From London to Tokyo: How Amilis Won The Grand Prize at Pitch2Tokyo

If you'd told anyone a couple of years ago that Amilis would be standing on a stage in Tokyo, having just beaten 17 other founders from across the world for a grand prize…

honestly? 

It would have been easy to believe. Because the team has always known what they're building matters.

But still. Tokyo. The World Cup of Innovation. Global AI Innovator of the Year.

Say, whaaaat?

So we’re breaking down the full story today- where Amilis started, the journey from Venture Cafe London to a global stage, what we pitched, and why this win means so much more than a trophy.

The Problem Amilis Set Out to Solve

A statistic that’s been a huge part of what we’ve set out to solve is this: More than 570,000 women in England are currently stuck on gynaecology waiting lists. 

And that number only counts the women who've successfully managed to get a GP referral in the first place. 

For the millions more? They're stuck in a waiting list- hoping for a referral, another appointment, or for the diagnosis to happen soon- but often going unheard.

And on the doctors' end, there’s no solution out there that reduces the logistical burden for them. There’s a need to streamline and collect patient info, and map out their diagnostic journey for treatment to happen faster. And today, there’s so much gap in that infrastructure that processes are still slow, and doctors are still doing a lot of manual work.

And at Amilis, we’re determined to fix both.

Amilis is building the infrastructure that should have existed decades ago: a unified reproductive healthcare platform that connects patients, clinicians, diagnostics, and longitudinal data in one place. The kind of system that helps doctors spot patterns sooner, diagnose faster, and actually improve outcomes for the women sitting in front of them.

That's the mission- and that vision is what led us from Venture Cafe London- all the way to Tokyo.

What Is Pitch2Tokyo?

Every year, Venture Café — a global network of innovation communities operating across 24 cities — hosts what they call the "World Cup of Innovation."

Each Venture Café location holds local heats. The winner from each city earns a spot at the Global Gathering in Tokyo, where they pitch live on stage against founders from around the world.

The 2026 Grand Final brought together 18 startups from cities including New York, Berlin, Mexico City, Taipei, Warsaw, Osaka — and London. The room held over 1,200 policymakers, investors, and innovators. The energy was extraordinary.

And winning that room? That's what Yasmin did.

How Amilis Got There: Winning the UK Heats

Before Tokyo, there was London.

Out of seven outstanding startups at the Venture Café London local heats, Amilis came first. 

And here’s why: Our Co-Founder and CTO Yasmin Baba took the stage and made a complex problem feel urgent, clear, and — crucially — solvable.

And for us, that first win was the validation on how the infrastructure Amilis is building is not just needed, it's investable. It also emphasised that better diagnosis, faster care, and smarter data for women's health isn't a far-off vision — it's something the world is ready to back right now.

And then it was time to pack our bags for Japan. 🇯🇵

Tokyo, the Global Stage, and a Very Colour-Coordinated CTO

One of the standout moments in Tokyo wasn't even the win itself, says Sarita, our Co-Founder and CEO.

“It was watching Yasmin on that stage — fully colour-coordinated with the Amilis brand, — explaining with total clarity why women's health and reproductive medicine data has been structurally impossible to organise until now” she says.

The way she delivered her pitch really defined our work. No hype, or rage, but rather she brought facts, compelling questions and clear answers to the stage.

In fact, she opened with a truth nobody in that room could unsee: 

50% of the world has a uterus. The other 50% came from one. So why is women's health still underfunded and under-researched? 

The room shifted. Because suddenly, this wasn't a "women's health" issue sitting in its own lane. It was everyone's issue. Every single person in that audience — regardless of where they were from, what they built, or what sector they worked in — had a stake in it. That's what Yasmin did in one sentence: she made it impossible to be a bystander.

She explained why Japan, specifically, was the right market — a country with world-leading healthcare infrastructure, global pharma partnerships in women's health R&D, and one of the sharpest fertility declines on earth. Not a vague "we could expand internationally." More like: here's why Japan makes sense, and here's exactly how.

And she closed with an anime version of Amilis operating in Japan (which we have to admit, looks super cute, and had the whole room laughing!)

As Yasmin put it: "The story, solution, traction — those are fundamentals. But what wins is the feeling you leave people with."

And the feeling that Yasmin left in the room? It was that this problem is fixable, the solution exists, and Amilis is already building it.

Why the Judges Said Yes

Across the Grand Final, 18 founders pitched across sectors — robotics, food tech, climate, education, circular economy, and AI. The competition was, genuinely, incredibly high.

And yet the judges kept coming back to one theme: the future of AI in healthcare won't be built on models first. It will be built on data infrastructure.

That's where Amilis came in.

The judges highlighted three things that set Amilis apart:

• The sheer scale of the women's health problem — and how underserved it still is
• The ability to deploy globally, with a specific, credible path to Japan
• The long-term value of building clinically structured AI datasets that simply don't exist anywhere else yet

Yasmin was named Global AI Innovator of the Year. Amilis took home the Grand Prize — the CIC Prize — which unlocks access to world-class work and lab facilities across CIC's global network to help scale the mission.

"Winning Pitch2Tokyo on the global stage validates what we've believed since day one: the female health gap isn't a women's issue — it's a global, human one. Real progress depends on rebuilding the foundations of diagnosis and treatment, and this recognition is an important step forward. For Amilis, this is only the beginning." — Yasmin Baba, Co-Founder & CTO, Amilis

What Winning Pitch2Tokyo Actually Means

Here's the thing about a win like this. It's not really about the trophy.

It's about standing on a global stage alongside founders tackling climate change, education access, and economic inequality — and having the judges say: yes, reproductive health belongs in that conversation.

Because it does.

Improving how reproductive health is prioritised, diagnosed, tracked, and understood doesn't just affect the woman in the consulting room. It affects families. Healthcare systems. Entire economies.

The conversations that started in Tokyo — with investors, healthcare systems, and potential partners across Japan and beyond — is what the win really unlocked. Different systems, same data problem- and Amilis stood out as the solution.

What’s Next for Amilis

Tokyo was a milestone- but it wasn’t the finish line.

Amilis is still building — with the same energy as day one, just with a lot more momentum.

If you want to follow the journey, learn about what's being built, don’t forget to follow us on our socials.

And if you’re part of the NHS waiting lists, or wondering how to take control of your reproductive health, Amilis is here for you! 

Reach out to us for a free chat, or visit our website for discounted costs on fertility testing, free clinic appointments and consultations with top gynaecologists in the UK.

Amilis is just getting started on a journey to revolutionise gynaecological care in the UK. 💛

Huge thank you to Venture Café London, Venture Café Tokyo, all the judges, and every investor, advisor, and supporter who have backed Amilis to date.

Arigatō, Tokyo. See you very soon. 🇯🇵