IVS 2026 adds an "IVS Family Tree" for referral tickets that shows how invitations are connected. A "Founder Ranking" that recognizes people who helped expand the chain is also planned for release in the future.

IVS2026, the largest startup conference in Japan, will be held over three days from Wednesday, July 1 to Friday, July 3, 2026, with Miyakomesse, Hotel Okura Kyoto, and other venues as its main locations. The referral ticket system introduced this year has already surpassed 1,000 referral registrations. We have added a new feature to this system, "IVS Family Tree" (referral graph), which visualizes invite connections. On the participant platform "4S (Force)", you can trace who invited you and whom you invited, just like a family tree. We also plan to release "Founder Ranking," which honors the original people who helped spread the chain of invitations, in the near future.

"IVS Family Tree" that lets you see invitation connections all at once

At IVS2026, the "IVS PASS" for entering IVS uses a "referral ticket" system. People who receive a referral code can obtain a PASS for free until the limit of 3,000 people is reached, and they will also be issued referral codes for two additional people.

Receive an introduction → Participate → Introduce someone else yourself

That is the "referral ticket" system.

Until now, the "referral ticket" system only let you check how many people you had invited. With this 4S update, you can now see the full picture of the connections—from the person who invited you to the people you invited—at a glance as the "IVS Family Tree."

Looking from yourself as the center, if you trace back to the person who invited you, and then to the person who invited them, you can go all the way back to the original starting point of the chain, the "progenitor." In the opposite direction, the branches extend outward through the people you invited and the people they invited. Since you can invite up to two people, the backward side remains a single line, while the outward side branches gently—creating a traceable shape.

When your connections are turned into a single diagram, the way you see them changes. Who will you meet at the venue, and who will you introduce to whom? Participants who are like "distant relatives," branching from the same progenitor, may be walking around the same venue. The IVS Family Tree becomes a map for finding those encounters.

Please note that the IVS Family Tree can only be viewed by IVS participants. You can view your own IVS Family Tree from the 4S screen.

▲ The image is a sample of the "IVS Family Tree."

"Founder Ranking" that honors the starting point of the chain (planned for future release)

Following the family tree update, we also plan to release a ranking page that honors the "progenitors" who created the referral chain.

A "progenitor" is someone who received a referral code directly from the IVS Executive Committee—in other words, someone at the top of the family tree (generation 0). Official side event organizers, speakers, and representatives of funding partners can all become progenitors of referrals. You invite someone you trust, and the person who was invited then invites the next trusted person. The circle expands. In the Founder Ranking, people whose chains have grown deeper and wider will appear higher in the rankings (rankings are calculated by the total number of people in the chain).

This is not simply a competition for invitation numbers. The first person invites someone they trust, and the invited person then invites another trusted person. That accumulation supports the quality of encounters across the entire IVS venue. The Founder Ranking is a page that visualizes the people who have expanded that chain of trust the most.

At present, speakers, Funding Partners, and side event organizers are included as progenitors.

Referral features for side events too

You can also use the same referral function for IVS side events launched on 4S. Side event organizers can invite only trusted peers, and the chain continues as invited people bring in the next person.

By combining the side event culture that expanded to 500 events in 2025 with a trust-based invitation system, it becomes easier to create spaces where participant relationships are deeper and psychological safety is higher. If you are an organizer who wants to "invite only people I trust" or "ensure participant quality," please make use of the referral feature.

First 3,000 people free campaign

To celebrate the introduction of the "referral ticket" system, we will offer IVS PASS (regular price: 39,800 yen, tax included) for free to the first 3,000 people who obtain a PASS through referrals. Students will also be free for the first 1,000 people through referrals (regular price: 4,980 yen, tax included).

* Free slots are first-come, first-served and will end once the limit is reached
* The number of eligible free slots may change

Scientifically studying networking

Since its founding in 2007, IVS has been operated as an invitation-only closed conference until 2022. Attendance was on the scale of several hundred people. Because it was a place where only trusted people gathered, the quality of encounters was naturally ensured.

With the Kyoto event in 2023, we shifted to a ticket-based format. This was a decision to further expand the community cultivated under the invitation-only model and increase the number of relationships around startups. Attendance quickly grew to the 10,000 range; IVS2024 recorded more than 12,000 participants, and IVS2025 set a new all-time high of 13,000. Thanks to that, we have grown into Japan's largest startup conference, but at the same time a new question emerged: "How can we create high-quality encounters among 10,000 people?"

