• Policy Recommendation

    No.29

    University Industry and University Society Partnership Research Unit

Policy Recommendations on Startup Ecosystem
Ecosystem Expansion and Globalization

Executive Summary

This policy proposal summarizes measures to promote the internationalization and globalization of the startup ecosystem in Japan, based on the results of research conducted by the University Industry and University Society Partnership Research Unit (The Innovation Governance Research Division) of the Institute for Future Initiatives. This proposal is based on the policy proposal “Industry-University Collaboration Policies Focusing on the University-Centered Venture Ecosystem” released in March 2020 by the Institute for Future Initiatives of the University of Tokyo, and is positioned as a proposal based on the results of subsequent research projects.

Specifically, the report recommends that (1) the government, local governments, universities, and startup support organizations promote various measures to strengthen the three global requirements for startups (diversity, serial entrepreneurship, and overseas mentoring), and (2) startup ecosystem support organizations should open up and attempt to connect with multiple ecosystems.

To address the latter, it is necessary not only to support startups from their own region or entity, but also to support startups from outside their region or entity, and to accept a wide range of support companies from outside their region or entity, and it is especially important for Japanese support entities to support overseas startups and attract overseas support entities. This is intended to connect multiple ecosystems, both domestic and international, to increase the scale of the ecosystem and thereby increase the benefits for startups operating there.

Finally, as a specific project to contribute to these recommendations, we proposed a global pitch competition in collaboration with overseas VCs and others.

The full report can be downloaded below.