Professor Miyako of JAIST, representing TeSH, won the Grand Prize in the Research Seeds category at a pitch contest featuring researchers and startups from nine university-led startup support platforms nationwide.
NINEJP organized the contest as an official pitch session at BioJAPAN 2025.

On Friday, October 10, the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) National Network Building Support Project (NINEJP) held the Pitch & Matching Conference at BioJAPAN 2025 (venue: Pacifico Yokohama). Professor Eijiro Miyako of the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), representing Tech Startup HOKURIKU (TeSH), won the Grand Prize in the research seeds category among nine startup support platforms nationwide.

NINEJP is the brand name for the "Nationwide Network Building Support Project" of the JST New Industry Creation Fund for University Startups, which aims to strengthen the creation of university-led startups. Its goal is to create globally competitive businesses throughout Japan in collaboration with nine national platforms selected for the JST Startup Ecosystem Co-Creation Program. NINEJP organized the Pitch & Matching Conference as an official pitch session on the third day of the newly established “Investment Forum” at BioJapan 2025. The conference aimed to promote innovations from university-led startups nationwide, both domestically and internationally.

The Pitch & Matching Conference features pitches from researchers and startups recommended by nine platforms across Japan, with grand prizes awarded in each category. As a representative of TeSH, Professor Miyako of JAIST gave a presentation on the theme of "Transcendent Bacterial Cancer Therapy" in the research seeds category. President Fukizaki of Fermelanta, Inc., a startup from Ishikawa Prefectural University, gave a presentation in the startup category.

Professor Miyako of JAIST won the grand prize in the research seeds category, which symbolizes the high level of research seeds at TeSH and in the Hokuriku region. TeSH will continue to discover outstanding research seeds in the Hokuriku region and nurture them to create startups that will take on the world.