Hosting New Business Creation Program in Collaboration with Four Tokai Companies and Start-ups

DBJ, along with four companies headquartered in the Tokai region, held the Tokai Open Accelerator open innovation program to support partnerships with start-ups and the creation of new businesses. The four Tokai-based companies are Daido Metal Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture), Nitto Kogyo Corporation (headquarters: Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture), Futamura Chemical Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture), and The Monogatari Corporation (headquarters: Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture).

This program extensively sought out new business proposals from start-ups with advanced technologies or innovative ideas nationwide. The new business proposals had to utilize the strong brands, diverse business domains, customer bases and other management resources of the four Tokai-based companies. After about four months of document screening, the proposals underwent both primary and secondary selection processes. DBJ provided support for all processes, including the management of schedules, the design of the evaluation method for the collaboration proposals, the format for presentations, and the gathering of new business proposals and forming matches and partnerships based on them.

The implementation of this program led to the start of collaborations for new business creation between the start-ups and four Tokai-based companies. Through this program, DBJ briskly increased opportunities for open innovation in the Tokai region and also helped promote the revitalization of regional industry as a whole, nurture new markets, and expand employment opportunities.