University of Tokyo fund seeks to back corporate spinouts

Most of the time in a corporate-university relationship, it is the corporate that invests in startups created by the university. But University of Tokyo Innovation Platform (UTokyo IPC) flips that relationship on its head. Alongside backing spinouts from the university, the UTokyo fund also invests in spinouts created by corporates.

“This is a pretty interesting concept,” says Kei Furukawa, partner at UTokyo IPC. “We have invested into carve-outs from corporates, because Japanese corporates have money, ideas and people…but in many cases these projects are too small for the large corporates to cultivate. There is a trend – to spin out those projects and make them into startups. Our second fund invests also into these large corporate spinouts, which leverage academic capabilities.” 

The corporate carve-outs ideally need to have some link to university research, Furukawa says, for example using some university research or having a joint project with a lab.

“That can be co-research with a professor, or a professor comes in as advisor, and then there is that relationship where the startup is utilising the University of Tokyo research assets,” he says.

Leveraging Japan’s strong university funds

Japan is unique in having a strong network of university-related investment funds, backed by the government as part of a push to accelerate startup creation in the country.

The UTokyo IPC fund has invested in 14 corporate spinouts, so far, out of around 50 investments made from its second fund, a ¥25.6bn ($221m) vehicle set up in 2020. Corporate-originated spinouts include companies such as Fimecs, a spinout from a pharmaceutical firm Takeda, and Onedot, a kids’ and pet media carveout from household product maker Unicharm.

The UTokyo IPC fund is anchored by the Japanese government but also includes several corporate investors as limited partners, including air conditioning product manufacturer Daikin Industries, advertising agency Hakuhodo, synthetic rubber producer Zeon, leasing services provider Fuyo General Lease and real estate developer Mitsubishi Estate.

The UTokyo IPC was established in 2016 following the introduction of the Japanese government’s Kanmin Innovation Program, in 2013, which gave the universities of Tokyo, Tohoku, Kyoto and Osaka dispensation to set up VC vehicles.

Before the government’s Kanmin Innovation Program was introduced, the University of Tokyo voluntarily initiated its venture investment capability in 2004, which was led by the University of Tokyo Edge Capital. 

“They’ve been making a lot of returns and have had a good performance, so when the second Abe cabinet was formed, they decided to bring that model to other universities too, including the University of Tokyo,” says Furukawa.

Now nearly all universities in the country have an affiliated fund. Japan is, in fact, a global leader in having a sophisticated network of university-affiliated investment funds. Some 85% of its top academic institutions have an investment vehicle to support spinouts and other startups.

UTokyo IPC, too, has made encouraging exits from the first fund, with eight of the portfolio companies having listed and four more having been acquired.

Adding venture building to the mix

Furukawa says UTokyo IPC has recently ramped up its efforts to build companies based on research or corporate IP. 

“Since last year, we have had a startup building team form with entrepereneurs-in-residence. They are more actively looking into research that can be made into companies,” says Furukawa. 

UTokyo IPC does a ​​cross-academia accelerator programme called the “1stRound” and supports around 16 startups each year, providing up to $70,000 in non-equity grants, as well as services such as legal and accountancy. It is not just the University of Tokyo startups that can get the support — as of December 2025, around 27 Japanese national and private universities and national research institutes co-host this programme, which is sponsored by 24 corporates.

Furukawa says that many of the corporate backers of the “1stRound” accelerator programme benefit from having a window into a wide range of new innovation.

“For a corporate going into 27 research institutes or national universities a year trying to look for new ideas is obviously impossible, but we are in a position to do that for them,” says Furukawa. 

Furukawa would like to build more connections with companies globally. 

“We want to be in relationships with more corporates in the international ecosystem,” he says.