Waseda University will establish a venture capital company "Waseda University Ventures" on April 4st.Full-scale operation will start around summer, and support will be centered on start-up companies that make use of the research results of universities such as robots, quantum computers, and artificial intelligence (AI).
According to Waseda University, the scale of the first fund is expected to be 1 to 80 billion yen.Although the investment field is not limited, we will consider investment and support targets for company establishment, focusing on cutting-edge fields originating from universities. Aiming to establish about 100 companies in 2022, the direction is to support about 3 companies in 3 to 4 years.
Co-representatives include Mr. Tetsuya Yamamoto, who was a director of Edge Capital of the University of Tokyo after engaging in venture capital business at Mitsui & Co., Ltd. across Japan and the United States, and became the representative of ACSL, an industrial drone maker, on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers. Hiroo Ota, who was listed, will take office.Since 2021, they have been appointed as advisors to the Waseda University President's Office.
Waseda University has been accelerating investment in start-up companies in partnership with venture capital firms such as Beyond Next Ventures.Having their own venture capital makes it easier to evaluate research results and make investment decisions.
Keio University and Tokyo University of Science are leading the venture capital of private universities.Of these, Keio University established the Keio Innovation Initiative in 2015, and the fund scale is about 150 billion yen.
reference:[Waseda University] About the establishment of venture capital "Waseda University Ventures (WUV)"
