Osaka Launches The PEAKS Serial Entrepreneur Dialogue Series

Public foundation debuts six-session program pairing growth-stage founders with unicorn CEOs and top investors, starting September 2026.

OSAKA — The Osaka Business Development Agency will launch “The PEAKS,” a six-session dialogue series connecting startup founders with serial entrepreneurs and investors, on September 2, 2026.

Serial entrepreneur Hitoshi Tanii will produce the program. Each session pairs participants with a guest speaker for discussion-centered workshops designed to challenge conventional thinking and build peer networks. The first session hosts Takao Ozawa, CEO of Boost Capital and former Yahoo Japan chief executive, on business development strategy. The second session, October 6, brings Nobuyoshi Yamasaki, CEO of materials unicorn TBM, to discuss global market entry.

Eligibility and logistics

• Open to growth-stage startups, deeptech ventures, and succession-type startups
• No participation fee
• Session one at Osaka Innovation Hub; session two at Funai Soken Group headquarters
• Applications open now with rolling deadlines per session
• Four additional sessions to be announced

The Osaka Business Development Agency is shifting institutional support from capital provision toward founder capability development. The curator lineup, Ozawa recently departed Yahoo Japan’s C-suite, Yamasaki leads one of Japan’s few validated unicorns, offers operational expertise foreign investors typically struggle to access. Applications for session one close August 31.