ILLUMINATE 2023 Pitch Event Report

On February 16, 2023, ILLUMINATE was held at Moon Creative Lab's Tokyo studio. This pitch event invited seven select Idea Owners to share their new business idea to the Moon Committee in hopes to be selected for incubation. The event was live-streamed live for Mitsui employees all over the world.

What is ILLUMINATE?

ILLUMINATE is an event series that shines a light on the next generation of business creators to create something that’s never been done before.

All Mitsui employees are encouraged to submit their ideas to Moon, and if selected they will get a chance to pitch their ideas at the ILLUMINATE event. If they are chosen by the Moon Committee after the pitch, they are seconded to Moon, where they will become a Entrepreneur-in-Residence to work on creating their business while receiving support from Moon.

Since some Idea Owners participated remotely in other countries, the event was held in a hybrid format by connecting Moon's Palo Alto studio, Tokyo studio, and the locations of some Idea Owners.

Each team was given five minutes to pitch followed by a Q＆A session with  Moon Committee members. 

Discover ideas that will change the world!

Seven individual ideas and their Idea Owners from around the world participated at this ILLUMINATE event. 

• Eureka: an innovative space education program incorporating satellite development. 
• EcoTour: allows tourists to find and book ecological experiences in Japan. 
• LightningCare: a new choice for in-home care. 
• Pandora: uses AI for data visualization of car service diagnoses. 
• Artemia: improves the production of aquatic feed to keep up with demand. 
• Minutes Database: tracks meeting minutes to help collaboration. 
• Fulfiller: a curry-based weight loss meal program. 

Each team shared their pitch and passion as the event was live-streamed to Mitsui & Co. employees around the world. The event had a very active and in-depth Q&A session, with great questions, words of encouragement and support sent worldwide via the chat. 

Moon Creative Lab is always looking for new business Idea Owners to participate in the ILLUMINATE event series.