First Cohort “Daiko” Wins 4th Place at Solana’s Official Breakout Hackathon

Tokyo, Japan — extra mile, Inc. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Sakae Tamate; hereafter “extra mile”) today announced the launch of the extra mile Acceleration Program, an initiative dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs building in the Solana ecosystem. The program aims to significantly accelerate entrepreneurs’ speed of validation by providing business idea refinement, global connections, funding support, and hands-on mentoring. The first cohort, Daiko, was selected in 2024 and won 4th place in the AI Track of Solana’s official Breakout Hackathon.

◾️Addressing Key Challenges in Web3

Despite the rapid emergence of new services in the Web3 sector, domestic entrepreneurs in Japan face persistent challenges such as: ・Access to funding ・Refinement of business hypotheses ・Building meaningful connections with global markets At the same time, global ecosystems — particularly around Solana — are accelerating, with more examples of projects scaling quickly through hackathons and venture funding.

extra mile launched this Solana-focused acceleration program to maximize implementation and validation speed, helping Japan-born teams compete on the global stage.

◾️Program Overview

The program is designed as a sprint, rapidly cycling through Hypothesis → Build → Ship phases. Public testing and community engagement ensure that progress is visible and measurable.

Each participating project is assigned a dedicated support team and receives end-to-end assistance from proof-of-concept (PoC) to initial traction.

◾️Program Support Includes:

– Business idea refinement and hypothesis validation – Access to domestic and global ecosystems, investors, foundations, and media – Activity funding – Practical mentoring across technology, business, PR, and legal fields (minimum six months)

In addition to capital, the program delivers network access and operational support, leveraging partnerships with the Solana Foundation, Superteam, hackathons, and grant programs.

◾️Case Study：Daiko

Daiko, the first project selected under the program, secured 4th place in the AI track of Solana Breakout Hackathon 2025.

The project enables AI agents to provide personalized portfolio sell recommendations, allowing users to make decisions with a single click.

This result: – Demonstrated that Japan-born teams can compete effectively at Solana’s global hackathons – Showcased a contribution of Japanese talent to the Solana Foundation’s focus area of AI × Blockchain

◾️Call for Applications

extra mile is currently accepting applications from young entrepreneurs and teams (including international participants) who wish to rapidly build and validate products on Solana.

Selection will be made through document review and interviews, after which a customized sprint plan will be developed.

Application Form：[Link]

◾️Future Outlook

In 2025, extra mile will continue to support a select number of teams with intensive, high-quality mentoring, with plans to expand to quarterly cohorts in subsequent years.

extra mile is a proven sponsor of Superteam Japan’s “Winter Arc”, an official Solana Foundation community event, and remains committed to nurturing globally competitive builders from Japan.

◾️Executive Comment

Yosuke Utsumi, Director, extra mile, Inc. “In Web3, the ability to ‘build fast and learn in the field’ is a decisive competitive advantage.

Our program takes a practical, implementation-first approach, providing funding, operational support, and access to networks for more than six months. As demonstrated by Daiko, we are laying the groundwork for Japan-born teams to earn recognition in the global ecosystem and to create a wave of new projects in Web3 and crypto.”

Superteam Japan Lead Hisashi “We are delighted to see extra mile launch a Solana-focused acceleration program, creating a framework for Japanese entrepreneurs to challenge the global stage.

At Superteam Japan, our mission is to grow builders who can contribute to the global Solana ecosystem from Japan, and we expect extra mile’s initiative will strongly support that mission.”

As demonstrated by the success of the first cohort team, Daiko, we look forward to seeing more projects from Japan gain global recognition within the Solana ecosystem.

◾️Company Profile

– Company: extra mile, Inc.      (a subsidiary of TV ASAHI MUSIC CO.,LTD.)  – CEO: Sakae Tamate – Founded: July 2020 – Location: Houraiya Building 7F, 5-2-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo – Website：https://extramile.jp/

◾️Media Contact

PR Team, extra mile, Inc.
mail：web3-pr@extramile.jp