CVC in Japan: Connecting Startups with Corporate Innovation & Trends
Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) is becoming a powerful bridge between startups and large enterprises in Japan. This event brings together leading CVC representatives and innovation experts to explore how startups can effectively engage with corporate investors, what Japanese corporates seek in founders, and how collaboration can drive long-term growth.
Through in-depth discussions, and expert insights, you’ll learn:
How Japanese CVCs identify, evaluate, and collaborate with promising startups
What corporates look for in founders — from leadership qualities to market positioning
Common challenges in startup-corporate partnerships and how to navigate them
The evolving role of CVC in driving sustainable growth and long-term innovation
Expect practical insights, real founder-CVC success stories, and an inside look at the strategies shaping Japan’s corporate innovation landscape.
Organizers: Founder Institute Japan X Co-Capital X Openfor.co X TiB
Agenda
Welcome & Introduction
Speakers Introduction
Panel Discussion: CVC Innovation & Trends in Japan
Q&A and Networking
Featured Speaker:
Haru Noda, Senior Capitalist at YANMAR VENTURES - He is a trilingual venture capital professional with over 15 years of experience spanning VC, CVC, and global corporate finance. Currently leading two venture funds totaling JPY 8 billion at Yanmar Ventures, he oversees sourcing, due diligence, and exit strategies. With a strong focus on deep-tech and cross-border investments across Japan, Korea, and the U.S., Haru has built a proven track record of driving impactful innovation through strategic investments — including 10+ global deals and a successful IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
TBD
📌 Moderator:
Erdinc Ekinci - Co-Founder and CEO of Openfor.co & Co-capital.co and Managing Director of Founder Institute Japan/Korea/Taiwan
Who Should Attend?
Startup founders exploring funding and strategic partnerships
Investors interested in co-investing with CVCs
Corporate innovation teams looking to collaborate with startups
Anyone curious about Japan’s evolving venture ecosystem
What You Will Learn?
How CVCs operate differently from traditional VCs
What Japanese corporates look for in startups
How to approach and collaborate with CVCs effectively
Insights on building long-term value beyond capital
Real-world examples of startup–CVC partnerships
Emerging trends shaping Japan’s CVC landscape
Common challenges in startup–corporate collaboration and how to overcome them
How to leverage corporate networks, resources, and market access for growth
About the Organizers:
Founder Institute: Founder institute, which originated in Silicon Valley, is a founder and idea stage accelerator, and with it’s Founder Capital, backing best performing FI alumni as early as angel stage. FI has over 8K+ startup portfolio (Including leading e-learning platform Udemy, IPO in Nasdaq $3,8B) across 200 cities in 100 countries around the world.) We are also the largest mentor network in the world, with over 35,000 mentors, and our alumni have already raised over $2 billion in US dollars and have recently exceeded the 10K mark of investors network as the FI-Venture-Network. FI’s sister program called VC Lab, helps launch aspiring investors into launching VC firms. As an accelerator that allows both sides of the table, 70% of the activities we do are advocacy of entrepreneurship and ecosystem creation, which means we do way more activity than the accelerator to promote entrepreneurship to solve real-world problems with entrepreneurship in an economically feasible way, build a company that grows into a venture-scale.
Openfor.co: A “Global Partnership Accelerator” originated in Silicon Valley that combined with an online platform and marketplace for learning, building, launching, monetizing, and growing partner ecosystems and collaborative community around you for achieving effective marketing, sales, community building, GTM, fundraising, and many more.
Co-Capital: Co-Capital is a VC that supports startups, investors, and governments by providing extensive networks, programs, and strategic guidance, helping them gain international traction, and funding opportunities through a collaborative ecosystem focusing on creating synergies among EdTech, Wellness, FinTech, and Deep Tech to foster a cohesive ecosystem where each sector supports and enhances the others with it's regional focus on East Asia to Silicon Valley.
Tokyo Innovation Base: Tokyo Innoviation Base is a place where ambitious individuals come together to advance society with their groundbreaking ideas and technologies. Tokyo Innovation Base aspires to be the world's most startup-friendly location, initiating a new wave of startups from the heart of Tokyo.