REEV CEO Yusuke Watanabe selected for Forbes JAPAN "NEXT100: 100 people bringing hope to the world"
Yusuke Watanabe, CEO of REEV Inc., has been selected for "NEXT100", a Forbes JAPAN feature on 100 diverse new entrepreneurs, as one of 100 forms of "hope that can save the world".
REEV Inc. (Chuo-ku, Tokyo), which aims to solve social issues around the world through education, creative and entertainment businesses including esports, announces that its CEO Yusuke Watanabe has been selected for Forbes JAPAN NEXT100 "100 people bringing hope to the world".
Recognized for using esports and technology to tackle global social issues
The company's work was recognized, including running esports teams in Africa (Kenya and Nigeria), programming education and esports experience sessions in slum areas of Africa, issuing an esports team NFT, and holding esports events in Japan and abroad. Watanabe was selected as one of "100 diverse new entrepreneurs" working on global and local issues in the "NEXT100: 100 people bringing hope to the world" feature of the June 2025 issue of Forbes JAPAN, released on April 24, 2025.
Programming classes and esports experience sessions in Kenya (Nairobi, Kibera)
The first esports team NFT issued in Africa
Esports events in Nigeria (Lagos) and Iran (Tehran)
Forbes JAPAN NEXT100
Forbes JAPAN focused on 100 "new entrepreneurs" with diverse entrepreneurial spirit: entrepreneurs and leaders who take on increasingly diverse challenges, from global to social and local, with their own way of being and new methods. It is the Japanese edition of "NEXT1000", which the US Forbes launched as a "redefinition of the American Dream".
Forbes JAPAN, June 2025 issue:
https://forbesjapan.com/articles/detail/78678
Comment from CEO Yusuke Watanabe
I am deeply grateful to have been selected for Forbes JAPAN NEXT100. I am very happy that many people will learn about our work, and that activities we have pursued with conviction have been recognized.
Since 2014 I have started and run many businesses. While facing society and people through business, I encountered Buddhism around 2020, and it shook my values deeply.
Asking myself "What is the essence of living?", "Why do I keep taking on challenges?" and "What kind of society do I hope for?", I deepened my studies and became a priest of the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha in 2022.
Since then, I have made "contributing to a society where both others and I can live with rich hearts" the axis of my life, and decided to take on global social issues through business while valuing a Buddhist perspective.
Under the philosophy "Move the world with creation beyond imagination, and build a society full of excitement and possibility", we will keep creating places where everyone can take on challenges equally.
About REEV
REEV Inc. puts its philosophy into its name: to put down roots in the heart (Root), see the essence (Essence), express it in every way (Express), and provide value to the world (Value). Through education, creative and entertainment businesses including esports, we aim to solve social issues around the world and realize a society rich in heart.