AI Venture Challenge 2026 | India-Japan Deep Tech Fest

One pitch. 10 minutes. Tokyo. July 23. The winner gets a dedicated team of 4-6 engineers for 12 weeks of healthcare AI startup development. Sprint-based. Compliance-first. Full code ownership. No equity.

The India × Japan DeepTech & AI Venture Challenge 2026 is a one-day Demo Day in Tokyo where 15 selected Japanese founders pitch to investors, strategic partners, and the engineering team that builds the winner's product.

This is not an accelerator. This is not a conference. This is a curated venture challenge where the prize isn't cash. It's a dedicated engineering team.

Event Duration: 8 hours
Language: English + Japanese (Bilingual)
Capacity: 15 founders + investors/partners (intentionally capped)

WHAT YOU WIN
Grand Prize — $30,000 in WEBMOB Engineering Credits
A dedicated team of 4-6 engineers building the winner's product for 10-12 weeks.
· Week 0: Scope lock. Requirements agreed before any code is written.
· Weeks 1-2: Solution design. Architecture, data flow, sprint plan.
· Weeks 3-10: Build sprints. Working demo every two weeks.
· Weeks 11-12: QA, documentation, repository transfer, roadmap.
· 100% code ownership at handover. Zero equity taken.

All 15 Cohort Founders Receive:
· WEBMOB development at 50% of standard pricing
· 1-on-1 strategic review session before Demo Day
· Direct VC and partner pitch access on stage
· Bilingual India-Japan network introductions (50+ professionals)

WHO SHOULD APPLY
· Japanese founders, or founders based in Japan building for the Japanese market
· Pre-seed, seed, or early Series A stage
· Bilingual (English + Japanese) strongly preferred
· Must have a clear problem, identifiable users, and technical ambition

Sectors:

Healthcare AI · BioTech · Robotics · Enterprise AI · Industrial AI · Climate Tech · FinTech · EdTech · MedTech
If the only thing between you and a shipped product is an engineering team, this program was designed for you.

PROOF: WHAT WEBMOB HAS SHIPPED IN JAPAN
HekaBio — Healthcare decision intelligence platform for an Alfresa Holdings partner. 8 engineers, 3 months. Replaced fragmented spreadsheets with a unified AI platform.
BeME — AI obscenity shield for a Tokyo AI safety company. DeepFace + InsightFace + FAISS across millions of images. 7 engineers. Third deployment phase.
Digital Platformer — Doubled blockchain TPS from 50 to 100+ in under one month. Japan's first deposit-backed stablecoin infrastructure.
Pupil Analysis — AI neurological detection via smartphone camera. Won at Mayo Clinic J-StarX program.

PROGRAM CURATORS
Sachin Gupta — Co-Founder & Chief Technology Strategist, WEBMOB Software Solutions

15+ years building scalable B2B technology across APAC and EMEA. Clients across Japan, Switzerland, the GCC, and the US. ISO 9001:2015 and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified. Backed by KiwiTech.
Shige Sasaki — Japan Program Curator, Forcelifescience

25 years in life science and AI. Two M&A exits. Former COO/CBO at OriCiro Genomics (acquired by Moderna). Deeply networked across Japan's founder and investor community.

TIMELINE
Now → July 10: Applications open
July 10-14: Selection (15 founders, rolling basis)
July 14-22: 1-on-1 strategic review sessions
July 23: Demo Day in Tokyo

Post Demo Day: Grand Prize build begins

TICKETS
Founder Pass — Free

For Japanese founders applying to the cohort. Application-based selection. 15 spots only.
Investor / Partner Pass — Free (By Invitation)

For VCs, CVCs, and strategic partners attending Demo Day. Contact organizers directly.

Date: 23 July 2026
Time: 10:00 - 23:00
Venue: Tokyo

Company name: Join The India Japan Deep Tech Fest