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Ayuko Nakamura
EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ Asia-Pacific Class of 2025
Founder and CEO, eiicon Co. Ltd, Japan
Ayuko Nakamura is the Founder and CEO of eiicon Co. Ltd, a business consulting firm based in Japan. She launched eiicon as a new vertical within the Persol Group in 2015. In 2023, eiicon became an independent business and currently employs more than 50 professionals.
Determined to shift Japan's business landscape toward a more interconnected future, Ayuko envisioned a space for open innovation. This led her to initiate an in-house entrepreneurship program at Persol Group, her employer at the time. In 2018, she created and launched AUBA, an open innovation platform that quickly became one of Japan's largest, with over 33,000 registered companies.
Ayuko also cofounded XSprout Co. Ltd., in collaboration with the Spiral Group, where she serves as a Director. She authored The Laws of Success in Open Innovation, released in 2019. The company was honored with the Cabinet Office's Fourth Japan Service Excellence Award and was also featured as a promising venture in Weekly Toyo Keizai's Amazing 100 Ventures 2023 edition.
Ayuko is committed to elevating Japan to the forefront of open innovation, fostering an environment where innovation is a strategic and purposeful process. She aims to broaden eiicon’s presence in the Southeast Asian market, targeting expansion into Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
eiicon Co. Ltd’s vision is to transform Japan into a global leader of open innovation, shaping a future where purposeful innovation is standard, enhancing national competitiveness and ensuring prosperity for generations.