SUMMYS, a Kuala Lumpur-based venture builder, has concluded an unusual pitch contest that deliberately combined sustainability, cultural sensitivity, and commercial rigour to channel Southeast Asian startups toward Japan’s most pressing social problems.
The winners — spanning robotics, agritech, medical AI, and circular materials — now have routes into Japan’s heavyweight startup circuit through a partnership with IVS, one of the country’s largest tech conferences.
A low-energy stage, high-stakes outcomes
The ‘Jungle Forge Award — Social Impact Edition’ eschewed the typical conference trappings. Pitches were held outdoors without electricity: no spotlights, projectors, or microphones. The setting was designed both as a statement and an experiment to demonstrate that persuasive entrepreneurship need not rely on high-energy, high-emissions production.
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That choice resonated with the selection criteria. Judges assessed teams not only on technical feasibility and business models, but on their grasp of Japan-specific social issues and their ability to communicate in ways that resonate with Japanese audiences. In the run-up to the event, SUMMYS CEO Mariel Asami Fukase even led a Japanese-language lesson for participants; several founders used Japanese phrases in their pitches.
“It’s about respect as much as relevance,” said one judge. “If you want to operate in Japan, you must understand the problem and speak to the people who live it.”
Robotics takes the grand prize: tackling a regional labour crisis
Robopreneur, a Malaysian robotics firm, took the Grand Prize. The company offers service robots and “Physical AI” solutions for sectors where Japan and much of Asia face chronic labour shortages: hospitals, security, cleaning, and tourism.
Qarbotech won both the Silver Award and the Green Award for an agritech system that boosts yields and farmer incomes without adding to labour burdens. The judges cited on-farm validation and clear economics, making it a promising match for Japan’s shrinking agricultural workforce and its policy focus on food self-sufficiency.
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Global Cerah secured the Open Innovation Award for a circular model that converts organic waste into protein and fertiliser. Judges pointed to its scalability and potential to strengthen Japan’s food system resilience, a key policy issue amid climate-driven supply-chain disruptions across the Asia Pacific.
Pixelence, an AI company that improves brain MRI diagnostics without contrast agents, won the AI Award. Japan’s population is among the oldest in the world, and early detection of dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders is a growing clinical and social priority. Judges argued that Pixelence’s technology could reduce costs and clinician workload while improving diagnostic reach.
The Next Generation Award went to Midwest Composites for an inventive approach that upcycles discarded tea leaves into composite materials suitable for automotive, EV and aerospace applications. The contest featured child judges; a nine-year-old’s enthusiastic reaction — “It was so cool that tea leaves that would be thrown away can become a new material” — was a reminder of the storytelling power founders can gain by tying sustainability to everyday products.
Prizes included more than trophies. The top two startups secured exhibition space at IVS, direct access to international investors and corporate partners, and introductions aimed at fundraising and business development in Japan.
SUMMYS framed the physical trophy — a watch — as symbolic: a reminder that building impact takes time, and that the organiser intends to walk the journey with participating startups.
The Japan-Southeast Asia bridge
For Southeast Asian founders, Japan represents both a market and a source of corporate partnerships, manufacturing expertise and patient capital. But entering Japan requires more than a scalable product; it demands cultural fluency, local validation, and integration with incumbent systems. The Jungle Forge Award’s emphasis on communication, including basic Japanese language ability, is a pragmatic nod to those realities.
The event’s livestream and hybrid voting, which included venture capitalists, corporate innovation leaders, child judges, and the public, reflected another lesson: narratives that combine technical rigour with social resonance travel better. Startups that can demonstrate applicability in Japan while highlighting regional scalability stand a stronger chance of turning pilot projects into commercial ties that flow in both directions.
What’s next
SUMMYS has signalled continued work to foster open innovation between Japan and Southeast Asia, positioning the award as part of a longer-term collaboration with IVS and Japanese corporates. If successful, the model could become a regular pipeline for Southeast Asian founders seeking not just funding but operational corridors into one of Asia’s most advanced and socially challenged markets.
Also Read: How Japan can empower a new wave of SEA startup innovation
For investors and corporates watching from both regions, the competition offered a tidy proof point: pragmatic, culturally aware startups from Southeast Asia can present viable, low-carbon solutions to Japan’s demographic and environmental pressures, and, crucially, those solutions may loop back to benefit the region as well.
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