Over the past three years, IVS has continued to confront that question. IVS is not an event for organizers alone; it is a community built together with participants. A culture of participants voluntarily launching side events has taken root, and the number grew from 150 in 2023 to over 300 in 2024 and 508 in 2025. The "referral ticket" system extends this idea—that participants themselves create the space—all the way to the ticket mechanism. The IVS Family Tree and the Founder Ranking to be released in the future are functions that extend that concept further.

What we value is the idea that "if someone you trust has someone important to them, that person is also trustworthy." You invite someone you trust, and that person invites someone trustworthy as well. This chain ensures the quality of encounters even at the 10,000-person scale, supporting the psychological safety and energy of the entire venue.

At a conference with 10,000 participants, it is not easy to approach a stranger yourself. But if a friend invites you by saying, "Let's go together," it becomes much easier to participate. And if you are connected through a friend of a friend, conversations naturally happen.

Even if you are not good at reaching out yourself, you can talk when someone connects you. The "referral ticket" system is also a mechanism for people like that.

From the moment you get a ticket, you start thinking about whom to invite and imagining who you will connect with. IVS2026 begins before you even step into the venue.

About referral tickets

Referral tickets operate on IVS's official participant platform, "4S (Force)." In addition to issuing and managing referral tickets, 4S is planned to support participant matching, side event search and registration, and check-ins across multiple venues. From sending referral codes to visualizing invitation connections, everything can be done on 4S.

Notes

• The number of people you can refer is limited to two per person.

• People who purchase a PASS through regular sales will not be granted referral rights.

• Even if you obtain a referral code after purchasing a PASS, it cannot be converted into a referral ticket.

• Once the issuance limit for referral tickets is reached, sales will switch to paid-only.

• The regular sale price is the price on the day of IVS and will be higher than the paid price after the referral ticket limit is reached.

• The "referral ticket" system applies to IVS PASS. CORE PASS is invitation-only, so it is not eligible for referral tickets.

Overview of IVS2026

IVS is Japan's largest startup conference, which began in 2007. Startups, investors, large companies, creators, and others from Japan and abroad gather together, and in 2026 it will be held in Kyoto under the theme "Japan is Back."

This year, we are launching two areas: the evolved culmination of IVS2023, IVS2024, and IVS2025 held in Kyoto—the full-scale "IVS" area (Kyoto Municipal Miyakomesse and ROHM Theatre Kyoto)—and the invitation-only IVS in the Reiwa era, the "IVS CORE" area (Hotel Okura Kyoto).

[IVS (Kyoto Municipal Miyakomesse / ROHM Theatre Kyoto)]

An area open to everyone who helps create the next generation: startup professionals, business companies, investors, aspiring entrepreneurs, supporters, government, research institutions, and students. Stage sessions, the startup exhibition "Startup Market," and IVS's signature pitch event "IVS LAUNCHPAD" will be held here.

[IVS CORE (Hotel Okura Kyoto)] *Newly established / invitation-only

A completely invitation-only area for decision-makers only, including startup executives, institutional investors, corporate executives, and government/policy officials. It offers a place where concrete decisions can move forward, with all sessions off the record, power matching between decision-makers, M&A matching, and more.

An access pass is required to attend IVS2026. There are two types: the "IVS PASS" for the IVS area, and the completely invitation-only "CORE PASS" for the IVS CORE area. CORE PASS is a screened PASS and can only be purchased by invitees.

Name: IVS2026
Theme: Japan is Back
Dates: Wednesday, July 1 - Friday, July 3, 2026
Venue: Kyoto Municipal Miyakomesse, ROHM Theatre Kyoto, Hotel Okura Kyoto, and others
Organizer: IVS KYOTO Executive Committee (Headline Japan / Kyoto Prefecture / Kyoto City)
Official website: https://www.ivs.events/
Official X: https://x.com/IVS_Official

About the IVS KYOTO Executive Committee

Established jointly by Headline Japan Co., Ltd., Kyoto Prefecture, and Kyoto City for the Kyoto edition of IVS, with the aim of further developing the startup ecosystem and promoting local industry even more. We will promote collaboration between startups and the companies, universities, research institutions, and cultural assets concentrated in Kyoto, leading to the creation of new industries and the development of startup companies that can stand alongside the world's best.

Member organizations: Headline Japan Co., Ltd., Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City