Keio Innovation Initiative
VC Fund
Tokyo, Japan
Keio Innovation Initiative (KII) is a venture capital established by Keio University. In order to make more effective use of the research results of Keio University, we aim to contribute to the development of society by creating investment for venture companies that utilize research results and creating new industries.The key to thinking aboutJapan's future growth strategy is to utilize advanced research results of the university. In addition to GDP, in addition to GDP, Japan is the world's third largest R & D exporter in R & D expenses, but as the low growth rate shows, it has a problem in investment efficiency in research and development. There are also reports on the entrepreneurial spirit that is indispensable for creating new industries, with the lowest entrepreneurial activity rate among developed countries.
- Total investments:
- 91
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 30%
- Fund size:
- $94M
- Last fund:
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Keio Innovation Initiative invests in
Stages Keio Innovation Initiative invests in
Countries Keio Innovation Initiative invests in
Round sizes
Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Round size
- Seed
- $826k–$14M
- Series A
- $2.2M–$41M
- Venture - Series Unknown
- $1.6M–$12M
Investment Focus
Industry
- Health Care 15 (16%)
- Medical 14 (15%)
- Biotechnology 14 (15%)
- Manufacturing 8 (9%)
- Medical Device 8 (9%)
Stage
- Series A 23 (25%)
- Seed 19 (21%)
- Venture - Series Unknown 16 (18%)
- Series B 9 (10%)
- Funding Round 5 (5%)
Country
- Japan 60 (66%)
- United Kingdom 1 (1%)
Team
| Name | Title | Investments | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Kotaro Yamagishi
Founder & CEO
|
Founder & CEO | Total investments: 4 | Find email | |
Shuichi Kinoshita
corporate officer
|
corporate officer | Total investments: 2 | Find email | |
Yusuke Satake
Principal
|
Principal | Total investments: 4 | Find email |
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| elleThermo aims to implement Semiconductor-Sensitised Thermal Cells (STCs), an energy conversion technology that can generate electricity from unused waste heat above room temperature. | $5.2M / Series A / Aug 26, 2026 | ||
| Starlight Engine develops and commercializes fusion energy power plant technologies. | $37.4M / Seed / Jul 15, 2026 | ||
| Neusignal Therapeutics is a medical company that develops therapeutic medicines for dementia and psychiatric illnesses. | $32.8M / Series B / Jun 30, 2026 | ||
| JiMED designs & develops AI based brain-computer interface for implant in ALS patients to improve communication. | $2M / Jun 18, 2026 | ||
| Graphenary creates unique graphene optical devices using graphene materials with a variety of remarkable features. | $1.5M / Seed / Apr 27, 2026 | ||
| Orbital is a space tech company that provides space debris business to remove debris and a satellite LiDAR business to provide surface data. | $19.2M / Series A / Mar 19, 2026 | ||
| Eco-Pork is a co-creation solution farm that supports farmers' food productivity improvement. It is connecting the pig and technology, pork ( Pork ) new business ecosystems ( Ecosystem By building a), in the pork growing demand around the world, to get the most out of the food supply capacity is finite. | $9M / Venture - Series Unknown / Nov 28, 2025 | ||
| Surv Biopharma develops a drug discovery platform that facilitates research and development of veterinary drugs and pharmaceutical products. | $14.1M / Series B / Nov 11, 2025 | ||
| Space Quarters is a manufacturing company that produces payload deploy and panels, and develops space assembly robotic systems. | $5M / Seed / Oct 15, 2025 | ||
| "Z-Works Life Engine" is a cloud-type IoT platform. Collect and analyze the data of the terminal equipped with Z-Wave on the cloud, you can browse various data with the smartphone and remotely control the terminal equipped with Z-Wave. | $4.7M / Oct 06, 2025 | ||
| See all 91 investments → | |||
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FAQ
What does Keio Innovation Initiative invest in?
Keio Innovation Initiative invests primarily in Health Care, Medical and Biotechnology startups, most often at Series A and Seed stage. Most of the 91 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Japan. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
What is Keio Innovation Initiative's check size?
Keio Innovation Initiative typically joins rounds of $826k–$14M at Seed, $2.2M–$41M at Series A and $1.6M–$12M at Venture - Series Unknown. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Keio Innovation Initiative participates in.
How do I contact Keio Innovation Initiative?
Public channels for Keio Innovation Initiative include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.
Who are the partners at Keio Innovation Initiative?
The team at Keio Innovation Initiative includes Kotaro Yamagishi (Founder & CEO), Shuichi Kinoshita (corporate officer) and Yusuke Satake (Principal). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.
Is Shizune's investor data accurate?
Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Oct 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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