[Event Report] DGDV Hosts "Global Next 2040 -- Global Tech Trends x Japan's 17 Strategic Fields" with the Cabinet Secretariat's Japan Revitalization Strategy Office

Event Overview

DG Daiwa Ventures (DGDV) held a special side event, "Global Next 2040 -- Global Tech Trends x Japan's 17 Strategic Fields," on Thursday, July 2, 2026, during IVS 2026, Japan's largest startup conference.

Approximately 200 participants, including policy implementers, Silicon Valley investors, and technology entrepreneurs, attended the event. The discussions focused on Japan's "17 Strategic Fields," into which the government plans to invest over 370 trillion yen in total from public and private sectors. Lively debates took place regarding which areas Japanese companies should invest in, who they should partner with, and which markets they should compete in towards 2040.

Mr. Yoshitaka Sugawara, Cabinet Secretariat, Japan Revitalization Strategy Office

▼ Global Tech Trends x Japan's 17 Strategic Fields

Alex Bangash, founder of Transpose, who has invested as a founding investor in U.S. firms like Founders Fund and Y Combinator and has been involved in the creation of over 630 startups including SpaceX, took the stage. Toru Miyata, former representative of Off Topic, served as moderator. Starting with rapidly changing global tech trends in areas such as AI, defense, space, and robotics, investment opportunities in Japan's 17 strategic fields were actively discussed.

Alex Bangash expressed his expectations for Japanese startups, stating, "Japan has world-class engineers and designers with excellent sensibilities. If we can foster a culture that embraces challenges without fear of failure, it will be possible to create companies not just unicorns, but of trillion-dollar scale from Japan in the coming AI era."

▼ Global Next 2040 -- Perspectives of Next-Generation Entrepreneurs Competing Globally

John Whaley (Founder, Inception Studio), who teaches at Stanford University, and Masahiro Chaen, CEO of Digirise, took the stage. Arisa Makihara, a DGDV Capitalist, served as moderator. With AI models becoming crucial for national strategy, discussions covered the relationship between government and AI, the challenges of "token management" in generative AI utilization, and the evolution of development trends from prompt design and RAG to "environment design" where AI agents operate autonomously. The session provided concrete insights into how Japanese companies should incorporate AI into their management.

▼ How Japan Will Compete in Strategic Fields Amidst U.S. and China's Lead -- Using "Physical AI" as an Example --

Yamato Watanabe, DGDV Managing Director, took the stage. He shared case studies of U.S. company Skild AI (total funding of approximately 220 billion yen, with investments from NVIDIA and Sequoia Capital), which develops foundational models for robots with diverse bodies, and China's rapidly growing Unitree, which develops humanoid robots. Based on these examples, he presented a hypothesis that while the U.S. leads in software and China leads in mass production, Japan should find its winning strategy globally by leveraging on-site data and implementation capabilities to establish a "third position."

▼ Direction for Strengthening Startup Policy Centered on the 17 Strategic Fields

Yoshitaka Sugawara from the Cabinet Secretariat's Japan Revitalization Strategy Office took the stage. He explained the overall picture of the 17 strategic fields and 8 cross-cutting issues, as well as the background of the "Startup Comprehensive Creation Package" compiled on May 20 and the current state of the ecosystem. He then elaborated on future virtuous cycles, including consistent support from business commercialization of excellent technologies in deep tech fields to government procurement, measures for global expansion, and the importance of strengthening collaboration between large corporations and startups in international competition. In the subsequent Q&A session, Yuta Sanada, DGDV Senior Director, acted as interviewer, delving deeper into the current status of the 17 strategic fields with questions from participants.

Mr. Sugawara stated, "What's important in the 17 strategic fields is to tackle them with a sense of speed. It is crucial not only to accelerate the growth speed of startups but also for large corporations to commit to collaborations and M&A with startups, which are old yet new challenges. Various measures are possible, such as redirecting a certain percentage of R&D expenses currently handled internally to startup budgets. We are advancing policies with a sense of urgency that startup support in the 17 strategic fields must be done now." During the Q&A, active questions were raised by participants regarding the involvement of Japanese companies with startups and how to engage with overseas investors.

Yamato Watanabe of DG Daiwa Ventures and Mr. Sugawara of the Cabinet Secretariat's Japan Revitalization Strategy Office

▼ Networking Reception

A networking reception was held after the sessions, facilitating active exchange between speakers and participants.

Event Overview (Record of Implementation)

Event Name: Global Next 2040 Global Tech Trends x Japan's 17 Strategic Fields

── The Next Move Japan Should Bet On, Discussed by Policy and Industry Creation Practitioners

Date & Time: Thursday, July 2, 2026, 15:30 - 18:30 (Doors open/Reception starts at 15:15)

Venue: Suiun Room, Hotel Okura Kyoto

Attendees: Approx. 200 (IVS CORE PASS holders and DGDV invitees)

Organizer: DG Daiwa Ventures, Inc. (DGDV)

Sponsor: Japan Global Startup Investment Promotion Council

List of Speakers

・ Alex Bangash (Transpose, Founder and General Partner)

・ Toru Miyata (Representative, Off Topic)

・ John Whaley (Founder, Inception Studio)

・ Masahiro Chaen (CEO, Digirise)

・ Yoshitaka Sugawara (Cabinet Secretariat, Japan Revitalization Strategy Office) ・ Yamato Watanabe (DGDV Managing Director)

・ Yuta Sanada (DGDV Senior Director)

・ Arisa Makihara (DGDV Capitalist)

Future Developments

Based on the discussions from this event, DGDV will continue to promote initiatives aimed at creating investment and new business opportunities in Japan's 17 strategic fields.

Event Organizer

DG Daiwa Ventures, Inc. (DGDV)

https://dg-daiwa-v.com/

Sponsor

Japan Global Startup Investment Promotion Council

https://j-gic.com/