Yamaha Announces Winners of Its First Global Business Contest TRANSPOSE Innovation Challenge

Hamamatsu, Japan ― Yamaha Corporation announced the winners of its inaugural global business contest, the TRANSPOSE Innovation Challenge, following the final pitch event held on February 25 in Yokohama. The contest ― hosted by Yamaha and supported by the Economic Affairs Bureau of the City of Yokohama ― was launched to accelerate the creation of new value rooted in sound, in collaboration with innovators and startups around the world.

After a competitive evaluation process, Moodsonic (U.K.; CEO Evan Benway) received the Grand Prix. Yamaha will provide Moodsonic with financial support to conduct a proof of concept (PoC) and to advance the business partnership between the two companies.

Other award winners included Rap Fame (Yamaha Award), Ear screen presented by a Yamaha in-house team (YMI Award) and Eupnoos (YMI Fund Award). Each team will be offered a range of opportunities to explore potential business collaboration with Yamaha.

The final pitch featured 11 teams ― 10 startups selected from 314 submissions from 63 countries and regions, plus one internal Yamaha proposal. As a new attempt to let the audience experience the finalists' visions with all five senses, the event introduced a one-minute Sound Storytelling session. Responding to the finalists' passion and aspirations, a live musical ensemble performed in a jazz-session style, bringing each team's vision to life in a vivid and immersive way.

A panel of five judges, including Atsushi Yamaura, president and representative executive officer of Yamaha Corporation, evaluated the Sound Storytelling segment and the five-minute business presentations based on alignment with the challenge themes to select the Grand Prix and other award winners.

"This new initiative, the Transpose Innovation Challenge, attracted a broad range of innovative ideas from around the world, underscoring the strong potential at the intersection of sound, technology and social issues ― and the growing importance of sound and music in the future," said Atsushi Yamaura, president and representative executive officer of Yamaha Corporation. Guided by our corporate philosophy of 'Sharing Passion and Performance,' Yamaha aims to contribute to the well-being of people around the world through sound and music. By combining the fresh perspectives of startups, the support of our sponsors, and Yamaha's strengths in technology, sensibilities and our global customer base, we can accelerate new value creation. We will continue expanding this global circle of co-creation."

In April 2025, Yamaha established a new business development division under the direct supervision of the president to accelerate innovations that create new value. Under the name "TRANSPOSE," Yamaha is building frameworks and processes for new business creation while developing new ventures. The TRANSPOSE Innovation Challenge is one of these initiatives, designed to cultivate ambitious new businesses and services in collaboration with global innovators and partner organizations that bring cutting-edge technologies, products and ideas.

For details: https://yamaha-music.agorize.com/ja/challenges/transpose-innovation-challenge-2025?lang=en