KSAC

Keihanshin Startup Academia Coalition (KSAC) is a platform that brings together over 60 organizations in the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe (abbreviated as “Keihanshin”) area, with Kyoto University as leading. KSAC participants include universities, companies in industry and finance, and local governments. By connecting people across regional and organizational boundaries, KSAC seeks to create a virtuous cycle of people, research results and funding, broadening the base of entrepreneurs in the Keihanshin region and producing a steady stream of university-launched startups. In so doing, KSAC aims to construct a world-class startup ecosystem.

The Cabinet Office (the agency that handles the day-to-day affairs of Japan’s Cabinet) has selected Keihanshin as the site for the startup ecosystem hub cities that will be nurtured as global hub cities. Through KSAC, the Cabinet Office is centralizing operations to cultivate entrepreneurial people and create startups, thereby contributing to the formation of the ecosystem.
KSAC is implemented by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) under the “Program for the Creation of New Industry from Universities (START): University-Ecosystem Promotion Type” program.