Excellence Award and Governor’s Special Award for the Promotion of Women’s Participation at the Tokyo Venture Technology Award 2026

MI-6 Ltd. (headquartered in Tokyo; hereafter ‘MI-6’), which enables digital and physical transformation in research and development (R&D), announces that its R&D digital transformation platform, miHub®, has received both the Excellence Award and the Governor’s Special Award for the Promotion of Women’s Participation at the Tokyo Venture Technology Award 2026.

The programme received 147 applications this year, with only three companies selected for the Excellence Award. Among the recipients of the Governor’s Special Award for the Promotion of Women’s Participation, MI-6 was the only company recognised for the contributions of a woman other than its representative director.

About miHub, recipient of the Excellence Award

miHub is an R&D digital transformation platform powered by materials informatics (MI). It enables teams to capture, use, and share experimental data, analysis results, and insights. It also identifies key factors and proposes promising experimental conditions. Experts support customers from implementation through to sustained use across their organisations, helping them establish data-driven R&D practices.

Many customers have reported faster R&D outcomes, more discoveries, and better communication among researchers. More than 200 companies have adopted miHub across a wide range of industries, including materials, chemicals, automotive, batteries, electrical equipment, and electronic components.

miHub received this award in recognition of its efforts to turn R&D knowledge into an asset for addressing societal challenges, build an R&D foundation for the Physical AI era in which people, AI, and robots work together, and strengthen the competitiveness of Japanese manufacturing from Tokyo.

On the day of the award ceremony, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike visited our booth and heard an introduction to the product.

About the Governor’s Special Award for the Promotion of Women’s Participation

Saki Kato, MI-6’s Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Product Owner, joined the company after leading the adoption and use of MI within R&D organisations at a chemical manufacturer. Drawing on her first-hand understanding of R&D practice, she leads both business and product development for miHub and other MI-6 services.

The Governor’s Special Award for the Promotion of Women’s Participation is presented to award-winning companies in which women have contributed to the development of products, technologies, or services as business or development leaders. At the award ceremony, Governor Koike commented: ‘I look forward to seeing women entering management and development bring fresh perspectives to new businesses. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will also continue to support women’s potential.’

Future outlook

Alongside MI-based services such as miHub, MI-6 is developing Lab Automation, which advances digital control and autonomous operation of experiments and measurements. Through these efforts, we are expanding our support across both the digital and physical aspects of R&D. By connecting miHub with experimental equipment and robots, we will continue to develop it into a platform that automates repetitive tasks requiring scientific knowledge and accelerates creative development through cycles of experimentation, analysis, and exploration.

We are also focusing on our Customer Transformation (CX) business. Through specialist analysis, training and education, coaching, and ongoing support, CX helps R&D organisations make data part of their everyday work, accumulate knowledge, and continue learning independently. By further developing our MI expertise, evolving miHub as a platform, and advancing Lab Automation, we will contribute to companies’ R&D capabilities and business growth.

About the Tokyo Venture Technology Award

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government runs the Tokyo Venture Technology Award to recognise innovative and promising products, technologies, and services developed by small and medium-sized enterprises that can compete on the global stage. By promoting these achievements widely, the programme aims to encourage further technological development and revitalise industry in Tokyo. In 2026, 15 entries were selected for awards from 147 applications.

As part of the award programme, MI-6’s Representative Director and CEO, Mitsuru Irie, gave a presentation at the venue, introducing miHub to visitors at TOKYO INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY EXHIBITION 2026.