On Wednesday, March 23, 2022, “Tohoku-Israel Global Demo Day” (“Demo Day”), was held online as the final event of “Tohoku-Israel Startup Global Challenge Program” (hereinafter referred to as the “Program”), organized by the Embassy of Israel in Japan and JETRO, and co-hosted by Tohoku University.

This program was held as a part of the Israeli Embassy’s “Earthquake Disaster Reconstruction Initiative 2021”.

During the period from July 2021 to March 2022, 10 startup companies from the Tohoku region received direct mentoring from Israel,

one of the world’s leading startup countries, on how to effectively pitch and obtain investment, thereby contributing to building momentum for Tohoku entrepreneurs to expand overseas and collaborate with foreign companies.

At the Demo Day, in addition to introducing the program and the connection between Israel and Tohoku, which is also linked to the earthquake reconstruction assistance back in 2011, three of the ten companies participating in the program (Sustainable Energy Development Inc., SONIRE Therapeutics Inc., and AZUL Energy Inc.) presented their results, and the Israeli mentors who accompanied the three companies during the program provided feedback to each of them. The startups that participated in the program commented that the program was very meaningful, with comments such as, “The advice on global mindset and business plans for the world was very helpful.”

In the closing remarks, Keiichi Sasaki, Tohoku University’s Executive Vice President and Director of the Center for Co-Creation Strategy, thanked the program’s organizers, administrators, and collaborators, and expressed his hopes for the promotion of business development from the Tohoku region to the world and the further deepening of ties between Japan and Israel.