Startup Development at Keio University

On the morning of May 18, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun featured a major article titled "Keio Leads in University-Launched Startups, METI FY2021 Survey." The body of the article continued as follows:

"The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's (METI) FY2021 survey revealed that 200 university-launched startups were newly established in a single year, bringing the cumulative total to over 2,300. Keio University led the increase, with university-affiliated venture capital (VC) firms supporting the startups."

Emerging companies, previously referred to as "venture companies," have come to be called "startups" to distinguish them from small businesses that do not aim for growth or mature small-to-medium enterprises, implying an aim for rapid growth in a short period. Both political and business circles have high expectations for startups as drivers of economic growth while solving social issues. With the government announcing the appointment of a minister in charge of startup support on July 4, the word "startup" is increasingly appearing in the news.

In the aforementioned METI "FY2021 Survey on University-Launched Ventures," the number of Keio University-launched ventures increased from 90 in the previous year to 175. This ranked first in Japan for the number of new additions and represented a significant leap in the total count from 10th to 5th place. In reality, this does not mean that 85 Keio University-launched ventures were born in a single year. Rather, in response to the METI survey, Keio conducted a thorough investigation following METI's broad definition of university-launched ventures—which includes joint research, technology transfer, student ventures, and related ventures, in addition to the narrow definition of research-result ventures previously tracked by Keio. As a result, startups established in previous years were added to the tally, increasing the total to 175.

To promote the social implementation of research results through startups, Keio University established Keio Innovation Initiative (KII) in December 2015 as a venture capital firm to support startup development in terms of funding and management. KII raises funds from external investors such as financial institutions and manages two investment funds totaling approximately 15 billion yen. It has invested in 40 startups that utilize research results from domestic and international universities, centered on Keio University, and has seen results such as three companies listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market.

There are two reasons why startup development is important for Keio University. The first is the pursuit of the ideal of being a leader of the whole of society, which is The Mission of Keio University. Demonstrating an entrepreneurial spirit, overcoming difficulties, and pioneering new fields has been a tradition since the founding of Keio University. Keio University has long produced many business leaders for the economic world. Particularly during the dawn of the internet from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, many venture companies were born from Keio University, centered on SFC, and many of them have become industry leaders. To continue being a leader of the whole of society, startup development is becoming increasingly important for the university.

The second reason is the change in social demands placed on universities. Traditionally, the social mission of a university was said to be education and research, but now there is a further requirement to contribute to society based on the results of that education and research. The 2007 amendment to the School Education Act also added a clause stating that the purpose of a university is to contribute to the development of society by providing the results of education and research widely to society. Consequently, the development of startups at universities is strongly demanded as one form of that social contribution.

There are two pillars to startup development at universities. One is entrepreneurship education, and the other is the development of research-based ventures.

Entrepreneurship education is not education aimed at immediately establishing a startup, but rather education to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit—how to discover and solve problems amidst various constraints such as funding and resources. It is a long-term effort to build a population for startup support; if as many people as possible receive entrepreneurship education and even one in ten of them goes on to establish a startup, the number of startups will increase.

The development of research-based ventures is more direct. It is an initiative to support researchers in establishing startups, developing products and services, and commercializing them to solve social issues based on intellectual assets born at the university, such as patents and technical know-how. Specifically, we support the creation of business plans, recruitment of founding members, and fundraising, while also promoting joint research between the venture and the university for product development.

Until now, Keio University has provided a wide range of entrepreneurship education in each faculty and graduate school, but regarding the development of research-based ventures, the university has not been able to provide a sufficient system and has relied mainly on the self-help efforts of researchers. Based on the recognition that it is necessary to build a support system organizationally as a university, the Startup Division was established within the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Project Professor Nobuaki Shindo assumed the post of division head this March. Mr. Shindo has experience in promoting open innovation with startups and academia after working in the R&D department of a major pharmaceutical company, and he possesses the appropriate experience to support the development of university-launched ventures. Currently, the Startup Division is recruiting practitioner-faculty members, aiming to build a full-time system of four or five people by the end of the year.

We have received inquiries from many people, including the government, local municipalities, various organizations, private companies, and alumni, who wish to support Keio University's startup development, but until now, there was no single window for Keio University to receive them. Furthermore, we received feedback from researchers within Keio that they did not know where to go for advice when starting a business. Moving forward, the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship will provide a one-stop response to proposals and consultations from both within and outside the Juku, bringing together internal and external strengths to aim for a top-three national ranking in the number of startups by university.