Returning knowledge to society
KyotoU’s startup companies are often characterized by their cutting-edge deep tech innovations. Building on a strong foundation of basic research, these companies are shaping the world of tomorrow, with potential impacts that could extend decades into the future.
As of fiscal 2023, there were 273 such startups. Many of these are advanced technology companies rooted in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, engineering, and chemical research.
Several startups are drawing particular attention: a company designing and manufacturing fusion power reactors as a promising next-generation energy source; another developing thin, lightweight solar cells that can generate power almost anywhere; and another working to achieve true wireless power transmission. In the field of iPS cell-based drug discovery, which uses induced pluripotent stem cell technology developed at KyotoU, one company has already begun clinical trials aimed at human applications.
What enables these companies to create something unprecedented is the university’s research culture, which has always prioritized the pursuit of truth driven by researchers’ interests and curiosity. Kyoto University startups have the potential to bring about disruptive innovations that could fundamentally transform existing markets and industry norms.
Many such technologies are already being utilized in society. In fiscal 2023, intellectual property income came from 263 technologies, totaling approximately 1.8 billion yen. The IP portfolio is diverse, spanning the life sciences and engineering, to iPS cell technologies, semiconductor manufacturing equipment developed through industry collaboration, and even new fruit varieties.