Origgin Ventures, a venture co-creation firm based in Singapore, said it will co-manage a $30-million fund with Interuniversity Ventures to back Japanese deeptech spinoffs.
The fund aims to address Japan’s early-stage funding and execution gap for research-based startups, particularly those emerging from university R&D departments, per the announcement.
The fund’s launch comes as Origgin Ventures officially launched its Japanese operations in Fukuoka, aiming to accelerate deeptech commercialisation and strengthen innovation ties between Japan and Southeast Asia.
“Fukuoka is rapidly emerging as Japan’s innovation gateway. By launching Origgin Japan here, we are building a bridge between Japan’s R&D strengths and the fast-growing Southeast Asian market,” said Takuya Inoue, CEO of Origgin Japan.
Origgin Japan will apply the firm’s Venture Co-Creation framework to commercialise academic and corporate technologies into scalable startups, per the announcement.
Venture Co-Creation is the process of creation and management of startups to address business pain points while guiding startups to initial success, Origgin earlier said. It aims to commercialise deeptech intellectual property in sectors including advanced engineering, medtech, sustainability, agri-food, and ICT.
The initiative builds on Origgin’s presence in Southeast Asia and aims to bridge Japan’s R&D capabilities with regional growth markets, according to the announcement.
Last month, Origgin Capital, the venture capital arm of Origgin Ventures announced the launch of its second venture fund to co-create and scale spin-offs from universities and research institutes across Asia.
The new Asia-focused vehicle, Origgin Capital Fund 2, has a target size of S$30 million ($23 million) and will target up to 50 early-stage startups, Origgin said in a statement. The inaugural fund raised S$10 million in 2022.
Origgin’s portfolio companies
Origgin Ventures also signed two memoranda of understanding with Japanese partners to accelerate venture creation and ecosystem collaboration.
In addition, Origgin is partnering with Fukuoka-based GxPartners to support corporate innovation through proof-of-concept projects, pilot testing, and new venture formation.
The company specialises in transforming research and intellectual property into market-ready ventures through partnerships with universities, research institutes, and industry leaders across Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, and China.
