The 3rd Young Entrepreneur Award
Guidelines for Applicants
【Welcome Message】
Creating New Value in an Era Where Individuals Are Connected Across “Borders”
A gifted young man develops a technology that a person on the other side of the world decides
to invest in – this is but one example of how in this new era, connections between people that
transcend national borders can create new value.
People, products, money – rather than create organizations that merely encompass these
elements, the key to competitiveness lies in the ability to combine human resources and capital
from various parts of the world. Innovation requires the interweaving of different elements.
While social networks help bring together individuals from different backgrounds with similar
aspirations or thinking, in these uncertain times, it is more important than ever before to go one
step further and nurture an environment where people of exceptional expertise and
entrepreneurial spirit can realize their dreams.
We are striving to do just this, by creating a platform that brings together a diverse range of
talent in Asia to spur innovation.
The Young Entrepreneur Award is a great part of this
endeavor, and we encourage young people in Asia who have the venture spirit to be active on
the world stage.
We urge you to take the challenge and look forward to your application!
Nobuyuki Idei
President, Asia Innovators’ Initiative
Founder and CEO, Quantum Leaps Corporation
Former Chairman and CEO, Sony Corporation
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1．Outline
The Young Entrepreneur Award (YEA) is an international business plan competition for
promising students from top universities in Asian countries. Our vision is to create an Asian
entrepreneurial platform that brings together Asia’s young entrepreneurs with investors to
discover and produce technologies and content with high potential.
The 2nd YEA in 2013 received 143 entries from 20 countries/regions across Asia. Thirteen
semi-finalists went through online presentations at the second round, and as a result, the
selected 8 finalists were invited to the final round in Tokyo and made their excellent pitch in
front of a large audience including prominent business leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors etc.
We are expecting an even wider coverage of participation from Asia for the 3rd YEA this year.
In addition to the stage of the final round, the finalists can also join one-week program for
visiting leading companies, networking with business leaders at Asia Innovation Forum (AIF)
2015, and experiencing both traditional and modern culture of Japan with the Japanese
university students.
【Organizers】
・Asia Innovators’ Initiative (President: Nobuyuki Idei, www.asia-ii.org)
・Fourth Valley Concierge Corporation (CEO: Yohei Shibasaki, http://www.4th-valley.com/)
YEA is organized by Asia Innovators’ Initiative, a non-profit organization with a mission to
nurture people who will spur innovation in Asia, and Fourth Valley Concierge Corporation, a
global recruiting company that operates a worldwide student network of top universities called
“Top Career International.”
【The Final Round of the 3rd YEA】
Date: December 3, 2015
Venue(tentative):
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)
7-22-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-8677, JAPAN
*Asia Innovation Forum (AIF) 2015 will be held on December 2, 2015, the day before the
final round of YEA, which all the finalists can participate in.
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【What is Asia Innovation Forum (AIF)？】
To "multiply" various factors in a manner that will create a "chemical reaction" for innovation, you need a
venue that brings together relevant players.
- That venue is "Asia Innovation Forum."
AIF, created in 2007, is an annual event brings together the best and brightest established business leaders, young
entrepreneurs, investors and other thought-leaders in Asia to interact with each other in pursuit of Asia's long-term
economic growth and sustainable social progress.
Every year, AIF, attended by over 400-600 participants, focuses
on the common challenges Asia is facing, and examines case studies of innovation throughout the world to formulate
a hypothesis for the creation of new industries and businesses of the 21 st century.
2. Incentives
(1) Accommodations, international airfare (round trip economy class), and other transportation
expenses in Japan for the invited finalists will be provided.
(2) Finalists will be invited to join 1 week program for networking and cultural experience in
Tokyo, including participation in Asia Innovation Forum (AIF) 2015 and site visits to
leading companies/entrepreneurs, which would expand their network with people in the
front line of world business including top venture capitalists.
(3) Finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their business plan to highly experienced
business leaders and get feedback that will help them refine their plans as well as
presentation skills.
(4) The 1st winner will be awarded US$10,000. + Other sponsored awards will be presented.
3. Eligibility for Entry
(1) Individuals or groups of students enrolled at universities, both undergraduate and graduate
level, in Asian countries, who plan to establish their new business are eligible.
Individuals
who have graduated within the past five years as of December 2015 are also eligible.
Applicants who have already established their own companies are also eligible as long as
the company’s establishment was within the past five years.
*Please note that only the representative of the group will be invited to the final round in
Japan as a finalist.
(2) Any type of business or industry field is acceptable.
(3) Language: Japanese or English, both for the written materials and oral presentation.
(4) The business plan must be the original work of the applicant and must not have received an
award from other competitions in the past.
