Wellspring, the global leader in technology transfer software, and the University Network for Innovation and Technology Transfer (UNITT), today announced a formal partnership to develop the first ever website focused on marketing Japanese university-based startups. UNITT is the trade association of Japanese technology transfer offices and was established to promote research partnerships between academia and industry and the commercialization of academic research.

The project is coordinated with and will build upon the most recent start-up data published by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on March 9, 2018.

In addition to the METI work, Wellspring and UNITT will collects startups from UNITT member institutions across Japan to post essential information about these companies on UNITT’s website.

The result will be the only comprehensive database of Japanese high-tech start-ups.

Investors, potential customers, interested executives, and other parties will be able to easily find and engage with these companies on the UNITT site as well as Wellspring’s Flintbox.com website, the largest collection of university technologies and startups sourced from over 600 academic institutions worldwide.

Interest and support for startups in Japan is at an all-time high. The Japanese government has aggressively moved to create entrepreneur-friendly policies and programs for companies. For example, the government recently announced a ¥100B ($910M) venture fund led by Development Bank of Japan to invest in space-related startups.

Dr. Akira Fujishima, President of UNITT, commented: “We are excited and proud to partner with Wellspring to publicize the innovative Japanese university-based startups in order to market them broadly in Japan and beyond.”

Dr. Robert Lowe, Chief Executive Officer at Wellspring, added: “Combining the strengths of UNITT’s academic community with Wellspring’s technology promises an unrivaled technology marketplace. Based on our research, universities that engage in integrated marketing reported 3.5 times more licensing revenue.”

The project begins in July and the live website will be available in late fall of 2018. An initial preview will be available at the UNITT Annual Meeting in September.