Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Information:
UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd.
Kazuhiko KAKEHI
Tel: +81-3-3830-0200
Email: info2@utokyo-ipc.co.jp

The second fund of UTokyo Innovation Platform Co. comes to final
closing with JPY25.6 billion, involving 11 institutional investors

TOKYO, Japan, February 10, 2022 ‒ We are pleased to announce that a fund operated by
UTokyo innovation Platform Co., Ltd. (UTokyo IPC), the venture investment arm of theUniversity of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japanʼs leading national university, has come to a final
closing, with a total of JPY 25.6 billion involving 11 institutional investors.
The Accelerating Open Innovation Fund 1 (AOI Fund 1) is an investment limited partnershipthat was established in 2020 to facilitate open innovation through industry-academia
collaboration. UTokyo IPC is the general partner of the fund, while UTokyo serves as its
anchor limited partner.
University-affiliated venture capital partnership consecutively investing on a scale ofJPY25 billion
Unlike conventional venture capital financing, the AOI Fund 1 operates under the novel
concept of “fostering and investing on startups through industry-academia collaboration.” Itis designed to support spin-off startups from established business entities and newcompany creation through partnerships with leading companies in various sectors, as well asentrepreneurs that effectively leverage assets of leading companies for its growth.
AOI Fund 1 was launched in 2020, initially with a limited fund size of JPY 2.8 billion, withMUFG Bank, Ltd., and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. Later the fund size has
increased more than JPY 24 billion, with six new investors by its second closing in early2021: SBI Group, Fuyo General Lease Co., Ltd., DBJ Group, Daikin Industries, Ltd.,
Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd., and Hakuhodo Inc. Together with three more investors, including
Zeon Corporation and The Norinchukin Bank, AOI Fund 1 finished its fundraising, with thetotal amount of the fund reaching JYP25.6 billion with a total of 13 partners, including
UTokyo and UTokyo IPC. This exceeds the amount of UTokyo IPCʼs first fund, Innovation
Platform No. 1 Investment Limited Partnership (IPC Fund 1), which had a pledged financial
contribution of JYP25.0 billion.

1Aiming to attain and accelerating open innovation -- “organic” bonding of industrial
assets in Japan and academic results
The purpose of the AOI Fund 1 is to accelerate startups through the organic bonding ofvarious assets and strengths accumulated in Japanese industrial sectors ‒ which have anedge in the global market ‒ with results produced by academic institutions. It also aims tostrengthen the industrial competitive edge of Japan, now the worldʼs No. 3 economic powerin terms of gross domestic product (GDP).
The AOI Fund 1 deals with a broad range of investment projects, from large-scale ones ofaround USD 20 million to those involving seed-stage startups trying to explore thepotentialities of industry and academia. TradeWaltz Inc. and Citadel AI Inc. are two examplesof the portfolio, which currently consists of 14 companies. Its investments transcend
national borders ‒ Axial Therapeutics, Inc. to start with. (Note 1)
Strengthening competitiveness of Japanese industry by developing start-up ecosystem
around UTokyo
UTokyo began strengthening its university-wide capability to support startups andentrepreneurship when it became a national university corporation in 2004. Its endeavors
have so far resulted in the birth of more than 20 listed companies, whose total market
capitalization is estimated to exceed JPY 1 trillion.
Under “Kanmin Innovation Program” (Note 2), UTokyo established UTokyo IPC in 2016 as awholly owned subsidiary. Its objective is to further expand its startup ecosystem throughorganic partnership with startups, investors such as venture capital firms and establishedcompanies and universities/research institutes, thereby making it a global hub forinnovation. The IPC Fund 1, which UTokyo IPC launched immediately after its foundation,
has so far invested in 25 companies. Three have succeeded in launching IPOs.
The efforts of UTokyo IPC are not limited to investment activities aimed at attaining theobjectives of its establishment. A notable case is “1stRound,” a university-affiliatedincubation program launched in 2017. Through its semi-annual selection cycles, it provides
equity-free capital and intensive hands-on support to hopeful startups in the pre-seedstage. This program evolved from a UTokyo-based acceleration to an intercollegiate activity
including the University of Tsukuba, Tokyo Medical and Dental University and the Tokyo
Institute of Technology, as well as an industry-supported consortium comprising 17 industry
partners and sponsors.
Annually 15-20 teams are enjoying the benefits of this incubation; 43 alumni startups areleveraging this program to actively develop their businesses. Five of them, including thepreviously mentioned Citadel AI, are receiving our continued support through investment
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from AOI Fund 1. This program continues to expand, welcoming other academic
institutions and partners.
UTokyoʼs charter defines the university an institution that “serves the global public.” We arecommitted to expanding the startup ecosystem and lead Japanʼs open innovation.

Outline of the AOI 1 FundGeneral Partner: University of Tokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd.
Limited Partners: MUFG Bank, Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, SBI Group, Fuyo
General Lease Co., Ltd., DBJ Group, Daikin Industries, Ltd., Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd.,Hakuhodo Inc., Zeon Corporation, the Norinchukin Bank, the University of Tokyo and one
institutional investor.
Fund size: JPY25.615 billion
Duration: 15 years from 2020
Investment targets: Corporate spinoffs, new companies through joint ventures and seedstage startups, all leverage industry-established assets and academia-nurtured results, e.g.,of UTokyo.
About University of Tokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd. (UTokyo IPC)
Outline: An investment company committed to developing an innovation ecosystem around
UTokyoEstablishment: January 2016
Stockholder: UTokyo (100%)
Address: 261 Entrepreneur Lab, South Clinical Research Bldg., Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo Japan
Representative: President and CEO Katsuhiko Oizumi
Website: https://www.utokyo-ipc.co.jp/en/(Note 1) TradeWaltz Inc. is a Tokyo-based company that operates the international tradeinformation-sharing platform “TradeWaltz®.” The company was established based on across-industrial consortium which NTT Data Corporation. Professor Fuhito Kojima, Graduate
School of Economics, The University of Tokyo, has joined TradeWaltz Inc.ʼs Advisory Board.
URL: https://www.tradewaltz.com/en/
Citadel AI Inc. is a Tokyo-based company building next-generation machine learning
infrastructure to make the world's AI systems more reliable and secure. The company wasfounded by two alumni of The University of Tokyo, from the computer science and electronicengineering departments.
URL: https://www.citadel.co.jp/en3Axial Therapeutics, Inc., is a Boston-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
dedicated to improving the lives of people with neurological diseases, where Professors
Satoshi Uematsu and Seiya Imoto of the Institute of Medical Science, The University ofTokyo, serve as Scientific Advisory Board members.
URL: https://www.axialtx.com/(Note 2) “Kanmin Innovation Program” is a government initiative launched in 2013 forfostering startup investment around national universities in Japan. Four leading national
universities -- Tohoku, Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka -- established venture investment
subsidiaries as well as venture capital funds under this initiative. (The phrase “Kanmin”
indicates “public-private partnership” in Japanese.) The cumulative fund size is JPY 125
billion, one-fifth of which has been provided by the private sector. More than 140 startups
have received investments from the funds.

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