This $42M fund for Japanese startups targets the brain, robots, and wireless power

Some big money is about to flow into Japan’s scientific startup community, specifically those in the Kansai region (which contains the cities of Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto – the country’s second most populated urban center after the greater Tokyo area).

Tokyo-based Nippon Venture Capital and the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR), headquartered in Kyoto, yesterday announced a JPY 5 billion (US$42 million) fund for specialized ventures in three sectors: brain information science (i.e. brain-computer interfaces, which make mind-controlled robotics a reality), life support robots (like Otonaroid, Kodomoroid, and Telenoid – all co-developed by Osaka University and ATR), and wireless power.

Telenoid is a “life support robot” for lonely senior citizens.

The Keihanna ATR fund was established on February 10, and is joined by Shinsei Bank, Kyoto Bank, Sumitomo Electric Industries, and KDDI. It gets the first part of its name from Kansai Science City, also referred to as Keihanna, a scientific research and development zone established in the 1970s. It’s nestled between Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara prefectures – the same area that the fund is targeting.

The Kansai region is shown in dark green.

The Bridge is reporting that the fund is Japan’s largest for startups affiliated with a single research institute.

Kansai’s new science-focused fund is the second eight-figure investment fund for Japanese startups so far this year. Last month, Incubate Fund announced a US$92 million fund to focus on internet of things (IoT) ventures.

See: Can Japan’s second city become a first-class center of innovation?

(H/T to The Bridge)