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4. Selection Process & Schedule
(1) Entry period: July 15 – September 30, 2015
※Deadline for submission:
September 30, 2015, 18:00 hrs (Japan time).
Please download the Application Form online from http://www.aif21c.com/yea/en/ or
https://www.facebook.com/AsiaInnovationForum and kindly fill in the information
requested. Limit your application to no more than two pages, and email it as an Excel file
to info@asia-ii.org. If you have any additional material related to your business plan,
please attach it with the Application Form (optional). As for the additional materials, there
are no volume limits so you can submit as much as you want.
(2) First round (screening of application materials): October 1-9, 2015
Semi-finalists will be selected after a screening of application materials.
(3) Notification of first round results: October 12, 2015
(4) Second round (online presentations by semi-finalists): October 13- October 22, 2015
All semi-finalists will be required to give online oral presentations of approximately 10
minutes. (*Further details will be given to semi-finalists with the notification of the result.)
(5) Notification of second round results: October 23, 2015
In principle, 7-8 finalists in total will be selected and announced by the date above. With
comments from judges at the oral presentation, the finalists can refine their business plans
for the final round. Final presentation materials must be submitted to the Secretariat prior to
the final round. (*Further details will be communicated to the finalists in due course.)
(6) Final round: Open presentation and award ceremony on December 3, 2015
The final round will start with an opening speech by a guest speaker and proceed to open
presentations (10-15 minutes each) by the finalists. The winner will be announced at the in
the evening of the same day.
Note:
※1. Applicants who have been selected as semi-finalists or finalists are asked to refrain from
withdrawing from the competition.
※2. We are unable to answer any questions regarding individual results of the selection process,
such as the reason for failure.
5. Criteria for Selection
The criteria for selection will mainly focus on entrepreneurial vision, creativity, marketability,
competitive advantages and management capability. Of course the plan should be original and
unique and applicants should have full copyrights of the plan. From the Second Round onward,
communication ability and entrepreneurial potential will be considered as additional key
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criteria.
6. Award
・First Prize: US$10,000 + α
・Other prizes to top ranked participants
7．Judges
The panel of judges is comprised of highly experienced business leaders, investors and venture
capitalists, who have had extensive success in finding and supporting venture efforts in the
global market. They will provide comments and advice to semi-finalists and finalists on how
to improve each business plan.
Judges in 2013:
■ Nobuyuki Idei, President, Asia Innovators’ Initiative; Founder and CEO, Quantum Leaps
Corporation; Former Chairman and CEO, Sony Corporation
■ Akira Kurabayashi, Senior Director, Corporate Development, salesforce.com
■Arimasa Naitoh, Lenovo Fellow, VP, STIC, TPG, Lenovo (Japan) Ltd.
■ Hirokazu Hasegawa, Professor, Waseda Business School, Waseda University;
Managing Partner, Global Venture Capital
■ Masataka Matsumoto, Co-Founder & General Partner, World Innovation Lab
■ Timothy C. Draper,Founder and a Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ)
■ Tomohiro Ishii, Executive Partner, Quantum Leaps Corporation
■ Yohei Shibasaki, President & CEO, Fourth Valley Concierge Corporation
*For details, visit our website and download the application.
*The judges for 2015 competition will be announced later.
8．Secretariat Information
Secretariat of Young Entrepreneur Award
(c/o Asia Innovators’ Initiative)
Address:
Pakside Six 502, Akasaka 9-5-12, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052, Japan
Tel: +81-(0)3-5785-3968
URL :
Fax: +81-(0)3-5785-3969
E-mail: info@asia-ii.org
http://www.aif21c.com/yea/en/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AsiaInnovationForum
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APPENDIX
【Organizers】
■
Asia Innovators’ Initiative (AII)
http://www.asia-ii.org
AII is a nonprofit organization newly established in 2012.
AII aims to create a platform of a
diverse range of individuals from different sectors by organizing activities such as workshops,
seminars and international forums.
AII encourages initiatives that go beyond existing
boundaries between public and private, for-profit and non-profit, and different industries to
develop innovative solutions to common problems and create sustainable social progress in
Asia.
■ Fourth Valley Concierge Corporation
http://www.4th-valley.com/index.html
Fourth Valley Concierge Corporation has a worldwide network of approximately 700 top
universities (as of November 2011) and maintains a database of high-level human resources of
both enrolled students and graduates. Fourth Valley Concierge Corporation supports the
globalization efforts of Japanese companies through high-level global human resources
recruiting services, foreign languages services, research, marketing and sales. As a global
consulting company specializing in human capital, Fourth Valley Concierge Corporation aims to
become a hub in the borderless shift of global human capital.
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