According to a survey on university-developed startups released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on May 15, Ritsumeikan University ranked 10th overall in Japan with 135 venture companies originating from the university in fiscal 2023.

Report on Results of FY2023 Survey on University-Developed Venture Businesses: Preliminary Report (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)

In 2019, Ritsumeikan launched the Ritsumeikan Impact-Makers Inter X (RIMIX) Platform with the aim of fostering talent who can harness the power of business to solve social issues. Then, in June 2021, we opened the Office of Startup Promotion, a specialized organization that taps into open innovation to promote startups and commercialization efforts in a one-stop manner. Under our Grassroots Innovation Policy, we have been promoting the commercialization of research seeds along with an integrated entrepreneurship education program that spans every level from the primary school to our graduate schools.

In 2022, we opened Venture Café Tokyo and launched OIC Connect, the first-ever regularly held innovation exchange program at a Japanese university, thereby creating monthly opportunities for entrepreneurs, researchers, students, and a diverse array of other individuals to interact with and learn from each other.

We also established the Ritsumeikan Social Impact Fund, a fund that invests in startups that aim to solve social issues, in 2020. Using impact investing, we support businesses that are addressing local social issues. In AY2023, we increased the amount of funds under management to two billion yen, and we continue to invest in Ritsumeikan alumni and others who strive to solve social issues.

Together, these efforts have increased the momentum for startup creation throughout the university and have led to the formation of a network composed of students and alumni who aspire to start their own businesses, entrepreneurs in a variety of fields, companies, and other groups and individuals, thereby leading to Ritsumeikan’s 10th-place ranking.

We will continue to support our students, faculty members, and alumni in their efforts to commercialize their ideas and research findings and start their own businesses.