Cross-academia Accelerator “1stRound” Adds AIST Group and Shibaura Institute of Technology as Co-hosts, Expanding to 22 Universities and 5 Research Institutes
PrintUTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd. (UTokyo IPC), the venture investment arm of the University of Tokyo, today announced that 1stRound—Japan’s largest academia co-hosted startup growth support initiative—will welcome the AIST Group (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and AIST Solutions, Co.) and Shibaura Institute of Technology as new co-hosts. With these additions, the program now expands to 22 universities and 5 national research institutes.
1stRound will continue to scale support for deep-tech seeds originating from Japanese academia through a co-hosting framework spanning national and private universities and government research institutes. The program remains focused on hands-on, business-building support that accelerates the social implementation of academic research outcomes.
About 1stRound: Japan’s Largest Academia-Led, Non-Equity Startup Growth Program
While Japan’s universities and research institutes produce world-class technology seeds, early commercialization support remains insufficient in many cases. Launched in 2017 as an entrepreneurship support initiative under the University of Tokyo, 1stRound provides non-equity early funding and intensive hands-on support to help teams become financeable startup entities with definable enterprise value. In 2019, the program adopted the name 1stRound and transitioned to a consortium format with corporate partners, expanding co-hosts to 21 universities and 4 national research institutes to date.
With today’s announcement, Shibaura Institute of Technology and the AIST Group join the co-host network, further broadening support for academia-originated startup creation and growth.
Over the past eight and a half years, 1stRound has supported 110 teams, achieving a fundraising success rate of approximately 90% and a large-grant acquisition rate of more than 50%. More than half of each cohort has also gone on to collaborate with leading companies, primarily among our corporate partners. Through this program, UTokyo IPC fosters a vibrant community that accelerates the commercialization of academic technology seeds and promotes startup creation.
Notably, 20–25% of the teams selected have re-applied from prior rounds, demonstrating the program’s role in reinforcing academia-based entrepreneurship. Alumni have also been accepted into world-class university-affiliated accelerators such as StartX and Berkeley SkyDeck, with several expanding globally, including establishing headquarters in the U.S.
Internationally, 1stRound has advanced collaborations with Europe’s largest research consortium Cyber Valley (April 2024), the University of Helsinki (May 2025), and MassChallenge (May 2025), aiming to cultivate startups that can compete globally by combining Japanese academic technology with international expertise.
Going forward, 1stRound will enhance cross-academia collaboration and open innovation with industry to broaden the base of academia-related startups and further develop the innovation ecosystem surrounding academia in Japan.
Comments from New Consortium Members
Haruhiko Obara, Director-General, Research Strategy Headquarters
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)
“AIST and AIST Solutions, Co. are dedicated to bringing research outcomes into society and to creating startups. By joining 1stRound, we look forward to contributing to the development of startups tackling societal challenges by leveraging promising technology seeds and our commercialization capabilities.”
Toshihiro KOSE, Director, Bay Area Open Innovation Center (BOiCE)
Shibaura Institute of Technology
“At Shibaura Institute of Technology, our educational philosophy is to cultivate global science and engineering talent who learn from the world and contribute to the world. We have advanced a variety of initiatives to bring our research results to society. In particular, for startups founded on research seeds aimed at solving social issues, we have strengthened our support structure by centering efforts on the Bay Area Open Innovation Center (BOiCE) established within the university, and by deepening collaboration with external organizations such as the Greater Tokyo Innovation Ecosystem (GTIE) that strives to build the startup ecosystem of the Tokyo metropolitan area. By joining 1stRound, we expect to further accelerate the social implementation of our research and the creation of innovation.”
Call for Applications: 14th Cohort of 1stRound
The program is held twice annually, and applications for the 14th cohort opened on October 6, 2025 (Deadline: November 24, 2025). For details, please visit the official website:
Co-host Institutions (as of October 2025)
Universities (22)
The University of Tokyo; University of Tsukuba; Institute of Science Tokyo (IST); Kobe University; Nagoya University (Tokai National Higher Education and Research System); Hitotsubashi University; Hokkaido University; Kyushu University; Waseda University; Keio University; Ritsumeikan University; Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University; Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST); Kanazawa University; Kindai University; Tokyo University of Science; University of Shizuoka; Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST); Ochanomizu University; Doshisha University; Hiroshima University; Shibaura Institute of Technology.
National Research Institutes (5)
Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA); National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST); RIKEN; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA); AIST Group.
For Media Inquiries
・Shibaura Institute of Technology — Research Promotion Department, Open Innovation Promotion Section
Email: info-boice@ow.shibaura-it.ac.jp
・National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) — Research Strategy Headquarters, Planning Department, Collaboration Promotion Planning Office
Email: dsu-koho-ml@aist.go.jp
・UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd. (1stRound Secretariat)
Email: info2@utokyo-ipc.co.jp ┃Tel: +81-3-3830-0200
Contact: Kojiro Takayama