KAKEZAN 2026 also featured the final pitch session of the Toyota Woven City Challenge—Hack the Mobility—, a pitch contest designed to recruit new partners.

Weavers from Woven City also participated in the selection process, voting for startups whose ideas they felt would be useful in everyday life.

Of the 10 companies that made it to the final round, four—Aillis, JOYCLE, PUBLIC Technologies, and Aerial Base—received the most votes.

Although the original plan was to select three companies, following strong support from Weavers and the judges, who expressed a desire to back these inventors, the organizers decided to set aside the initial rules and name all four as winners.

The spirit of “starting by trying” and “starting the momentum”, values that define Woven City, were evident right up to the very last moment.

An overview of each company’s core business and the themes they will focus on in their pilot testing within Woven City is provided at the end of this article.

When this pitch contest first began, Toyota Times spoke with Nobuhisa Otsuki and Daisuke Tanaka, who took part at that time. Looking back on the selection process, they shared the following reflections.

Otsuki
Thanks to everyone involved, we were able to come this far. We consider even those who were not selected to be our partners. Once their capabilities are further strengthened, we hope they will try again.

Tanaka
We received applications not only from startups but also from individuals and academia. It was truly heartwarming to see startups meeting for the first time at the briefing session decide on the spot to apply together, demonstrating Kakezan in real time.

As mentioned in SVP Toyoda’s speech, in addition to these four companies, the AI Robotics Association, Daiichikosho, Joby Aviation, and Toyota Financial Services will also participate as inventors.

With new members joining the effort, momentum for Kakezan continues to build.