Team Japan Smart Chain Joining the Decacorn Cup

In March, the Decacorn Cup—a networking event that brought together Japan’s top startups—was held at the Yoyogi National Stadium futsal courts. Team JSC (from AltX Research KK) proudly joined the action.

Organized by KeisukeHonda, 32 teams representing startup companies came together for this unique initiative aimed at fostering team building and a friendly, competitive spirit through 4v4 futsal. Keisuke Honda leads X&KSK, an investor in AltX Research (the “labs” company launching JSC), and it was through this connection that some core members of the JSC development team were able to participate in the Decacorn Cup..

Team JSC gathered at 9am and, under the guidance of former professional soccer player Daisuke Nasu from Team KSK, we ran drills on the practice pitch until the opening ceremony at 9:40am. Before our first match at 10:15am, we also played a friendly match as a warm-up to get a feel for the team's movements.

Our first opponent was FirstShift Inc. Despite putting up a strong fight, we narrowly lost the game by just two goals. Compared to other matches that ended in blowouts, our team held its own and performed admirably. Unfortunately, as the tournament followed a single-elimination format, this meant our run ended there.

From that point on, Team JSC became full-time cheerleaders, soaking in the excitement of the remaining matches and participating in friendly matches with other technology startups - Keisuke Honda noted that the tech startups were the first to get eliminated - perhaps we spend too much time coding and not enough time running.  Watching the semi-finals and finals were especially thrilling. The winning Team KSK put on an exciting performance, with Keisuke Honda going into 'beast mode' during a tense moment when they led by just one point, making the crowd go wild.

After the closing ceremony, participants gathered for a networking session and social event. It was a great chance to connect with fellow players, representatives from the sponsoring companies, and key members from other startups.

It was a day filled with energy, connections, and inspiration. Team JSC will carry this momentum forward as we continue building our teamwork skills both on and off the soccer field.