Physical AI in Japan & India: Startup Landscape and Collaboration Opportunities
Physical AI in Japan & India: Startup Landscape and Collaboration Opportunities
What’s happening in Japan’s Physical AI ecosystem—and where could Japanese and Indian startups collaborate?
Physical AI brings AI into the physical world, enabling robots and machines to perceive, reason, and act. For startups building these technologies, turning technical capabilities into real-world applications opens up questions that cross borders.
This session will introduce Japan’s Physical AI landscape, highlighting government initiatives, startup activity, and the opportunities and challenges of bringing these technologies into practice.
We’ll then open the conversation to participants. By comparing experiences across the two ecosystems, we’ll explore shared challenges, differences in market needs and approaches, and potential areas for collaboration.
Topics we’ll explore
Japan’s Physical AI landscape
Japan–India perspectives
Collaboration opportunities
[Agenda (tentative)]
16:00-16:05 Introductions
16:05-16:30 Main Presentation
16:30-17:30 Open Discussion and Networking
[Presenter Info]
Akiko Fujii (Venture Capitalist at Beyond Next Ventures)
Joined Beyond Next Ventures in Dec. 2024, investing in and helping scale startups in the space, robotics and dual-use sectors. Prior to Beyond Next Ventures, she supported M&A and fundraising execution for enterprise companies at an investment bank in Japan.
She holds a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from Tokyo Institute of Technology (now Institute of Science Tokyo), where her research focused on supply chain management.
[About Beyond Next Ventures]
Beyond Next Ventures is an early-stage deep-tech venture capital firm with presence in Japan and India. We are driven by our mission to enable exceptional entrepreneurs solving global challenges for healthier populace and a happier planet. Founded in 2014, we have made over 90 investments across both countries, with a portfolio of 16 companies in India.
In Japan, our investments related to Physical AI include humanoid robotics and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). We have also invested in a cybersecurity startup whose technology supports secure data management for Physical AI. We continue to expand our portfolio in physical AI/robotics space and explore opportunities for collaboration between Japan and India.
We focus on seed and pre-series A stage deep-tech startups, with ticket sizes ranging from $300,000 to $1.5 million. We typically lead/co-lead investment rounds and are committed to providing follow-on funding to our portfolio companies in future rounds.
Website: https://beyondnextventures.com/
Portfolio: https://beyondnextventures.com/portfolio/