Round Table｜The Potential of Art University Startups
2023.12.19 TUE
Featuring as speakers Akiou Kato (CEKAI Corp.), Hayakawa Gomi (UTSUWA, Inc.), Takashi Yokoishi (&Co., Ltd.), and Taihei Shii (Startbahn, Inc.) and moderated by Alisa Watanabe (Startbahn, Inc.), this heated round table session looked at the background of start-up entrepreneurs who graduated from art universities and the impetus behind these startups of “contributing to society through art.”
With creative startups attracting attention, this round table event helped many people understand the actual working methods of those playing an active role in society and served as a signpost for the creation of new startups originating from art universities.
【 Date & Time 】
December 19 [Tue] 2023, 7:00pm-8:30pm
【 Speakers 】
Akiou Kato (CEKAI Corp.)
Hayakawa Gomi (UTSUWA, Inc.)
Takashi Yokoishi (&Co.,Ltd.)
Taihei Shii (Startbahn, Inc.)
【 Moderator 】
Alisa Watanabe (Startbahn, Inc.)
【 Planning and implementation 】
Startbahn, Inc.
Round Table｜The Potential of Art University Startups, “Art as Catalyst” 2023
©Sakura Sueyoshi / Nacása & Partners Inc.
Akiou Kato
Co-founder, CEKAI Corp.
Kato started in business while a fourth-year student at Musashino Art University by establishing creative management company Morphing, Inc. He was involved in the launch of creative team TYMOTE in 2008, and in 2013 he co-founded CEKAI, a creative association bringing together independent individuals. Operating on a global scale from bases in Japan and the US, CEKAI engages in the creation of autonomous, decentralized systems and spaces. Under its mission of enhancing, connecting, and expanding the potential of creators, CEKAI’s aim is to take the ultimate behind-the-scenes role.
Hayakawa Gomi
Representative Director, UTSUWA, Inc.
Born in 1995 in Tokyo. Brand Manager for Euglena Co., Ltd, Company Director of feast, Representative Director of UTSUWA, Inc. Hayakawa started making accessories when she was in high school, designing and selling printed tights. In August 2014 after enrolling in the Department of Graphic Design at Tama Art University, she launched the lingerie brand “feast,” principally selling her products through online channels. In 2019, she launched “ILLUMINATE,” a project focusing on options related to menstruation, and joined the Euglena Group in 2022. Hayakawa is currently Brand Manager for “SOLUME,” a pregnancy and childbirth related brand initiative for working women.
Takashi Yokoishi
Organizer of Tokyo Work Design Week, &Co.,Ltd.
Graduated from Tama Art University. In 2016 he founded &Co. He is a project producer involved in brand development, corporate organizational development, and social change. He successfully recruited 30,000 people for Asia's largest workstyle festival, Tokyo Work Design Week. Yokoishi is producer of initiatives such as the collective office “Hojo SANCI”in Kamakura; of Shibuya Startup University, a Shibuya-ku-based training institute for entrepreneurs; and of “shared bookstore” Shibuya Maru Maru Shoten. He is adjunct lecturer at Hosei University. Publications include “How We Will Work ~Dialogue with the Ten that will Create Next Generation Standards~” (Hayakawashobo), and “Innovation of self introduction 2.0” (KADOKAWA).
Taihei Shii
Startbahn, Inc., CEO/ Art Beat, Inc., CEO
/ University of Tokyo's Institute of Industrial Science, visiting researcher
Born in 1977, Taihei Shii is a contemporary artist and entrepreneur. In 2014, while still a graduate student at the University of Tokyo, he founded Startbahn, a company that provides infrastructure to ensure the reliability of artworks and support the transmission of their value. The core of his business, "Startrail," received a grant from the Ethereum Foundation in recognition of its benefit to the public good. He has been a visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo's Institute of Industrial Science and a member of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Study Group on Art and Economic Society.
Alisa Watanabe
Chief Revenue Officer, Startbahn, Inc.
Born in 1990, grew up in the neighbor of Ohara Museum of Art in Okayama, my favorite art museum of all time. B.A. in International Liberal Studies at Waseda Univerisity. Studied Film and minored in Aesthetics. Join Mitsubishi Corporation in 2013 and worked mainly for logistics business. Also had experience in working in Russia. Joined Startbahn from April 2021.