Miraise Partner Iwata Hosts Interactive Guest Lecture at Chuo University for Third Year
TLDR
- Miraise Partner & CEO Iwata delivered a third consecutive guest lecture at Chuo University’s Global Entrepreneurship course, shifting to a roundtable format to maximize in-class engagement.
Key Takeaways
- The January 19, 2026 lecture was part of Chuo University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering course on Global Entrepreneurship, now in its third year with Miraise.
- Iwata observed that past sessions generated the most energy after class, with students lining up individually in hallways; this year he restructured the session to capture that energy during class time.
- The new format compressed the introduction and devoted the bulk of time to an open roundtable, with Iwata directly encouraging students to ask questions now rather than later.
- Students who were initially hesitant gradually opened up, sharing personal visions and asking substantive questions; the post-class queue of individual questions did not form.
- Several students sent follow-up emails after the session expressing specific takeaways and gratitude.
Why It Matters
- Miraise is actively investing in university relationships as a pipeline for next-generation founders, committing to accept lecture and seminar requests at educational institutions as schedule allows.
- The format experiment – roundtable over lecture – offers a replicable model for VCs seeking more authentic early-stage founder engagement on campuses.
- Professor Shinya Fujii of Chuo University is credited as the recurring facilitator of this partnership, suggesting an institutional anchor for ongoing Miraise campus presence.
miraise.vc · 2026-01-29 · Read the original