Tokyo opens CVC matching for 200 startups and SMEs with ten corporates

Tokyo opens CVC matching for 200 startups and SMEs with ten corporates

13 October 2026: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has opened entries for a programme that matches small firms and startups based in Tokyo with the venture arms of ten large companies, with help to plan and run a proof of concept with the corporate partner. It expects about 200 matches and will close entries once it reaches that number, or around March 2027 at the latest.

Not yet independently verified. The release gives the closing date only as around March 2027, and entries close earlier once about 200 matches are made. It states no funding amount. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

The programme is part of the city's push to get more corporate venture capital (CVC) flowing into young companies, and it is run for the government by Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support.

Who can apply

Two kinds of company are eligible: small and medium-sized enterprises whose registered head office is in Tokyo, and startups that want to grow through a partnership with a Tokyo corporate investor and are less than ten years old when they apply. The participating CVCs and the programme office screen entries in the order they arrive and decide which go forward to matching.

Support after a match is practical rather than financial. The release lists help to build and refine a collaboration plan with the CVC, follow-up after the match, an assessment of whether the partnership can work, and, where the pair runs a proof of concept, help writing the PoC plan and tracking its progress. No grant or investment amount is attached to the programme itself; any investment is between the startup and the corporate.

The ten corporate investors

The city has chosen these companies' venture arms:

• Asia Air Survey
• JPX Research Institute, part of the group that runs the Tokyo Stock Exchange
• Shochiku
• Sekisui House Innovation and Communication
• Dai-ichi Life Group
• Nikon
• Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Hitachi Construction Machinery
• Proto Ventures
• Ricoh

The list leans towards manufacturing, property, insurance and entertainment, with JPX Research Institute and Proto Ventures as the closest fits for software and data companies. Each corporate sets out its own focus areas at the reverse pitch, which is the first chance to see whether a startup's product fits one of them.

A reverse pitch on 14 December

Before applying, companies can hear each corporate investor present its past investments, partnerships and the areas it wants to work in next. The event runs on Monday 14 December from 17:00 to 21:00 Tokyo time at Tokyo Innovation Base in Marunouchi, with an online stream. Each of the ten CVCs gets about 15 minutes, followed by one-to-one meetings of 15 minutes, up to four per company, for those attending in person. Places are booked through the programme's website.

Entries opened on 13 October and are screened in the order they arrive, so the event comes about two months into the intake.

Sources

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government via PR TIMES: entries open for SMEs and startups seeking CVC matching (Japanese), 13 October 2026