A team comprised of Naoki Kubo, a 4th-year student in the School of Education; Kotono Shinagawa, a 4th-year student in the School of Economics; Yuta Aogai, a 4th-year student in the School of Informatics and Data Science; and Wenjuan Han, a 2nd-year student in the School of Integrated Arts and Sciences won the Grand Prize in the 2022 Campus Venture Grand Prix Chugoku Area Competition.

The winning team, led by Naoki Kubo, proposed a new service called "Makanai," a take-out platform that connects restaurants with users looking for affordable meals. The service involves restaurants preparing boxed lunches — bento — containing leftover food after business hours, which they post on a web application along with photos and other relevant information. Users can then reserve the bento they want based on the information provided. The service reduces food waste and allows users to purchase meals at a lower price.

“Taking this award as an encouragement, we will continue to develop new business ideas to solve social issues and create value for young people, such as website development and social media operation support targeting Generation Z,” said Kubo about the award. 

The award ceremony took place on January 19 in Hiroshima City. Kubo and his team also competed in the national Campus Venture Grand Prix competition held on February 3.