[Leave a Nest 20th Anniversary Project・Part 9] Launched the Entrepreneurship Education Program for Middle School and High School Students in Collaboration with 12 Startup Founders in their 20s

Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Founder & Group CEO Dr. Yukihiro Maru) launched the entrepreneurship education program for middle school and high school students in collaboration with 12 deep tech startups founders in their 20s that the Leave a Nest Group is supporting through funding, joint research and development projects. 

These twelve young researchers have started their startups to change the world employing their passion and will to act, and are now entrepreneurs using science and technology to solve global problems. Combining the knowledge of their practical experience together with Leave a Nest’s education development expertise which matured over 20 years, Leave a Nest has developed an original educational program to be provided in conjunction with its science workshops to middle and high schools across Japan.

Taking advantage of this initiative, Leave a Nest will collaborate with these young managers working to shape the future, to cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit in schools, with the ultimate goal of preparing new generations for the future by instilling the necessary mindset to “continue to dive into new frontiers and challenge the unknown with our own will”. 

On 1 June 2022, we will start accepting applications from schools that wish to take part in this program. We look forward to hearing from all interested personnel. 

After the disaffection for science in new generations, Leave a Nest's next will challenge the lack of entrepreneurs

Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. is a company founded as a startup 20 years ago, on 14 June 2002, by 15 science and technology undergraduate and graduate students in their early twenties. When the company was started, “children's disaffection for science” began to be treated as a serious social problem in Japan, and the founders, all researchers understanding the fun of science better than anyone else, wanted to deal with this problem with their own hands, so they started Leave a Nest with no funds, intellectual property, or business experience. In fact, they did not possess any of the requisites to successfully manage a company except for their love for research. They started the first advanced science workshop in Japan, to convey their passion and the charm of research to the children in charge of the future while increasing the ranks of fellow researchers in the next generation. 

Even today, science education has expanded to become Leave a Nest’s core business, and together with more than 100 partner companies, we have spread the love for science and technology to more than 200,000 children, preventing them from losing interest in these fields. Moreover, young graduates who attended Leave a Nest’s science workshops as children are now starting to participate in the company’s activities as partners sharing the same dreams, creating a self-perpetuating cycle.

Leave a Nest launched this time’s initiative hoping to create the next cycle of scientific education, passing the educational expertise developed by the company over the past 20 years, to the next generation of founders that also started their company in their twenties, so that they too can promote educational activities while fostering junior entrepreneurs.

Leave a Nest is now dealing with schools’ deficiencies in entrepreneurship development, knowledge, and experience by creating new opportunities for education. By collaborating with real entrepreneurs driven by their will to change the world, we aim to increase the knowledge and awareness of children and solve Japan’s lack of entrepreneurs. 

Introduction to the Entrepreneurs

Space Architecture Education using Origami Structures

Yozan Takahashi (28 years old)
OUTSENSE Inc., CEO

During his time as a graduate school student, he conducted research on large-scale structures as a JAXA special collaborative researcher affiliated with JAXA Laboratories, but feeling a gap between research and practicability, he dropped out of both laboratory and university. With the aim to build a house on the moon, he began studying private space development as an intern at ispace while participating in various business programs such as MAKERSUNIVERSITY and TSG. Currently, as a representative director of OUTSENSE Inc., he is doing business with the purpose of bringing about the era of people living in outer space. 

 

Environmental Education using “Man-made Ecosystem” Technology

Takakura Yoda (27 years old)
Innoqua Inc., CEO

Born in 1994, while attending the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, he researched the use of machine learning for assistance in practicing musical instruments at the university’s Rekimoto Laboratory. Still a student, he founded Innoqua Inc., in April 2019, a hardware development company. In October 2021, he became the director of the Rohto Children's Mirai Foundation, a general incorporated foundation, and was nominated one of Forbes JAPAN’s “30 UNDER 30” the same year. 

