First Round's inaugural cohort includes a manga comic translation tool developer and a company working on synthetic options for creating salmon.
University of Tokyo Innovation Platform (UTokyo IPC) has unveiled the inaugural six startups participating in a new accelerator focused on the robotics and artificial intelligence spaces.
The program, dubbed First Round, is backed by a slate of corporate partners: rail operator JR East’s startup subsidiary, insurance firm Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan, engineering firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and architecture, engineering and construction firm Takenaka Corporation.
First Round’s initial participants were identified as manga comic translation tool developer Mantra, AI surgical technology creator iMed Technologies, endoscopic surgery aid manufacturer Jmees, predictive analytics and natural language processing company Elyza, food service industry robot creator Smile Robotics and synthetic salmon developer Ellie.
The accelerator is now accepting applications for its second batch ahead of a December 2 deadline. It was originally announced as a twice-yearly initiative providing each portfolio company with up to $900,000 in funding.
First Round joins existing UTokyo IPC entrepreneurship supports in operation since 2017, including commercialisation funds and early-phase business management advice, that had been accessed by ten companies in total as of April 2019.
