Announcement of the final judges for the second phase of the CCC Group's collaboration and support program for venture companies, "T-VENTURE PROGRAM"

2015.09.25 Press Releases
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. / T-MEDIA Holdings Co., Ltd.

The winners are Rin Kobayashi (Representative Director, International School of Asia Karuizawa), Norihiko Sasaki (Director, NewsPicks Inc.), and Taizo Son (President and CEO, Mistletoe Inc.)

We are pleased to announce that in addition to the CCC Group's executives, guest judges from outside the CCC Group have been selected as final judges for the "T-VENTURE PROGRAM" (TVP), a collaboration and support program for venture companies run by Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. (Head office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Muneaki Masuda; hereinafter referred to as "CCC") and T-MEDIA Holdings Inc. (Head office: Meguro-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Toru Sakurai; hereinafter referred to as "T-MEDIA"), which oversees the CCC Group's Internet business. The final judges for this program include Mr. Rin Kobayashi (Representative Director, International School of Asia Karuizawa), Mr. Norihiko Sasaki (Director, NewsPicks Inc.), and Mr. Taizo Son (President and CEO, Mistletoe Inc.).

■Message to all TVP applicants

・Rin Kobayashi
"We believe that ventures are the source of disruptive creation. We look forward to meeting all of you as you take on exciting endeavors to create something from nothing and further pursue social impact. "
・Norihiko Sasaki
"I'm not a business professional, but from the standpoint of an editor, I would like to discover good businesses that have a story behind their strategy, are stylish, and are useful to society. "

■About the TVP final judges ※The judges below are listed in alphabetical order
Judging Committee Chair: Muneaki Masuda (President and CEO of Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.)
Hiroki Ishida (CIO, Director, Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.)
Kazuhiko Kitamura (Vice President, CCC Marketing Co., Ltd.)
Rin Kobayashi (Representative Director, International School of Asia, Karuizawa)
Toru Sakurai (President and CEO, T-MEDIA Holdings Inc.)
Norihiko Sasaki (Director, NewsPicks Inc.)
Taizo Son (President and CEO, Mistletoe Inc.)
Kazuo Nakanishi (President and CEO of Culture Entertainment Inc.)
Yuji Horiguchi (President and CEO of IMJ Investment Partners Pte. Ltd.)
Takeshi Yoshimura (President and CEO, Digital Hollywood Inc.)

Introducing the guest judges

Rin Kobayashi, Representative Director, International School of Asia Karuizawa
He received a full scholarship from the Japan Business Federation and studied abroad alone at a boarding international school in Canada. Based on this experience, he studied development economics at university and in his previous job he was stationed in the Philippines as a program officer for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), where he was involved in informal education for street children. Witnessing the overwhelming social disparity, he keenly felt the need for leadership education. He returned to Japan in August 2008 to establish the school, and after seven years of planning, the school opened in August 2014.
Biography: Obtained International Baccalaureate Diploma in 1993, graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tokyo in 1998, and completed a Master's degree at the School of Education at Stanford University in 2005.
Awards: AERA "100 People Rebuilding Japan" (2012), Nikkei Business "Changemaker of the Year" (2013), Nikkei Woman "Woman of the Year 2015" (2014)
Other: Selected as a Young Global Leader in 2012 by the World Economic Forum, known for the Davos Conference, and has served as an advisory board member since 2015. Since February 2014, he has been a member of the Working Group on People's Active Participation in the Cabinet Office's Committee on Choosing the Future. Since October 2014, he has been a member of the Global/Innovative Human Resources Working Group of the Cabinet Secretariat's Education Rebuilding Implementation Council.

Norihiko Sasaki, Director, NewsPicks Inc.
Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1979. Graduated from the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University and obtained a master's degree from Stanford University Graduate School (majoring in international politics and economics). He is in charge of the automotive and IT industries at Toyo Keizai Inc. In November 2012, he became editor-in-chief of Toyo Keizai Online. Within four months of the renewal, the site recorded 53.01 million page views, making it the number one business magazine site. His books include "Are American-Made Elite Really Great?" and "Will the Media Be Profitable in Five Years?"

Taizo Son, President and CEO of Mistletoe Inc.
In 1996, while studying at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tokyo, he participated in the launch of Yahoo! Japan and made a significant contribution to the project as the head of content development. He then founded Indigo Co., Ltd., which supports Yahoo! Japan's operations and content production, and became its representative director. In 1998, he participated in the establishment of Onsale Co., Ltd., the predecessor of GungHo Online Entertainment, Inc., and became its representative director. In 2009, he founded MOVIDA JAPAN Co., Ltd. to begin full-scale startup support and became its representative director and CEO. In 2013, Mistletoe Inc. was founded to provide comprehensive startup support beyond seed acceleration. He contributes to the formation and development of the startup ecosystem by supporting numerous entrepreneur and startup development activities, such as ABBALab Inc., which develops IoT startups, and GEUDA General Incorporated Association, which provides entrepreneurial training to industrial designers, building startup communities, investing in and nurturing domestic and international startups, and investing in independent venture capital funds. In 2015, GungHo Online Entertainment, Inc. was listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Materials related to this matter
Announcement of the final judges for the second phase of the CCC Group's collaboration and support program for venture companies, "T-VENTURE PROGRAM"

Inquiries regarding this matter
T-MEDIA Holdings Co., Ltd. Public Relations: Tada/Azuma TEL: 03-6800-4491