On February 2, 2026, an interactive pitching and mentoring event, Business Idea Brush-up Session, was held in Sendai City. The session brought together ambitious individuals interested in entrepreneurship to refine their early-stage business ideas through pitching and hands-on feedback.
The event aimed to help participants sharpen their initial concepts, clarify their value propositions, and improve how they communicate their ideas. By pitching to experienced mentors and engaging in active Q&A, participants were encouraged to view their ideas from a more practical, real-world business perspective.
Guidance from Entrepreneurial Leaders
To support participants’ learning, we invited two professional mentors with diverse international and entrepreneurial backgrounds, and they shared their experiences and insights prior to the pitch session.
Dr. Trishit Banerjee (Manager and Market Researcher, Futaba Area Tourism Research Association)
Firstly, he shared with us his personal journey from India to Fukushima, where he is currently working on regional revitalization initiatives. He reflected on his first visit to Japan in Tokyo, where he developed a deep appreciation for Japanese culture, and later studied chemistry at Tohoku University. While based in Sendai, he remained curious beyond campus life, actively building connections with local people and participating in startup-support programs such as Sendai Global Startup Campus offered by Sendai City.
One of his key messages resonated strongly with participants: “Scaling doesn’t always have to be linked to profit. Sometimes, value can be created in different ways.”
He also emphasized that working on a smaller scale can provide broader learning opportunities, allowing individuals to experience the full process from ideation to execution.
Mr. Sean Chiang (CEO, Water Mirror, Inc., Japan)
He provided practical guidance on refining early-stage business ideas from an investor’s perspective. Drawing on his extensive career across East Asia, including roles as a CFO at a Japanese startup, senior investment manager, sales professional, and industry analyst, he offered insights into how ideas are evaluated in real startup environments.
He highlighted three key factors that are especially important when assessing early-stage startups: the problem being addressed, the target customer, and scalability.
His talk helped participants better understand how investors and stakeholders think, as well as the questions founders should be prepared to answer when developing their ideas.
Where Ideas Meet Conversation
The core of the session was the pitch presentations. Each team delivered: 4 minutes of pitching, followed by 4 minutes of Q&A and feedback.
The session was designed so that, by receiving direct input from professionals, participants could gain practical insights into how their ideas are evaluated in real-world business contexts.
A total of 12 teams participated. Pitches were divided into two rooms, with one mentor assigned to each room, allowing for focused discussion and tailored feedback.
Lively Discussions and Deep Engagement
During the Q&A sessions, participants demonstrated a high level of engagement and curiosity. In addition to mentors, other participants actively asked thoughtful questions and contributed to discussions.
For example, one team proposed an AI-based support system for teachers designed to detect subtle signs that students may need study support, addressing the challenge that teachers cannot always closely monitor every student in a classroom. During the Q&A session, participants raised important questions such as “From a privacy perspective, how would students’ parents react to a technology that uses cameras to track students’ eye movements?” This exchange highlighted how participants were not only refining ideas technically, but also considering ethical, social, and practical implications.
Several teams had already developed working demos, and one team also incorporated gameplay into their pitch, which energized the room and entertained the audience while conveying their concept!
Learning Outcomes and Participant Reflections
Through pitching and feedback, participants gained new perspectives on how to move their ideas closer to reality. Many commented that the session helped them imagine more concrete target users, clearer value propositions, and more realistic implementation paths.
Overall feedback from participants was highly positive and indicated strong enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and a positive outlook toward continued involvement in Sendai
・19 out of 21 participants expressed interest in startups
・Several participants even shared that they would consider living in Sendai long-term.
・Many indicated a desire for more networking and mentoring events like this in the future
Overall, the Business Idea Brush-up Session inspired participants by helping them refine their business ideas while fostering networking among aspiring entrepreneurs in Sendai. We were also encouraged to see many participants make use of this opportunity to take the next step by entering the business idea contest. The event demonstrated the value of combining mentorship, peer learning, and open discussion in nurturing early-stage innovation in a friendly environment.
