IVS 2026
Overview
One of Japan's largest startup conferences. Entrepreneurs, investors, and corporations gather in Kyoto for the pitch contest LAUNCHPAD, sessions, and networking. The 2026 edition ran July 1-3 at Miyakomesse with around 13,000 attendees and 340 exhibitors, as LAUNCHPAD marked its 20th anniversary.
Foundation
- Founded
- 2007
- Founder
- Started as NILS in 2004, reorganized as IVS in 2007
Born as an invitation-only conference bringing together leaders of Japan's internet industry
Transition
- 2007 IVS第1回を宮崎にて開催。NILSから名称変更
- 2015 運営体制を刷新
- 2020 コロナ禍で初のオンライン開催
- 2023 京都開催に移行。招待制を廃止しオープン化。参加者約1万人
- 2025 過去最高の1.3万人が参加、海外比率20%超
- 2026 7月1〜3日に京都で開催。約1.3万人が参加、出展340社。LAUNCHPADは20周年
Voices
Studied past LAUNCHPAD finals and refined the pitch over and over, finishing as runner-up (from Yuki Shimizu's report, in Japanese)
A student who approached about 300 attendees at an exhibitor booth, with nearly 70 leads moving to the next step (from Chiharu's report, in Japanese)
Handing out umbrellas on a rainy day built trust with a VC and even led to investment talks (from Ryosuke Funahashi's report, in Japanese)
The taliki team prepared sales playbooks and role-play, spread out across the venue, and reported card-exchange results hourly for three days, while rediscovering the social sector's value of moving as a pack (from Gaku of taliki's report, in Japanese)
A first-time attendee frankly admits the business-driven crowd felt intimidating, yet found the festival-like venue enabled remarkably efficient business matching (from attendee soma's report, in Japanese)
In the News
IVS 2025
One of Japan's largest startup conferences. Under the theme "Reshape Japan with Global Minds," the 2025 edition drew a record 13,000 attendees (20% from overseas, 21% women) from over 70 countries, with 508 side events and 3,900 matchings, double the prior year. Notion co-founder Ivan Zhao was among the speakers, and Advance Composite won LAUNCHPAD. It also debuted the matching system "4S."
IVS 2024
One of Japan's largest startup conferences. The 2024 edition moved to Kyoto Pulse Plaza and drew 12,000 attendees from 67 countries, with 198 sessions and 307 side events widening its international reach. Female participation hit a then-record 24%. The LAUNCHPAD pitch contest was won by RENATUS ROBOTICS with its automated warehouse system.
IVS 2023
One of Japan's largest startup conferences. The 2023 edition was a turning point, moving to Kyoto for the first time and dropping its invitation-only format for open registration. Around 10,000 people attended, with over 20% from overseas. The LAUNCHPAD pitch contest drew a record 400 applicants, with care-tech startup aba taking the win. IVS Crypto ran alongside, underscoring the Web3 presence.
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