Seiko Epson Corporation, through its subsidiary Epson X Investment Corporation, participated as a partner in 1st Round, an incubation programme sponsored by UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd. (UTokyo IPC).
1st Round is an incubation programme co-sponsored by UTokyo IPC and four Japanese national universities: the University of Tokyo, University of Tsukuba, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, and Tokyo Institute of Technology.
The programme provides up to ¥10 million ($88,277/ €76,378) in funding selected teams that include graduates, faculty members, students, and others from the co-sponsoring universities who are aiming to start a business and to seed ventures with ties to the co-sponsoring universities that have not acquired funding.
Major Japanese companies participate as corporate partners in the programme, which acts to create contacts with venture firms. So far, a total of 43 teams have been selected, and the funding success rate for enterprises selected in the past is about 90%, creating many instances of open innovation.
Epson said it will support the creation of promising venture companies by participating as a partner company in 1st Round. Going forward, Epson added that it will help to achieve a sustainable society by creating a variety of partnerships and synergies based on our proprietary technologies, products, and services.