 

Healthcare Education by Measuring and Analyzing Stress

Kei Isozumi (26 years old)
EVCARE Inc., CEO

In March 2018, a startup company expressed interest in his study on hair stress analysis conducted at associate professor Ohira Masako's (at the time employed there) laboratory at the university he was attending and was encouraged to start a new business. In January 2019, EVCARE Inc. was established as the first startup from Shiga University, and Kei Isozumi was appointed CEO, with Professor Ohira as the representative director in charge of technological aspects. In 2020, he was nominated one of the “30 UNDER 30 JAPAN 2020” by Forbes JAPAN. 

 

Water Education Using Small Decentralized Water Circulation Systems

Yosuke Maeda (29 years old)
WOTA CORP., CEO

Born in Tokushima Prefecture, he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree and a Master's Degree from the University of Tokyo, School of Engineering, Department of Architecture. In middle school he researched the strength of biogenic materials; in high school the method of obtaining food-derived flocculants; in university urban infrastructure and living conditions in developing country slums; and in graduate school residential equipment (sanitary equipment for water supply and sewage). He is also engaged in sensor and control development at a digital art production company. 

 

Food Loss Education focused on Food Waste

Ashikari Seiya (28 years old)
Ecologgie Inc., CEO

After entering university, he became interested in food issues and entomophagy after participating in MUN activities. Graduated from Waseda University’s School of Commerce, he entered the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering at the same institution. Currently, as a representative director of Ecologgie, he is collaborating with Waseda University and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology to research and develop the social implementation of insect technology. 

 

Space Education on Artificial Satellites

Ryohei Kobayashi (24 years old)
ElevationSpace Inc., CEO

When he was 19, his life changed the moment he came across space architecture while enrolled at the National Institute of Technology Akita College. After graduating, he entered Tohoku University majoring in architecture and space engineering, where he engaged in satellite development projects and next-generation space architecture research. He went on to win the first position in Japan and the second position in the world for his research in space architecture. In addition to establishing the Tohoku Space Community to revitalize the region via outer space enterprises, he founded ElevationSpace Inc., a joint startup with an associate professor at Tohoku University, after numerous internships in several companies. 

 

Robotics Education using Robotic Units for Rough Terrain

Mizuhito Terashima (29 years old)
CuboRex Co., Ltd., CEO

He was born in 1993 in Arida District, Wakayama Prefecture. He graduated from the Department of Intelligent Mechanical Engineering of the Wakayama College's National Institute of Technology, and then entered the Nagaoka University of Technology Mechanical Engineering Course. In 2016 he founded CuboRex Co., Ltd. Since he was a student, he has been involved in robot contests and has won many national runner-up prizes, including the third prize in the James Dyson Award contest with his research on rescue robots, figuring among the top 20 international finalists. He has been also awarded the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Generation Award for “other fields that business implementation agencies would not even think of”.

 

Social Problem-Solving Inquiry Education through Satellite Data and AI Technology

Shunsuke Tsuboi (27 years old)
Sagri Co., Ltd, CEO

After graduating from Yokohama National University, College of Engineering Science, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, he founded and served as CEO of the first private company specializing in space education, Uchu co., Ltd. In the same year, he traveled to Rwanda to conduct educational activities, where he learned of local children’s impossibility of chasing their dreams after graduating because of their employment in agriculture. In 2018, he started Sagri Co., Ltd with the aim of achieving business development for low-income farmers in developing countries and creating a situation where children can have more life options in the future. Nominated Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum in 2020, MIT Technology Review named him as one of the innovators under 35 who are shaping the future. He is now a member of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’s Committee on the Management of Cropland Information Utilizing Digital Map, a guest professor at the Professional University of Information and Management for Innovation in Tokyo, and is also attending Softbank Academia’s 13th term.

Space Elevator Development Program

Takamasa Suchi (24 years old)
Zip Infrastructure, Inc., CEO

 Born in Miyagi Prefecture, he has been captivated by space since he was a child, and got involved in the development of nanosatellites and the planetary exploration rover CANSAT while in university. He also took part in the development of a space elevator but realized that it was necessary to rely on both financial and technical aspects to turn it into a reality, so in July 2018 he founded Zip Infrastructure, Inc. The company is mainly engaged in the “self-propelled ropeway”’s business, a transportation infrastructure utilizing technology developed for elevators and lifts. 

