Impact of university-led startup acceleration programs on research and          development strategies and successful private funding in Japan

Takaaki MATSUDA; Noriyuki MASUDA; Kosuke KOJO; Hiroshi NOGUCHI; Shinya WATANABE; Takeshi KURAMA; Takeshi YAMADA; Koichi TSUJI; Katsumi SUDOH; Izumi WAKI; Masanobu YAMADA; Yoshihiro ARAKAWA; Koichi HASHIMOTO; Takeshi MACHINO

doi:10.33611/trs.2025-016

Impact of university-led startup acceleration programs on research and development strategies and successful private funding in Japan

Takaaki MATSUDA, Noriyuki MASUDA, Kosuke KOJO, Hiroshi NOGUCHI, Shinya WATANABE, Takeshi KURAMA, Takeshi YAMADA, Koichi TSUJI, Katsumi SUDOH, Izumi WAKI, Masanobu YAMADA, Yoshihiro ARAKAWA, Koichi HASHIMOTO, Takeshi MACHINO

Author information

Takaaki MATSUDA
Translational Research Promotion Center, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan
Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Tsukuba Hospital, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan
Noriyuki MASUDA
Translational Research Promotion Center, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan
Kosuke KOJO
Translational Research Promotion Center, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan
Department of Urology, University of Tsukuba Hospital, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan
Hiroshi NOGUCHI
Translational Research Promotion Center, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan
Shinya WATANABE
Translational Research Promotion Center, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan
Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan
Takeshi KURAMA
Translational Research Promotion Center, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan
Takeshi YAMADA
Clinical Research Support Center, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan, Ibaraki, Japan
Koichi TSUJI
Department of Research and Development Management, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan, Ibaraki, Japan
Katsumi SUDOH
Department of Research and Development Management, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan, Ibaraki, Japan
Izumi WAKI
Department of Research and Development Management, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan, Ibaraki, Japan
Masanobu YAMADA
Department of Research and Development Management, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan, Ibaraki, Japan
Yoshihiro ARAKAWA
Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan, Ibaraki, Japan
Koichi HASHIMOTO
Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan, Ibaraki, Japan
Takeshi MACHINO
Translational Research Promotion Center, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba, 2-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8576, Japan
Department of Cardiology, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan

Keywords: translational research, academic research organization, entrepreneurial education, research and development, university-launched start-ups

JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS FULL-TEXT HTML Advance online publication

Article ID: 2025-016

DOI https://doi.org/10.33611/trs.2025-016

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Abstract

The Japanese government has been promoting the establishment of university-launched startups to support product development and its commercialization in the biotechnology and healthcare sectors. The Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO) at the University of Tsukuba, along with partnering universities, has been operating the Research Studio Initiative—an accelerator program supporting teams with research-based innovations—since 2018. This program provides mentorship by clinicians and experts with experience in research and development (R&D) and business planning to guide product development and their global expansion. We analyzed data from 23 of the 29 participating teams between FY2018 and FY2022. Results indicated that participating teams progressed in launching businesses and advancing in the R&D stages afterward. Funding acquisition was associated with project progress and intellectual property acquisition. The program played an important role in advancing R&D and achieving funding acquisition for medical startups. Future studies must conduct investigations over time on the process from confirmation of pre-clinical proof of concept (POC) to clinical POC of startups, to identify challenges and their solutions in the current program, and to further improve the educational content of the acceleration program.

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