Trust Capital Fund for Universities of Japan

Main article: Economics of Japan

Company History

2022: Creating an Innovation Fund

In early April 2022, Japan officially opened its first national target capital fund of $82 billion for universities, which is the largest in the world. The Fund is part of Japan's two-way approach, which includes both support for start-up companies and targeted government support for basic research that underpins innovation strategy. The purpose of the fund is to provide financial support for research through annual returns on investment.

The creation of the fund, together with plans to establish a University of Excellence, is one of a number of measures built on the idea that Japan desperately needs to create a financial, structural and regulatory environment that promotes innovation. And, according to representatives of various branches of government, states this should be aimed at solving the problems that Japan faces as the fastest aging society in the world.

Establishment of an Innovation Development Fund in Japan

But in contrast, the industrial base, populated by companies such as Nidec and Fanuc, is still able to attract the best specialists to create globally competitive products, and the education system still produces competitive innovators. When it came to other indicators of innovation, Japan could also point to many decades during which it was either at the top or near the top of the world leaderboard on annual patent applications, even in 2020, when China and South Korea soared even higher. During the pandemic (COVID-19), Japan maintained the position of the third largest patent holder in the world with 288,472 applications, but at the end of 2021 confidence in this argument fell sharply.

Innovation around the world is increasingly focusing in areas outside Japan's traditional competence, forcing the country to act. These include artificial intelligence, financial technology, biotechnology, and, in particular, software-based innovation, in which China and the United States have taken a leading position.^[1]

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