# Tsukuba Institute of Research

> Tsukuba Institute of Research is a VC fund in Ibaraki backing Medical and Manufacturing. See 8 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Ibaraki, Japan
- Total investments: 8
- Last investment: May 2024
- Lead investor: 13%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- Website: https://www.tsukubair.co.jp/

Tsukuba Institute of Research (筑波総研) is an R&D center owned by housing and wood products group Sumitomo Forestry. The facility develops technologies to make more effective use of wood in a wide range of fields.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Series A | $3M–$31M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Medical | 4 | 50% |
| Manufacturing | 4 | 50% |
| Biotechnology | 3 | 38% |
| Therapeutics | 2 | 25% |
| Sales | 1 | 13% |

16 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 4 | 50% |
| Funding Round | 2 | 25% |
| Seed | 1 | 13% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Celaid Therapeutics | Celaid Therapeutics develops technologies and products based on hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) expansion and gene-augmented therapies. The company operates a platform that enables in-vitro propagation of human HSCs without relying on animal-derived components, facilitating scalability, consistency, and cost control. It applies this platform acrossworkflows, including donor/patient cell collection, HSC expansion, cell processing, and gene editing to deliver cell therapy products. Celaid advances pipelines in areas such as blood cancers, genetic disorders, and rare hematologic diseases. Through partnerships and internal research, it seeks to support both reagent/media supply and therapeutic development around HSC-based regenerative medicine. | $3M | Series A | May 08, 2024 |  |
| LIGHTz | LIGHTz delivers a technology transfer and information exchange platform leveraging AI. | $5.7M | Series A | Mar 26, 2024 |  |
| Celaid Therapeutics | Celaid Therapeutics develops technologies and products based on hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) expansion and gene-augmented therapies. The company operates a platform that enables in-vitro propagation of human HSCs without relying on animal-derived components, facilitating scalability, consistency, and cost control. It applies this platform acrossworkflows, including donor/patient cell collection, HSC expansion, cell processing, and gene editing to deliver cell therapy products. Celaid advances pipelines in areas such as blood cancers, genetic disorders, and rare hematologic diseases. Through partnerships and internal research, it seeks to support both reagent/media supply and therapeutic development around HSC-based regenerative medicine. | $3.4M | Series A | Oct 25, 2022 |  |
| Veneno Technologies | Veneno Technologies develops drug candidates for pharmaceutical companies. The company provides services that include the treatment of neurological, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases, cancer cell proliferation, metastasis, and immune cell regulation. | $1.8M | Seed | Jan 24, 2022 |  |
| Alchemedicine | Alchemedicine is a the world in drug discovery with unique technologies and ideas Innovating new drug candidates for diseases with high unmet medical needs. | $7.1M | Series A | Feb 16, 2021 |  |
| FullDepth | FullDepth is a company that creates marine drones to aid with underwater monitoring. The company's drones work in tandem with marine navigation technology, which monitors and captures aquatic life, communicates data to connected devices, and provides infiltration information that can be freely used with a cloud service, allowing customers towitness and study marine life for educational and recreational purposes.FullDepth is a company that creates marine drones to aid with underwater monitoring. The company's drones work in tandem with marine navigation technology, which monitors and captures aquatic life, communicates data to connected devices, and provides infiltration information that can be freely used with a cloud service, allowing customers to witness and study marine life for educational and recreational purposes. | $48.2M |  | May 27, 2019 |  |
| O2 Japan | O2 is a partner in the manufacturing industry that supports all activities that create value by making products and a proud mind. | $35.4M |  | Jul 31, 2018 |  |
| nanolux | Nanolux is a company which manufacture and sales of electronic devices such as night vision cameras and electronic device systems. | $30.6M | Series A | Jun 13, 2018 |  |

8 of 8 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Beyond Next Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/beyond-next-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Joyo Capital Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/joyo-capital-partners) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Mitsubishi UFJ Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mitsubishi-ufj-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Techno Science](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/techno-science) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [UTEC - The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/utec) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Drone Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/drone-fund) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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### Similar country
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## Featured in investor lists
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## FAQ

### What does Tsukuba Institute of Research invest in?

Tsukuba Institute of Research invests primarily in Medical, Manufacturing and Biotechnology startups, most often at Series A and Funding Round stage. Most of the 8 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Japan. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Tsukuba Institute of Research's check size?

Tsukuba Institute of Research typically joins rounds of $3M–$31M at Series A. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Tsukuba Institute of Research participates in.

### When did Tsukuba Institute of Research last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Tsukuba Institute of Research closed in May 2024. Shizune tracks 8 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### 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 Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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