Developing and engaging technical talent is essential for Japan’s Regrowth, yet existing societal structures often fail to recognize this talent fairly, constraining compensation and career opportunities.
A prime example is Japan’s system of colleges of technology (KOSEN), which provide practical, experiment- and training-based specialized education. Although graduates possess university-level knowledge and skills, their associate degree can disadvantage them in recruitment, sometimes restricting the departments they can join. On top of this recognition issue, a structural challenge further narrows their potential: students at the 58 national, public, and private KOSEN nationwide have few opportunities to build networks beyond their own institutions.
In May 2021, Funder Storm, a project team within SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.’s innovation unit, the Nikko Open Innovation Lab (NOIL), identified the unique features and challenges of the KOSEN community while exploring ways to foster next-generation talent. This led them to launch an initiative aimed at addressing these issues.
The KOSEN Inter-College
Challenge: Breaking Down
School
Barriers Through Inter-
College Collaboration and
Tackling
Real-World Corporate
Issues
Funder Storm launched the KOSEN Inter-College Challenge as a platform to connect KOSEN students’ potential with society and spark a cycle of value creation.
The event is built on two distinctive mechanisms. The first is inter-college collaboration, where students from different KOSEN colleges form mixed teams, breaking down school barriers and gaining new perspectives by working with diverse peers.
The second is tackling real corporate issues. Participating companies present practical business challenges, and students develop ideas aimed at real-world implementation. This gives KOSEN students experience in a business environment beyond the classroom and helps them hone their problem-solving skills.
Haruka Shibasaki of NOIL, who joined the team in 2022 and now drives the initiative, explains the underlying motivation: “As I worked on the project, I realized we cannot create a healthier economic cycle unless we nurture the next generation. KOSEN students are a valuable source of talent for Japan. I came to believe we must raise awareness of this talent and provide opportunities for them to thrive.”
Bringing this initiative to life was far from straightforward. At first, KOSEN colleges worried that a new event would place extra burdens on already busy faculty. To address this, the team set up a structure in which the administrative office provides full operational support, while KOSEN alumni entrepreneurs serve as mentors, offering hands-on guidance to student teams.
Yuya Takahashi of NOIL, one of the project’s driving forces, recalls how effective this approach proved to be: “By creating a structure that placed almost no burden on faculty, we were able to proceed without adding to their workload. Some teachers even said they only learned the event had ended when students told them they had won an award.”
The operational structure has also evolved with each event. In April 2025, SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. began co-managing the Challenge with Nocode Research Institute Inc., introducing a dedicated platform developed by Nocode Research. This marked a new stage in building an industry-academia collaboration platform. The platform automated team formation, previously done manually, and enabled smoother communication among participants. Time saved through this digital transformation was redirected to more personalized guidance for students, further improving the quality of the event.
“Far Beyond Our Imagination”:
Implementation Skills
That
Shattered Corporate
Expectations
The final presentation, held under this robust support system, revealed the students’ exceptional implementation skills. They did not stop at presenting ideas: they used their programming abilities to rapidly create prototypes and demo videos. Alongside strong technical skills, they delivered novel ideas, well-crafted presentation materials, and mature Q&A responses. Their overall competence far exceeded corporate expectations, prompting one judge to say with open admiration, “I was amazed by their skill level, which was far higher than I had imagined.”
This experience also transformed the students’ mindset. One participating KOSEN student commented on practical skill development: “It was great to come up with and implement ideas for a challenge that a company wanted to solve, rather than simply implementing and submitting an assigned task.”
Another student reflected on team value creation: “I felt we could create something better by listening carefully to the company’s needs and feedback and engaging in dialogue with our team members.”
Building on this tangible success and proven track record, SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. is ensuring the event becomes not a one-off initiative but a catalyst for concrete actions to transform social structures.
First, the firm signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with the National Institute of Technology (NIT), an incorporated administrative agency that oversees the KOSEN colleges. This partnership, a first for a financial institution, aims to jointly build an ecosystem that continuously develops transformative talent with a global perspective, with KOSEN at its core.
Furthermore, from the April 2025 graduate intake, SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. began recruiting KOSEN graduates (excluding advanced course students) on the same compensation terms as university graduates, and the first KOSEN graduate has already joined in a career-track position.
Shibasaki explains the significance: “Through our accumulated efforts, our firm has become the financial institution with the closest ties to KOSEN. By hiring KOSEN graduates at a salary equivalent to university graduates, we believe we can help build a society where they are fairly recognized.”
The goal for the KOSEN Inter-College Challenge is to secure participation from all 58 KOSEN colleges nationwide, embedding the initiative more widely and deepening the spirit of challenge. Building on the comprehensive partnership agreement, the team also aims to create a sustainable framework in which highly skilled technical talent nurtured at KOSEN can thrive and drive transformation, by planning new industry-academia collaboration programs that spin off from the event.
To realize this vision, Takahashi emphasizes “creating value for all stakeholders.” For KOSEN students, the Challenge is an opportunity for growth; for companies, a chance to create new businesses; and for educational institutions, a way to deliver new educational value. For SMBC Group, nurturing the people who will shape the future of society leads to Creating Social Value and, in turn, sustainable economic growth.
Because the system aligns all parties in the same direction and enables each to realize their own value, the project overcomes difficulties and gains momentum. Building on this foundation, Shibasaki envisions a society where fairer recognition takes root.
“I believe that when hidden talent is properly recognized and shared globally, that cycle can become a catalyst for Japan’s Regrowth. In Japan and overseas, I want to work with people who resonate with the KOSEN Inter-College Challenge to further energize this community.”