Robot Development using Physical Simulation

Yuki Ichikawa (24 years old)
HarvestX Inc., CEO

In 2020 he graduated from the Chiba Institute of Technology, Department of Computer Science. While still in school, he worked on embedded equipment for agriculture, FA design for plant factories, and other projects as a freelancer. In the process, he recognized the challenges and possibilities of plant factories, and launched the HarvestX Project which led him to be certified as an untapped super creator for the “Development of an automatic strawberry pollination robot system to replace insect vectors”. Afterward, he founded  HarvestX Inc. together with Mr. Hattori and Mr. Watanabe, who he met at the University of Tokyo's Hongo Tech Garage. 

Creating Healthy Cities with Microbial Diversity

Kohei Ito (25 years old)
Biota Inc., CEO

He started researching microbial communities at the laboratory of the Institute for Advanced Biosciences of Keio University while in high school, and studied bioinformatics to investigate urban and built environments. He founded Biota Inc. after graduating, and is shaping its business around “urban designs to enhance microbial diversity”. He has been nominated as one of Forbes JAPAN's “30 under 30”, awarded the Tokyo Startup Gateway 2020 best prize, and selected as a semifinalist at the Grand Prix Sony U24 CO-CHALLENGE 2020, among other titles. 

Textile Engineering Education using Textile Processing Technology

Shunya Chosokabe (24 years old)
FiberCraze Corporation, CEO

His area of research is polymer properties. During the fourth year of his undergraduate program in chemistry, he was assigned to a laboratory studying polymers and became fascinated by the special technology of processing chemical films and fibers patented there. So he decided to collaborate with companies to achieve its social implementation and is currently working on the commercialization of this technology while conducting his research as a graduate student. 

 

Procedure

① Preliminary Interview: a meeting will be held to determine the number of participants, the theme, and the content of the activity.
② Preliminary Questionnaire: students will be asked to complete a preliminary questionnaire.
③ Program Confirmation: the activity’s program will be devised based on the interview, and its content will be checked and prepared.
④ Execution: the science workshop and the lecture by the startup founder will be held.
⑤ Ex-post questionnaire: students will be asked to complete a questionnaire after the activity.
⑥ Reporting: a written report on the activity will be issued.

The above schedule will be completed over a period of approximately 5 weeks.
During that period, we will hold two to three meetings with the teacher or professor in charge. 

Activity Format

Format: on demand
Number of attending students: Max 32 per activity
Duration: around 90 minutes
Contents: Possibility to choose from a list of 12 topics
(e.g. information science, AI, robotics, environmental education, food issues, etc.)
Execution Period: Please consult us privately.
Pricing: Please consult with us according to the content of the program (starting at 450,000 yen)

Entrepreneurship Education for Middle and High School Students

Leave a Nest, in collaboration with 12 entrepreneurs in their 20s

7 June 2022, 18:00- Nihon Keizai Shimbun

[About Leave a Nest's Education Development Division]

The Education Development Division collaborates with schools, companies, universities, and local authorities on educating younger generations in order to realize its mission of “unlocking the potential of future generations and creating future partners”. Due to the revised Courses of Study, in 2022 high schools’ exploratory activities have become compulsory. 

Building a strong foundation and evaluation system to promote the development of next-generation human resources with autonomous thinking from the early stages of education will become increasingly important in the future, and keywords such as entrepreneurship, and global collaboration will be an integral part of such education together with research-oriented thinking. The Education Development Division is operating in this context by “raising awareness of science and technology”, “promoting research-oriented thinking” and “co-creating future research themes” with middle and high school students. It is thereby fostering future partners through research outreach and research program creation while developing future research themes with the next generations by collaborating with various partners including companies, universities, research institutions, foundations, governments, and education institutions. 

https://global.lne.st/projects/ed/

 

Inquiries regarding this matter

Leave a Nest Co., Ltd.
Education Development Division
Attn to Saito Kimura
Tel: 03-5227-4198
Email: [email protected]