Industry-academia collaborative education and ecosystem formation for DeepTech entrepreneurs

What to challenge? Who to collaborate with?

Issues for U-Tokyo

• Very few startups in the manufacturing field compared to the momentum of IT startups.
• Students lack opportunities to connect “knowledge of research” and “business.”

Our Challenge

• Lead the establishment and operation of U-Tokyo’s first course on DeepTech startups in collaboration with professors.
• Construct the DeepTech startup ecosystem and the package of education to which other universities can apply.

Impact on the history of business and economy

Closed and Selected

• Foster 40 students per course with an entrepreneur’s mind, and support their actions.
  →Multiple students ventured into manufacturing startups and fundraising.
• DeepTech entrepreneurs’ community (DICE） founded by selected graduates.

Open and Diverse Cooperation

• Course lectures are publicly available on YouTube and used in “U-Tokyo Metaverse Engineering” reskilling course. Book published in March 2023.

IGPI’s initiatives for discontinuous change

Lead lectures and business development support with a broad network of industry and business management knowledge

1. IGPI-style hands-on support in creating and evolving lectures

Dispatching our staff

Developing content to transcend “barriers” between…

2. Connecting/expanding the ecosystem with full use of the network

Attracting excellent students

• Creating a virtuous cycle of graduates attracting more excellent students, using IGPI’s network of students and research labs.

Participation of industries

• Developing the curriculum with the cooperation of partner companies of KDDI∞Labo and the fieldworks with large corporations.

International linkage

• IGPI staff plan overseas training using corporate donations, and students build relationships with foreign universities and entrepreneurial communities.