社内外からイノベーターを募り、リコーグループのリソースを活用し新たな価値創造につなげるプログラムです。ワークプレイスやイメージング領域にとどまらず、社会の広い分野での課題解決を目指します。Ricoh Co., Ltd. (President and COO: Akira Oyama) will hold the integrated pitch contest of the integrated accelerator program 'TRIBUS 2024' aiming to support the growth of startup companies and entrepreneurs inside and outside the company, for business co-creation on September 20th. They have decided on 5 teams of internal entrepreneurs participating in this year's program and 9 startup companies.
In this 6th year, with the theme of 'Venturing into the unknown world with curiosity', there were 65 applications from within the company to the accelerator program. Also, they broadly gathered business ideas in 5 business areas proposed from within the Ricoh Group and other areas, receiving a record-high 172 applications from outside the company. The internal entrepreneur teams and startup companies selected by internal and external reviewers will receive support from within and outside the Ricoh Group during the accelerator program, conducting business idea reviews, verification experiments, and more. Additionally, dedicated facilitators (catalysts) will support the collaboration between startup companies and the Ricoh Group to boost their activities. The results will be announced at the Investors Day scheduled for February 7, 2025.
Ricoh's founder, Kiyoshi Ichimura, founded Ricoh as a venture company born from the RIKEN research institute and has since created numerous innovative products and services that contribute to society. Returning to the spirit of its founding, Ricoh aims to further cultivate a culture that supports and nurtures challengers, and accelerates the creation of new businesses.
Group photo of speakers/judges
Integrated pitch situation
Integrated pitch situation
Winner of the Audience Award
Ricoh participates as a scholarship partner.By Ricoh students (2nd year) at Kamiyama National Institute of Technology.
The situation of the challenge pitch.
Adopted companies/teams
| Company name | Representative | Summary of application plans |
|---|---|---|
| Corporation THA | 西山 朝子 | 「AI社長」社長と従業員の距離を近づけ、従業員が自走できるようにする最先端AIサービス |
| Corporation ジョシュ | 山﨑 康平/ 永島 匡 | 『Linkage Josh』 is a cloud service for information linkage that connects people and care in the medical and nursing care fields. |
| Corporation H | Masanori Fushimi | Goodbye to miscellaneous tasks by linking business purchases, arrangements, etc. such as business trips, workspaces, meeting rooms, bento boxes, etc., which involve workflows, approvals, and expense settlement collaboration with RICOH kintone. |
| EAGLYS Corporation | Hiroki Imabayashi | Developing a new product that protects, supports, and assists people in working autonomously with privacy protection and data utilization technology. |
| Corporation a.s.ist | Yuhi Hayashi | Development of an automatic calculation app for the value of plastic waste using a resin identification handheld sensor and statistical data analysis. |
| Corporation Circloop | Shuta Nakamura | オフィス、シェアオフィスの資源循環を実現するリユーザブルカップシェアサービス“Circloop” |
| Corporation palan | 齋藤 瑛史 | デジタルARマップで地域の魅力を拡張！観光客の周遊促進と多言語ガイドを実現し、交流人口を拡大へ。 |
| イオリア Corporation | 松原 元気 | Deliver ultra-local information automatically using LLM. Find your favorite and discover unique spots in that region with the app. |
| Corporation Collection Test | Tsubasa Iwata | "Is that real?" AI authentication service for trading cards, "VALUE SCOUTER SERVICE (VSS Appraisal)" |
| Representative Company Name | Representative | Overview of the idea. |
|---|---|---|
| Corporation Ricoh | Mr. Katsuya Honma | DX of Sensory Inspection and Environmental Measurement by Digital Smell |
| Corporation Ricoh | Mariko Takii | Service to deliver dentures to dentists (patients) under appropriate conditions. |
| Rico Japan Corporation | Yoshiko Matsuyama | Accompanying support through listening to update 1on1 |
| Corporation PFU | Reiko Sakurai | Comprehensive monitoring system for the elderly utilizing AI technology. |
| Corporation PFU | Naoki Tomioka | Changing the future of warehouse industry with new storage management |
External examination committee members (in alphabetical order by last name)
- Spiral Innovation Partners Inc.
General Partner
Hiroshi Oka - Impact Capital Corporation
Representative Director
Kiyoshi Takatsuka - ANOBAKA Corporation
Partner
Satoshi Hagitani - SBI Investment Co., Ltd.
Executive Officer, CVC Business Unit
Takayuki Bessho, Mr. - Unige Inc.
