YOUR NEXT LEAP STARTS AT NTT STARTUP CHALLENGE 2026 BIGGER, LOUDER, AND BOLDER
COUNTDOWN TO GRAND FINAL
11th November 2026
History of NTT
Startup Challenge
Welcome to NTTSC (NTT Startup Challenge), a leading platform that fosters the startup ecosystem across Southeast Asia, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Since 2016, we have attracted over 8,200 applications and empowered more than 5,000 startups to drive innovative business development. This year, NTT Holdings and its group companies are proud to host the program, reinforcing our commitment to nurturing innovation. Join us to unlock dynamic partnerships, as NTT shares its extensive resources to support innovation and growth across SEA, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, India and Australia.
8,200+
Participants
5,000+
Startups
10+
Countries
335+
Partners
Direct Access to Industry Leaders and Capital
Step into the NTTSC to engage face-to-face with a diverse array of industry leaders, potential partners, and fellow innovators. This platform gives you a rare chance to secure critical funding, gain valuable insights, and build partnerships that can accelerate your startup's growth and visibility in the industry.
Showcase Your Startup Among the Best
Compete and stand out among thousands of regional startups for a chance to become a finalist at NTTSC. Selected by NTT, top startups gain spotlight exposure, attracting support and recognition that can catapult your business to the forefront of the startup ecosystem across Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, India, and Australia.
Leverage NTT’s Ecosystem for Growth
NTTSC is powered by a coalition of NTT group companies, providing a unique platform to access comprehensive resources, technologies, and partnerships. Exploit this collective strength to scale your startup globally, exploring new dimensions in Fintech, Agritech, AI and more.
Awards
2nd Place Winner
$5,000
1st PLACE
$10,000
3rd Place Winner
$3,000
Meet the Speakers & Judges of 2026
Kuan Hsu
Fund Manager, Synexia Ventures
Kuan Hsu is the Managing Director of Synexia Ventures, an investment vehicle established to reinforce NTT Group’s business development in Southeast Asia. Synexia Ventures aims to further strengthen these Group-wide initiatives by establishing an investment platform specialized in Southeast Asia, accelerating NTT Group’s collaboration with local startups and fostering new business creation in the region.
Akie Iriyama
Professor, Waseda Business School
Akie Iriyama is a professor at Waseda Business School. His research in strategic management, international business, and entrepreneurship has been published in prestigious journals. Previously, he worked as an industrial economist and consultant at Mitsubishi Research Institute Inc. in Japan.
Takeshi Ebihara
Founding General Partner of Rebright Partners
Takeshi Ebihara is Founding General Partner at Rebright Partners, VC firm invests in Seed to Series-A Startups in SE Asia and India includes Indonesian Largest IPO company Bukalapak (1st round Lead/Solo), Philipino Largest tech exit company Coins.Ph (1st round co-lead), multiple Indian Unicorn and Soonicorns. Ebihara has been in the industry more than decades as a venture capitalist as well as serial entrepreneur started his career at JAFCO, the largest VC/PE firm in Japan in 1994. He also founded and managed several Tech companies includes Tokyo Stock-EX Listed Public Company.
Hsien-Hui Tong
Executive Director, SG Innovate
Leads SGInnovate’s investments in Southeast Asia, backing AI, robotics and quantum startups.
Ben Tulloch
Executive Managing Director, NTT Data APAC
Advisory lead for Asia Pacific at NTT DATA across cloud, data & AI, cybersecurity and digital platforms.
Yuma Kotake
Managing Director, NTT Docomo Ventures
Yuma Kotake is the director of NTT Docomo Ventures, a corporate venture capital of NTT Group, and responsible for investment in Southeast Asia. He also has more than 10 years of experience as in-house lawyer dealing with cross-border M&A and alliance.
Ken Katsuyama
Senior Vice President, NTT
Ken Katsuyama is the Senior Vice President, Head of Global Business at Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT). His current responsibility is the global business of the whole NTT group. In addition, he is a member of the board of directors of NTT DATA, Inc., a major operating company of NTT group covering outside of Japan.
Meet Us at NTT Startup Challenge Offline Events
Partners & Community Partners
Our Community Speaks
"NTT Startup Challenge has helped Ravenry open many doors especially while we were in our early stages. NTT Startup Challenge helped us access the Japanese market, providing us with insights and business matching opportunities. As a result of that, we very quickly managed to acquire several long-term Japanese organisations as clients. NTT Startup Challenge has continued to engage Ravenry with valuable collaboration and networking opportunities since we participated in 2018. We are proud participants of the program, and look forward to continuing our relationship with NTT as we grow our business."
"As a trusted partner of NTT, Qontak since 2017 has been able to leverage NTTs company ecosystem, a wide network of enterprise connections and a number of customers. We sincerely thank NTT for joint go-to market support over the years and for more collaborations in the future. The NTT startup challenge was especially helpful and the pinnacle of our working relationship having bridged over 400 tech companies to jointly collaborate and cross sell."
"We at ProfilePrint are honored and fortunate to have won 1st place at the inaugural NTT Startup challenge 2024 which allowed us to work closely with NTT Group as a strategic partner to deepen our market penetration. It not only expedited our expansion into the Japan market but also allowed us to work alongside NTT group companies in serving the larger global market."
"This 2025 NTT Startup Challenge received more than 1000 applicants, which is the largest around the globe."
"It has been a true privilege to be involved with the NTT Startup Challenge since 2017 and to witness its evolution into a leading platform for collaboration between startups across Asia and the NTT Group. NTT Startup Challenge offers an exceptional gateway to NTT Group’s vast resources, networks, and markets—enabling win-win partnerships that drive real innovation. I wholeheartedly encourage startups across Asia to seize this opportunity and be part of a vibrant ecosystem of shared success together with the NTT Group. I am really looking forward to the expansion of the impact that the NTT Startup Challenge has brought to the ecosystem, that would be amazing thing to witness going forward."
"My hope for the challenge is that innovative solutions continually float up get recognized by NTT."
"I am really looking forward to collaborating with NTT together make many opportunities and fun things."
"We are hoping that the NTT Startup Challenge will grow stronger and stronger by the year, and hopefully next year, there will be more than 1200 applications and see even greater startup innovation ideas come to the market and join the challenge."
News & Activity
News Activities
News Articles