Ecosystem Builders Summit is an event for individuals actively architecting, operating, and funding the world’s innovation infrastructure. Taking place during Tokyo InnoWeek 2027 and building on the momentum of Venture Café Global Gatherings that united innovation leaders across 85+ countries, the 2027 summit creates an intimate environment for ecosystem builders to learn from global peers. This one-day summit offers an indispensable dual advantage: a strategic gateway into Pan-Asian networks and a live operational learning lab. Ecosystem Builders Summit is a paid event. Make sure to get your ticket here.
Hosted by: HD Coaching
Ecosystem builders spend their days creating connection, energy, and opportunity for others, and rarely get the same support themselves. This facilitated roundtable is for the people who hold communities together, in Tokyo and across the international delegations attending InnoWeek.
WHAT HAPPENS
A 90 minute small group roundtable for 20 to 30 participants. Facilitated small circles work through three questions:
- What drains builders
- What sustains them
- What structures (team norms, boundaries, funding models) make the work sustainable over years rather than months
Each table shares one practical takeaway with the room.
WHO IT’S FOR
Community managers, accelerator and incubator leads, innovation district teams, and public sector program staff. Open to anyone.
WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH
- A practical takeaway from every table in the room
- Shared language for what drains and sustains ecosystem builders
- A short personal sustainability plan
ABOUT THE HOST
Heather Dobbin is an ICF-credentialed executive and leadership coach specializing in burnout prevention and recovery, and Community Manager at Tokyo Innovation Base. She organized and curated The Living Ecosystem, Venture Café Tokyo’s Women’s Theme Night in April 2026, runs the monthly TIB Scramble Meetup, and was shortlisted for the BCCJ (British Chamber of Commerce in Japan) British Business Awards 2026.
TARGET AUDIENCE: Open to Anyone
VENUE: To be announced
TOPICS: Community & Social Impact, Consulting & Professional Services, Health, Life Sciences & Wellness
Organizer: Pulsar Innovations
Language: English
Topics: Consulting & Professional Services, Marketing & Communications, Personal Development
Venue: Tobe announced
For startup founders who want to enhance their pitching, storytelling, and delivery skills.
For centuries, Koji has been at the heart of Japanese food culture, shaping iconic foods such as miso, soy sauce, sake and amazake. At NOSH, we are exploring what the next chapter of this remarkable microorganism could look like. Using Koji as the foundation, we have developed a new mycoprotein platform that combines fermentation, food science and culinary application to create nutritious and sustainable protein ingredients for the food industry.
During Tokyo InnoWeek, we would like to bring together food innovators, chefs, researchers, entrepreneurs and industry leaders to explore a simple question: What happens when centuries of fermentation knowledge meet the future of food?
Our event will combine storytelling, technology and taste. Participants will discover the cultural and technological significance of Koji, learn how NOSH has reimagined its potential as a modern protein source, and, most importantly, experience the results through food. Rather than presenting innovation as something that replaces tradition, we want to explore how tradition itself can become a platform for innovation.
Tokyo is the ideal place for this conversation. Japan has developed one of the world's richest fermentation cultures, and Tokyo is a global center for culinary excellence, technology and creativity. Our ambition is to create an interactive gathering connecting the Japanese food ecosystem with international food-tech innovation, and to start new conversations between chefs, food manufacturers, researchers, investors and innovators.
Centuries of tradition. A new generation of protein. One organism connecting both worlds: Koji.
Hosted by: HD Coaching
High growth often comes at the cost of the people driving it. This hands-on masterclass gives founders, startup leaders, and emerging leaders in corporate innovation teams practical tools to sustain performance without running on empty.
WHAT HAPPENS
A 90 minute interactive workshop for up to 30 participants, combining short teaching with guided practice:
- Recognizing early burnout signals in the body before they show up in results
- Simple somatic techniques for regulating stress during high pressure moments like pitches and negotiations
- Building a personal “sustainable pace” plan for the busy months ahead
WHO IT’S FOR
Founders, startup leaders, and emerging leaders in corporate innovation teams. Open to anyone. No prior experience needed, and all exercises are done seated or standing in regular clothes.
WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH
- The ability to spot early burnout signals in your body
- Simple somatic techniques for pitches, negotiations, and other high pressure moments
- A personal sustainable pace plan for the busy months ahead
ABOUT THE HOST
Heather Dobbin is an ICF-credentialed executive and leadership coach (HD Coaching) focused on burnout prevention, women’s leadership, and somatic approaches to sustainable performance. She coaches founders and leaders across Japan’s startup ecosystem and corporate sector, is an executive presence coach with Sasuga! Communications, and was shortlisted for the BCCJ British Business Awards 2026.
TARGET AUDIENCE: Open to Anyone
VENUE: To be announced
TOPICS: Consulting & Professional Services, Health, Life Sciences & Wellness, Other (Leadership and Business Development)
Two-part program featuring a keynote speech and a panel discussion
• Keynote theme: AI
• Panel discussion: Deep tech's upcoming trends
Ecosystem Builders Summit is an event for individuals actively architecting, operating, and funding the world’s innovation infrastructure.
Taking place during Tokyo InnoWeek 2027 and building on the momentum of Venture Café Global Gatherings that united innovation leaders across 85+ countries, the 2027 summit creates an intimate environment for ecosystem builders to learn from global peers. This one-day summit offers an indispensable dual advantage: a strategic gateway into Pan-Asian networks and a live operational learning lab.
Ecosystem Builders Summit is a paid event. Make sure to get your ticket here.
Hosted by: Good to Great Partners
ENERGIZE BANGLADESH: DHAKA TO TOKYO is the Tokyo follow-up to ENERGIZE BANGLADESH: IGNITE DHAKA (January 2027), building a lasting bridge between the Japanese and Bangladeshi innovation ecosystems in energy transition.
Bangladesh, a 175-million-person economy targeting US$1 trillion by 2034, is running out of domestic gas, has doubled its fuel import bill in a year, and aims for 20% renewables by 2030. Japan brings the technology, capital and know-how. With the first Japan–Bangladesh Economic Partnership Agreement signed in February 2026, the moment to connect is now.
WHAT HAPPENS:
Selected Bangladeshi ventures from the V-SPEED pitch round in Dhaka present to Japanese investors, corporates and startups. A panel on rooftop solar, storage and green manufacturing follows, then curated matchmaking designed to trigger collaboration between Japanese and Bangladeshi startups, companies and initiatives.
WHO IT'S FOR:
Investors, corporate innovation teams, cleantech startups, trading houses, ecosystem builders and policymakers interested in South Asia's next growth market.
WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH:
Direct introductions to Bangladeshi partners, a clear view of incentives (including a 10-year tax holiday for renewable energy), and a seat on an ongoing Japan–Bangladesh platform that continues through Bangladesh's 2027 programme and Global Investor Summit, so both countries can realise the opportunities in energy transition together.
FORMAT: IN-PERSON
TARGET AUDIENCE: Open to Anyone
VENUE: To be announced
TOPICS: Energy & Sustainability
Building on the success of 2025 and 2026, Venture Café’s Global Gathering returns to Tokyo in February 2027.
Centered around the theme of Ecosystems Together, the event convenes innovators from ecosystems around the world to discover the Tokyo ecosystem, forge powerful connections, and showcase groundbreaking ideas.
As the pillar of the Tokyo Innovation Week, Venture Café teams will be applying years of first-hand experience as Innovation Ecosystem Activators locally, to maximize the impact of ecosystems converging globally.
Through a dynamic mix of programs, including keynote sessions, immersive workshops, and curated networking, Global Gathering fosters deep, cross-border collaboration and empowers meaningful, measurable outcomes. Most importantly, the event is free and open to everyone interested in and connected to Tokyo’s innovation ecosystem.
Hosted by: YOKOHAMA CONNÉCT
We are innovation ecosystem activators and we bring together the people of a place founders, investors, researchers, corporates, students and government and turns latent connections into active ones.
A convener that lowers the barriers to meeting, then gets out of the way. We host the room; the ecosystem does the work.
TARGET AUDIENCE: Open to Anyone
VENUE: TECH HUB YOKOHAMA
TOPICS: Community & Social Impact, Deep Tech & Robotics, Entertainment, Lifestyle & Sports