Co-Chief Executive Officer
Yusuke Doi, Mr.
Internal Auditor
- Ricoh Corporation, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Yoshinori Yamashita - Ricoh Corporation CTO /
Ricoh IT Solutions Co., Ltd. President /
Ricoh Software Research Center (Beijing) Co., Ltd. Chairman
Yasuyuki Nomizu - Rico Japan Inc. President and CEO
Tooru Kasai
| Accelerator Program Period | Scheduled from late September 2024 to early February 2025 |
|---|---|
| Investors Day (Results Presentation) | February 7, 2025 |
About TRIBUS 2024
What is TRIBUS
It is a program that recruits innovators from inside and outside the company and leverages the resources of the Ricoh Group to create new value. It aims to solve challenges not only in the workplace and imaging areas but also in a wide range of fields in society.
Click here for the TRIBUS page.
Features
- Judged by both internal Ricoh company executives and external reviewers.
- Mutual support and enhancement between startup companies and internal entrepreneurs.
- Providing Ricoh Group's cutting-edge technology, accumulated know-how, facilities, and other assets.
- Catalysts responsible for coordinating collaboration between adopted startups and the Ricoh Group, providing accompanying support.
- Over 400 supporters with diverse skills, along with 1500 registered members of the TRIBUS community, respond to participating companies' needs by supporting interviews, hearings, trials, and assisting in bringing business ideas to life.
Recruitment field in fiscal year 2024
- AI training system to improve business communication skills
- Supporting worker's self-management with a sustainable UX growth cycle
- Co-creation solutions through plastic resource recycling
- Leveraging the power of digital to increase and expand inter-community population exchange, achieving regional revitalization
- Creating new businesses that contribute to changing the way of "working" utilizing PFU technology
- Other, free themes utilizing Ricoh Group's assets
Collaboration details with partners
- Japan Microsoft Corporation and Microsoft Corporation (USA headquarters) collaborate in the startup support program "Microsoft for Startups", providing opportunities to connect resources and support from both Ricoh and Microsoft, as well as a wide range of communities (continuing from 2020).
- Joining KDDI Corporation's "KDDI ∞ Labo (Mugen Labo)" operated "MUGENLABO support program 2024", supporting startup companies through problem proposals and asset provision together with approximately 90 partners (as of June 2024) (continuing from 2021).
- Joining as a QB co-creating partner at the open innovation facility "QUINTBRIDGE" operated by NTT West Japan, conducting matching with other companies through events such as pitching at QUINTBRIDGE (continuing from 2023).
- TMIP supports the creation of innovation by solving social issues through collaboration between large companies and startup, industry, government, and academia. Exploring collaboration partners in Otemachi, Marunouchi, and Yurakucho, and networking for innovation creation (continuing from 2023).
- Utilizing the partner search support using Japan's largest open innovation platform "AUBA" operated by eiicon, granting tickets that allow contact with companies (new from 2024).
- HND Innovation City in Ota Ward, Tokyo, which has a cooperation agreement on SDGs, is advancing town development through public-private partnerships, serving as a venue for solving regional challenges (test beds) where various cutting-edge technology demonstration experiments are conducted. Through Ota Ward, opportunities for consultation on demonstration experiments in Ota Ward, including HND Innovation City, are provided (new from 2024).
- Providing a place for encounters and co-creation with large companies, startups, academic institutions, and local governments at the open innovation lab "MIRAI LAB PALETTE" operated by Sumitomo Corporation, offering support for creating new value (new from 2024).
- Providing opportunities for mentoring in new business development, networking with experts, and participating in acceleration programs at the startup support program "HAX Tokyo" run by Sumitomo Corporation, SCSK Corporation, and SOSV (new from 2024).
- Collaborate with Fukuoka Growth Next, a startup support facility in Fukuoka, to implement support for matching and networking with other companies through events such as pitches. (New from FY 2024)
Related Information
- Unijii Corporation
- Microsoft for startups
- MUGENLABO Support Program 2024
- QUINTBRIDGE
- TMIP
- AUBA
- Haneda Innovation City
- MIRAI LAB PALETTE
- HAX Tokyo
- Fukuoka Growth Next
Related News
- The 6th round of the business co-creation program "TRIBUS 2024", supporting internal and external entrepreneurs and startups, has started
This news release is also available as a PDF file.
The "TRIBUS 2024" will conduct an integrated pitch contest (2.66MB, total of 6 pages).
