Thinking about Entrepreneurship with DNX Ventures（7 classes）
<Understanding the current situation of entrepreneurship as an option from the perspective of social needs and the motivations of those involved, and learning its essence in a practical way>
● Courses to be offered in 3-4Q to which this program applies (For graduate students, intensive course) :
-TAL.S503 Professionals and Value Creation B (0-1-0, GA0M)
-TAL.S508 Professionals and Value Creation D (For graduate students who completed “Professionals and Value Creation B” above) (0-1-0, GA0M)
●Course to be offered in 3-4Q to which this program applies (For undergraduate students, intensive course) :
-ENT.V202 Bachelor’s Fundamental Group Work for Value Creation B (0-1-0)
Pre-registration is now open for a new program to be offered in 3Q-4Q of this academic year. Those who wish to enroll in a course must register for one of the above courses from the Kyomu Web System at the beginning of the 3rd quarter, and those who have applied to this pre-registration will be given priority for enrollment. If you are interested in this program, please apply using the pre-registration form in the section shown in red below.
Introduction
We will start a full-fledged Entrepreneurship Course in the fall semester of this academic year.
The program is full of contents related to “entrepreneurship to create new values and set them in society” with a focus on “startups”. The program consists of lectures by entrepreneurs who will passionately share their real experiences of how they started their businesses; not just “how-tos,” but what their goals are and what they thought about when they started their businesses.
Furthermore, Mr. Kurabayashi, Head of Japan, and Mr. Shiraishi, Partner, of DNX Ventures, a venture capital firm that has made many investments and fostered startups in Japan and the U.S. are invited as lecturers for this program, and provided full cooperation in the structure and contents for all seven sessions. Through this program, students will be able to understand the reality of entrepreneurship to “develop and create new value,” which is the goal of the entrepreneurship education of this university, and will be able to understand the essence of “business” for those who are interested in start-ups as well as those who are not. These will give you a wide range of knowledge and options for your future career, regardless of which field you choose to pursue. The program forms the core of the university’s entrepreneurship education.
This is a rare opportunity not to be missed! We strongly encourage both undergraduate and graduate students to take the course or participate in the program.
Part-time Lecturer：Akira Kurabayashi
DNX Ventures Managing Partner/Head of Japan
Reference photo of class
A groundbreaking entrepreneurship course:
This full-scale entrepreneurship training course is groundbreaking in the following ways:
- The content of this course will be produced and lectured by DNX Ventures, a world-class venture capital firm based in both Japan and the United States.
- Takeo Inada, founder and CEO of Andpad, and Takashi Nakagawa, Representative Director and CEO of Kakehashi Inc., will give a lecture as guest speaker entrepreneurs who are getting their startups off the ground. They will share not only their actual experiences in starting and operating their own business, but also their own principles in operating their business.
- You will understand the day-to-day operations of venture capitalists who invest in and nurture new businesses and companies every day, and entrepreneurs who create value.
- Rather than simply listening to a lecture, you can have direct discussions with the lecturers and guests (entrepreneurs), expand your network, and use it as an opportunity to think about your own entrepreneurship.
- It is not just a matter of whether you are interested in starting a business or not, but it will help you understand the what is going on in society today and broaden your options.
- Undergraduate students can take this course as the 200-level “ENT V.202 Bachelor’s Fundamental Group Work for Value Creation B” and graduate students can take this course as the 500-level “TAL.S503 or TAL.S508 Professionals and Value Creation B/D.” (TAL.S508 Professionals and Value Creation D is for those who have already taken TAL.S503 Professional and Value Creation B.)
It is possible to participate in the program without registering for a course, but priority will naturally be given to those who register.
LECTURERS
DNX Ventures
Managing Partner/Head of Japan
Akira Kurabayashi (PhD)
Mr. Kurabayashi has been involved in venture investment and business development in the IT technology field in Japan and the U.S. at Fujitsu Ltd. and Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
After studying for his MBA, he served as the representative in Japan at Globespan Capital Partners and Salesforce Ventures.
He joined DNX Ventures in 2015, and became Managing Partner & Head of Japan in 2020. Major investments to date include Sansan, MoneyForward, Andpad, Kakehashi, DataX, TechTouch, and Commune.
