About Keio Fujisawa Innovation Village (SFC-IV) | Jiro Kokuryo (Dean, Faculty of Policy Management)
2011.02.07
This is a bit of an old story now, but on December 8 of last year, U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos visited SFC. As someone whose specialty is business administration and who has long been involved in entrepreneurship, I was particularly pleased that the purpose of his visit was to see how Japanese universities are supporting venture businesses. The ambassador, who hails from Silicon Valley—a mecca for startups—came to campus, spoke passionately to students about creating new businesses, and then visited SFC-IV . I was actually a little surprised that he already knew about SFC-IV and had specifically requested to visit it by name.
Since people come and go so frequently at a university, there may be some current students who are not familiar with it, so I'd like to briefly introduce it. SFC-IV stands for Keio Fujisawa Innovation Village, a venture incubation facility. Many might recognize it as the building on the right side of the road leading to the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care. It is a two-story facility with about 1,000 square meters of rental space, targeting (1) ventures founded based on university research outcomes, (2) ventures that have conducted or are conducting joint research with the university, (3) ventures that have received or are receiving technology transfers, technical advice/support, or business advice/support from the university, (4) student and alumni ventures with deep connections to the university's education and research, and (5) ventures started by those who have taken university courses. If you look at the list of tenants, you will see that it includes not only ventures originating from research labs and alumni but also local startups and companies that have come from elsewhere seeking to collaborate with the university. Furthermore, in addition to for-profit companies, social entrepreneurs who have started businesses as non-profits are also tenants. It's a comfortable space where you can rent as little as a single desk, and it even has facilities like shower rooms.
Ambassador Roos listening to a presentation at Pankaku, Inc.
We are also working on this kind of venture incubation with the belief that community building is crucial. There is a blog at http://blog.goo.ne.jp/sfc-iv/1 that gives you a feel for the atmosphere. A major advantage is that by being together, rather than isolated, it becomes easier for ventures to receive expert advice and collaborate with the university and the local community. We are also creating an environment where information on grants and other support is consolidated and easily accessible. We are also grateful for the strong backup from groups like the "Mentor Mita-kai" ( http://mentor-mitakai.net/ ), which is composed of Keio University alumni who see a future in supporting current Keio students and fellow alumni.
Ambassador Roos, who visited SFC-IV, spent about an hour touring the tenant ventures. It was impressive how he listened to and observed the new technologies and concepts presented by the tenant ventures with a look of enjoyment the entire time. As he left, he remarked, "This is exactly what Japan needs." I understand that he was acknowledging these efforts—the process by which the university's knowledge and youthful energy, together with the local community, create new value is what will solve global problems and generate new employment.
Even if we call on students to "go start a venture right away," it might be difficult for them to understand what a venture even is. For such students, why not try applying for an internship? The ventures located in SFC-IV occasionally recruit interns. It is also a fact that starting a business is not that easy, so I have no intention of carelessly encouraging it. It's perfectly fine to end up working for a large corporation, but I think you will find that another world exists. It's not a bad thing to go out into the world with that knowledge. For inquiries, please contact the Keio Fujisawa Innovation Village IM Office (incubation@sfc-iv.jp).
(Date Published: 2011/02/07)