Keio Fujisawa Innovation Village opening ceremony

On Thursday, May 11, a ceremony was held at the Shonan Fujisawa Campus to commemorate the opening of the Keio Fujisawa Innovation Village (SFC-IV), a university joint venture facility to support entrepreneurs.

The Keio Fujisawa Innovation Village is located adjacent to the Shonan Fujisawa Campus and is managed by the Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation Japan (SMRJ) in conjunction with Keio University, Kanagawa Prefecture and Fujisawa City. This business incubation facility is designed to house corporations that wish to create new business ventures through joint research with Keio University, or start up new businesses by utilizing Keio University's technical seeds. The facility contains a total of 34 rooms, including offices and workshops, and all of these rooms are scheduled to be occupied by a total of 28 corporate and individual tenants. The facility also has a permanent on-site incubation manager who provides business support to tenants.　

A large number of people, including representatives of the SMRJ, Keio University, Kanagawa Prefecture, Fujisawa City and SFC-IV tenants, attended the opening ceremony. In his address, SMRJ Chairman Takao Suzuki said, "I have high hopes that this facility will contribute to the development of both the Japanese economy and the regional economy". Keio University Vice-President Jun Murai also made an address saying, "The Shonan Fujisawa Campus has diversity and many students here start up their own businesses. I hope that we will strive to harness the power of this diversity to carve out the future".