms) etc.
Theme: “Building a community for human resources staff working on health and productivity management”
We want to create a community that connects human resources staff at companies, shares meaningful initiatives, and solves the problem of “not knowing what to do” and helps people find “things to try next!” (Smart Value)
Discussion: As the participants sorted through their assets and considered the value this community could bring to companies and their target audience (employees), the question of “how to deliver the necessary services to the necessary people?” became clear, and they discussed possible solutions.
Ideas: Create a community as a place for co-creation of knowledge, where people will work together in a data-driven way to create the services that the target audience needs by presenting things that “we can measure, understand, and change.”
Presentation
- Present the discussion summary to the whole group
Networking
- All participants interact with each other
We asked participants what they thought!
Reverse pitching companies/local governments:
Shocked by the "real voices" of the healthcare industry!
We were convinced of the value that games could create in the health domain.
Manato Ito, Senior Vice President & COO, SEGA XD CO.,LTD.
We are a specialist group in gamification, which aims to solve social issues using the “power to move people” that games have. We are targeting the health field, but as we have limited contact with the healthcare industry and had difficulty understanding the issues, we came to last year's event as audience, and we gained a lot, so this year we took the plunge and gave a talk, and we solicited a wide range of issues and needs from participants.
We had a vague idea of using games to change behavior, such as “going for a health checkup” or “continuing to exercise”, but ideas that exceeded our expectations kept coming out, such as “romance games for the elderly” and “learning content for doctors about health and productivity management”, and we were shocked again and again! We were able to understand realistic issues and concerns. This was beyond our expectations. Discussions can be a bit of a mess, but that's what makes them interesting, and the little bits of that mess can become the seeds of ideas. We were able to reaffirm that innovation can be born from cross-industry collaboration, and that games can contribute to the health field, so we would like to explore the possibilities of co-creation based on the hints and needs we found today.
A rare opportunity for us as many people we don't usually meet
discuss seriously just for us
Rina Chiyoda and Naoki Sugiyama, Commerce and Industry Division, Industry Promotion Department, Matsumoto City
We run the Matsumoto Health Lab, a field that connects citizens with companies that need to obtain data for the development of healthcare products and services. Last year, we presented at the event and received many ideas for communicating information to citizens. We have since collaborated with the company we connected with at that time, and they have supported us in communicating information via official LINE and holding seminars, and we have seen results such as an increase in the number of accesses, so this year we participated with a new theme.
This year again, we met a diverse range of people, including representatives from pharmaceutical companies, trading companies, footcare advisor, and gym owners etc., who we don't usually get the chance to meet. We already have some ideas that we want to start working to realize. We tend to think in a conventional way, so their flexible ideas were a real inspiration. We would never have thought of rethinking the name “Matsumoto Health Lab” ourselves. This event is a great opportunity for us to have participants take time to think about and seriously discuss our issues. It helped us to clarify issues that we had only vaguely perceived, to become aware of strengths that were not being utilized, and to reconsider our direction.
The diversity of partners is what makes i2.JP so attractive
We can get to know people with problem-solving capabilities in one place
Miyu Harada, Consumer Experience and Innovation Team, Marketing, Eli Lilly Japan K.K.
The biggest appeal of i2.JP is that it has partners in a wide range of fields. I heard from a team member who presented at the event last year that it was a valuable opportunity to get to know people who were interested in and had ideas about our issues. So we decided to participate this time too, with the theme of Alzheimer's disease and chronic diseases.
Getting ideas from people with problem-solving capabilities was an important result. We also learned a lot from the presentations given by the other companies and local governments that took part in the reverse pitch. Exchanging opinions with people from different industries and with different areas of expertise, with whom we would not normally have contact, was meaningful and broadened our horizons. We met people with whom we feel there is potential for collaboration, and already started discussions. We would like to continue to solve problems by making use of the valuable ideas and connections we have received this time.
A solution that can be rolled out to other local governments
through the power of “government x private sector”
Hiroaki Tajima, Adult Health Checkup Section, Health and Medical Care Department, Hachioji City
There are not many opportunities for us to openly discuss things with private sector businesses. This was the first time we had participated in an event like this, but there were many participants from industries other than healthcare, so it was a very meaningful opportunity for us to learn about perspectives and ideas that we didn't have. Raising awareness of cancer and improving the rate of cancer screening are nationwide issues, but there are limits to what the government alone can do. We would like to continue to consider whether we can find a solution that can be rolled out to other local governments through a “government x private sector” partnership, using this meet-up as an opportunity.
Voices of participants:
“Reverse pitches are still rare and valuable. It was nice to see the enthusiasm of major companies trying to innovate."
(Medical device startup)
“Discussions within the company and the industry tend to stay inside the box. The viewpoints and opinions of people from industries far removed from healthcare were refreshing and there was a lot to learn." (Medical device manufacturer)
“We took part in this event again this year. I think the appeal of this event is that you can meet people who want to solve problems for the sake of patients." (Patient platform provider)
“We got to know people from companies we had hoped to make contact with.” (Business development)
“We discussed with many people about lifelong health issues and health management for women. I think we were able to have deep insight because the discussion group was made up of people from many different industries." (Life planning for women)
“It was very helpful to understand how we make the most of our assets and how we approach them." (Gym owner)
“It was a great honor to discuss things with people who are active at the forefront. I want to make use of this experience in my job hunting." (5th year university student, Faculty of Pharmacy)
“For this event, each player has prepared how they will use their assets to solve the problem. Because they share the mindset of trying to solve social issues as a business, it is not just a pipe dream, and the focus of the discussions does not waver. As the event progresses, the discussions become closer to the implementation of a business.” (New industry co-creation project consultant)
Message from the co-sponsor
The reverse pitch, in which numerous companies and local governments took the stage, was groundbreaking
The dialogue between different industries led to heated discussions
Yoshinori Kiuchi, Life Science Innovation Promotion Department, Mitsui Fudosan CO., LTD., LINK-J
There are many reverse pitch events being held elsewhere, but I don't think there are any other events where so many different companies and local governments take part. The sheer number and variety of themes discussed at the event was a major draw, and the diverse communities such as i2.JP and LINK-J made it a place where unique players could gather.
I believe that cross-industrial exchange will be the key to creating innovation. You might feel that people from different industries have nothing in common, but when you actually talk to them, you can have issues and concerns in common and share their passion. The opinions and approaches from different fields make you more flexible in participants’ thinking, and all the groups were very lively. I think we were able to have a discussion that was out of the box and very interesting. The networking that followed also got off to a fast start, and many new encounters were born. We hope that the ideas and networks gained here will become the starting point to solve social issues.
After the event
i2.JP, which was launched in November 2020 with seven organizations, is now in its fourth year, and the number of partners has grown to nearly 500. The collaborative projects that came out of this event are up and running.
i2.JP will continue to plan and manage events to help members “connect” with each other, and we will also continue to share collaborative examples. We hope you will join us.
※The information in this article was current at the time of the interview. Please note that affiliations, etc. may differ from today.
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