-External advisor at Academy for Leadership, and former completion exam committee member at Academy for Global Leadership, Institute of Science Tokyo
-Part-time lecturer at Doshisha University and Institute of Science Tokyo
-Completed PhD at Graduate School of Policy and Management, Doshisha University (Technology and Innovative Management major); Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania (MBA); Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of Law (Business Law major)
-Publications: “Corporate Venture Capital Practice” (Chuokeizai-sha), article “Corporate Governance Challenges for Japanese Startups” (Junkan Shoji Homu No.2373 issued on November 5, 2024)
DNX Ventures
Partner
Yoshiki Shiraishi
After working at Fujitsu, Mr. Shiraishi became an executive officer at a venture capital firm in the biotech and hard tech sectors. He then moved to the investee company as vice president and executed the sale of the business to a listed company in Australia. After serving as an outside director for companies in the manufacturing and B2C sectors, he co-founded edtech company CLEARNOTE (formerly Arcterus) in 2010. As vice president, he was in charge of fundraising, capital and business alliances, management, and domestic business development. He sold the company to a major stationery company in 2021 and joined DNX Ventures in 2022. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics and the Graduate School of Business and Commerce (MBA) at Keio University.
-Part-time lecturer at Doshisha University and Institute of Science Tokyo
-Publication: Kozo Yamada, Yoshiki Shiraishi, “Acucela Inc.: an university spin-off by Japanese academic entrepreneur in the US” (Kigyo Kenkyu)
Guest speaker entrepreneurs
Takeo Inada
Representative Director and CEO of ANDPAD, Inc.
After graduating from the Faculty of Economics at Keio University, Mr. Inada worked in human resources, development, and new business development at Recruit Co.
In 2012, he established his company ANDPAD (formerly known as OCT) and developed ANDPAD, a construction management application for building and construction sites, with the mission to “make construction site supervisors and craftsmen happy in their work”. The app has grown to become the No. 1 construction management application with a market share of 233,000 companies and 684,000 users. He was ranked 3rd in Forbes Japan’s “Entrepreneurs in Japan 2022” list.
Takashi Nakagawa
Representative Director and CEO of Kakehashi, Inc.
After graduating from the Faculty of Law, The University of Tokyo, Mr. Nakagawa worked at McKinsey & Company before co-founding Kakehashi in 2016 with Yutaka Nakao, Representative Director and President of Kakehashi.
Mr. Nakagawa is working with pharmacies and pharmacists to build a platform that can transform patient behavior and address structural solutions in Japan’s healthcare challenges.
SCHEDULE AND OUTLINE
| Date and main topic | 【Class 1】Thursday, October 30, 2025: Capitalism and purpose management 【Class 2】Thursday, November 6, 2025: Lecture and discussion with a guest entrepreneur speaker (1) Guest speaker: Takeo Inada, Representative Director and CEO, Andpad *After the program, Andpad will hold an intern recruitment session. Students who wish to participate should remain in the classroom after the lecture. 【Class 3】Thursday, November 13, 2025: Methodology for starting a business (DNX Studio) 【Class 4】Thursday, November 20, 2025: Startup funding and VC evaluation 【Class 5】Thursday, December 4, 2025: Lecture and discussion with a guest entrepreneur speaker (2) Guest speaker: Takashi Nakagawa, Representative Director and CEO, Kakehashi Inc. 【Class 6】Thursday, December 11, 2025: Governance Theory 【Class 7】Thursday, December 18, 2025: Collaboration between startups and large corporations |
| Time | 5:30 p.m. -7:10 p.m. |
| Venue | Ookayama Campus (Classroom to be decided) |
| Language used | Japanese |
Pre-registration
■Please pre-register using this form (https://forms.office.com/r/frcb63zXni).
Official course registration via Kyomu web should be done separately by yourself in October.
You may also access the form from the QR code below.
Those who apply for pre-registration using this form will be given priority when you register for one of the courses. (ENT.V202, TAL.S503 or TAL.S508)
Pre-registration form（QR code）
Flyer
Click on the image or HERE to enlarge.
Reference
DNX Ventures website：https://www.dnx.vc/jp
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact:
Prof. Keisuke Yamada, Academy for Leadership (ToTAL) /Center for Entrepreneurship Education (CEE)
e-mail address: yamada.k.9f82@m.isct.ac.jp
Office: S6-309B, O-okayama
