April 2025 Greeting from Josh

Hi everyone,

Over the past few months, we’ve been hard at work ensuring our mission to cultivate globally minded entrepreneurs and innovators continues to move forward. One of the highlights has been the successful completion of our Global Entrepreneurship Mindset Program, sponsored by Japan’s Ministry for Education (MEXT).

Despite global concerns about the shifting geopolitical climate, this program reaffirmed that an entrepreneurial mindset transcends borders, connects diverse communities, and offers powerful solutions to complex challenges. Participants not only honed their startup skills but also built a cross-cultural network that we believe will spark innovation well into the future.

Another exciting highlight was our Next Kitchen program in Kobe, which explored the intersection of tradition and future-focused solutions in food innovation and sustainability. From reimagining Japan’s iconic Kobe beef to driving novel approaches in agriculture and environmental stewardship, this initiative brought together multinational F&B corporations, local governments, SMEs, research institutions, and global startups.

As with our other programs, the success of Next Kitchen exemplifies how strategic collaborations can catalyze both local and global impact.These outcomes highlight two important elements for startup ecosystem success: developing the right type of talent for global hubs to thrive, and creating an accessible marketplace and platform for medium and large corporations to access and collaborate with world-class startup technologies.

I was recently asked by The Japan Times to share my thoughts on the “recipes for successful startup ecosystems.” Many insights came directly from our experience with programs like the Global Entrepreneurship Mindset Program and Next Kitchen that we have been running since our establishment in 2016. In short, thriving ecosystems require more than just funding or policy support: they need a culture that celebrates risk-taking, collaboration between academia and industry, and platforms where entrepreneurs can test and grow their ideas.

By championing this holistic approach, we aim to keep expanding the “Innovation Dojo” community and nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit across borders.Thank you for your continued collaboration and encouragement. Your support enables us to design and deliver programs that don’t just teach theory but also spark real-world impact.

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue this journey together. Please enjoy this video showing highlights from our Global Entrepreneurship Program. 

Regards,

Joshua Flannery
CEO, Innovation Dojo Group