AIC Hosts Keio Student Networking Event: Connecting with Your Driven Peers

On April 25, 2025, Keio AIC held a social gathering for students and young entrepreneurs to foster community and engagement between like-minded individuals titled, “Keio Student Networking Event: Connecting with Your Driven Peers.” For this event, AIC invited six entrepreneurs active in various fields such as IT, marketing, and startup support, to share their personal stories about how they started their businesses and their experiences managing them today. The event proved an invaluable opportunity for students, who were able to meet and exchange thoughts with like-minded peers in addition to the entrepreneurs in attendance, discussing their ideas for potential startups and their future career paths.

Sixty-two students participated in the event, gaining inspiration and insight through discussions with the speakers and networking with other attendees.

Entrepreneurs Speaking at the Event

Moments from the Event

【Entrepreneur Presentations】

【Panel Discussion and Q&A Session】

【Participant Networking】

Comments from Participants

【Highlights】

-“For me personally, it was the first time I was able to meet with young entrepreneurs who have their own businesses. Hearing their honest opinions on things made it a very valuable experience. It made me realize that one of the potential career paths I could follow in the future would be to do my own startup, work at one, or launch some type of business.”

-“Before this event, I didn’t have a clear picture of what it would look like to start a business. Now that I was able to interact with the speakers here, I feel like I have a good handle of the realities behind being an entrepreneur. Also, being able to ask personal questions during the ‘free talk’ portion of the event was very inspiring, as it allowed me to interact with highly motivated individuals and gain new insights.

【Other Comments】

-“I hope this event becomes a regular series! I will definitely participate if they do!”

-“It was very interesting and I learned a lot. I would love the opportunity to hear from even more people.”

Acknowledgments:

AIC would like to thank everyone for their tremendous and varied forms of support in organizing this event.

Facilitator: Shigeru Shiina (Visiting Professor, Faculty of Science and Technology), Maverick Inc.

Keio AIC Project Professor: Mari Kobayashi

AIC Office Staff: Fumio Kohno, Jonah Egashira

AIC Student Administrators: Riku Morita, Leo Tanaka, Reiko Takagi, Mirai Yamamoto, Hirotaka Tatsumi, Mei Yasujima, Kotaro Seki