Hiroshima Prefecture Launches 'The Meet 2026' to Tackle Local Government Challenges with Startups - Cumulative 926 Proposals, 93 Adopted, with Implementation and Nationwide Expansion Achievements

Hiroshima Prefecture will launch the "The Meet 2026 Hiroshima Open Accelerator" on June 22, 2026, an open accelerator program that aims to solve administrative challenges of municipalities within the prefecture by using them as demonstration fields for collaboration with startups.

On the same day, an information session will be held at Tokyo Innovation Base, featuring a "Government Pitch" where representatives from participating municipalities will present their recruitment challenges, followed by a networking session. Applications for solution proposals will open from the same day.

What is The Meet Hiroshima Open Accelerator?

This project matches "municipalities within the prefecture facing various regional and administrative challenges" with "startups utilizing digital technology" on a platform, supporting collaborative development and demonstration.

It promotes the creation of value-added services and the development of new markets through the resolution of regional issues, implementation in local governments, and expansion throughout the prefecture and nationwide, thereby fostering the advancement of startups into the prefecture and revitalizing their business activities.

This fiscal year, 14 municipalities within the prefecture are participating, and solutions for 40 challenges are being sought.

Program Features and Achievements

Since its launch in fiscal year 2023, "The Meet" has received 926 proposals for 114 recruitment challenges, with 93 proposals being adopted. Development and demonstrations are being conducted in various administrative fields. Among the adopted projects, some have led to full-scale adoption by local governments after demonstration, expansion to other municipalities, and continuous orders.

Among the adopted companies, there have been 7 cases of continuous orders, 7 cases of expansion to other municipalities, and expansion to 18 municipalities within the prefecture alone.

Representative Case: Satellite Data x AI for Identifying Idle Farmland (Fukuyama City x SPACE SHIFT Inc.)

Fukuyama City and SPACE SHIFT Inc. analyze images from SAR satellites (Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites), which are less affected by weather or day/night conditions, in addition to optical satellites, using AI to automatically identify idle farmland and extract target farmland for investigation. This has reduced the workload for on-site investigations by staff and agricultural committee members by approximately half compared to the past. In addition to full-scale adoption in Fukuyama City, expansion to other municipalities within the prefecture, such as Aki-Takata City and Kitahiroshima Town, and nationwide expansion are progressing.

Comments

We want businesses with solid technology to seize opportunities in Hiroshima.

We want individuals and new businesses with solid technology who are struggling to seize business opportunities right after starting their ventures, or who wish to enhance their credibility, to demonstrate their skills in Hiroshima.

- Mr. Yamasaki, Director (at the time), Commerce, Labor and Tourism Department, Hiroshima Prefecture

Although we have technology, we lacked a venue to directly present it to local governments, etc. Gaining such an opportunity allowed us to feel the expansion of our company's technology.

This initiative has also created connections with other municipalities in Hiroshima Prefecture.

- Representative of a previously adopted company

We felt challenges but lacked ideas on how to solve them.

By leveraging the advanced technologies of startups and other companies, and by having them think together with us to find solutions tailored to our challenges, we achieved results in unprecedented ways.

- Representative of a participating local government

Past Adoption Results

Fiscal Year

Participating Municipalities

Number of Challenges

Number of Proposals

Number of Adoptions

FY2025

16 Municipalities

40

296

33

FY2024

14 Municipalities

40

326

34

FY2023

15 Municipalities

34

304

26

Total

114

926

93

Information Session / Government Pitch Overview

Date and Time

June 22, 2026 (Monday) 14:00 - 16:00

Venue

Tokyo Innovation Base (3-8-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)

Organizers

Hiroshima Prefecture / Hirogin Area Design Co., Ltd. / Creww Inc.

Participation Fee

Free

Content

14:00 Program Overview

14:20 Recruitment Challenge Presentation (Government Pitch)

15:20 Q&A

15:30 Networking Session: Local Governments x Startups (until 16:00)

Application

Advance registration required: https://themeet20260622.peatix.com

*On-site participation only (online participation not available)

Project Overview and Schedule

Target Audience

Startups nationwide utilizing digital technology, etc.

Participating Municipalities

Kure City, Takehara City, Mihara City, Fukuyama City, Fuchu City, Miyoshi City, Shobara City, Higashihiroshima City, Aki-Takata City, Etajima City, Fuchu Town, Kumano Town, Akiota Town, Kitahiroshima Town

Recruitment Challenges

40 challenges presented by participating municipalities regarding regional/administrative issues.

Details will be released on the information session and official website on June 22.

Proposal Submission Period

June 22, 2026 (Monday) - July 10, 2026 (Friday) (scheduled)

Selection and Matching

Until mid-September (document screening and brushing up period)

Judging and Adoption

Until October (final presentation)

Demonstration Period

October - March 2027

Results Presentation

Mid to late March 2027 (scheduled)