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Pitch Event “Osaka University DeepTech Showcase” held in Silicon Valley
Osaka University held a pitch event, the Osaka University DeepTech Showcase in Silicon Valley (USA) on Wednesday, December 4 (local time).
This event was held to enhance the network of corporations, individuals, and OU alumni active in Silicon Valley toward establishing a startup ecosystem for connecting research results with society.
The event began with opening remarks by Professor KITAOKA Yasuo (Executive Assistant to the Director, Co-Creation Bureau), followed by an introduction to the Co-Creation Bureau (CCB) by Specially Appointed Professor SONE Ichiro, and an introduction to Osaka University Venture Capital (OUVC) by its Investment Director UOTANI Akira.
Next, presentations by 4 promising OU startups and 5 OU researchers aiming to implement their research results into society were delivered (details below). Presenters, including Hauer of Germany (German CEO of OU startup MyImmune Corporation) and Gajanan S. Revankar (Specially Appointed Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Medicine, Division of Medicine, Osaka University), showed the diversity of individuals working for OU. The presenters introduced innovative technologies and projects with the aim of resolving social issues, livening up the atmosphere of the place.
Lastly, Deputy Consul-General ISHIHARA Takeshi of the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco concluded the event with his words of encouragement, expressing his hope that OU will play a role in driving innovation globally. 91 individuals, including representatives from corporate venture capital (CVC) of Japanese businesses and venture capital (VC) in Silicon Valley, as well as alumni, participated in this event, which ran out of chairs, so some people had to stand.
In the networking session after the program, participants expanded the circle of interaction. Some participants gave favorable feedbacks, such as “Technology development by universities and university startup are intriguing topics, so we hope this event will be held every year.”
Osaka University will promote the globalization and international development of university-initiated startups via the networks built in this event and will expand a network to support startups by OU alumni. We will go into the local community by continuously holding this event in order to steadily proceed with the building of effective startup ecosystem.
Professor Kitaoka
Specially Appointed Professor Sone
Mr. Fujimoto
Mr. Hauer
Specially Appointed Assistant Professor Gajanan
The pitch event
Deputy Consul-General Ishikawa
Program
Presentations by Osaka University Startups
- FUJIMOTO Takeshi (Division Manager, Global Business Development Division, Thinker Inc.)
- Nobuhiro Andrew Kawai, PhD (COO, Atransen Pharma)
- Florian Hauer (CEO, MyImmune)
- Professor HIRATA Masayuki (Director, JiMED)
Presentations from Osaka University Researchers
- "Hydrogen purification technology using liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC)" - Associate Professor HOSHIMOTO Yoichi (Graduate School of Engineering)
- "Bio-manufacturing using chemically synthesized sugars produced from CO2" - TABATA Hiro (Specially Appointed Researcher, Graduate School of Engineering)
- "Practical application of rapid-freezing devices for optical observation" - Professor FUJITA Katsumasa (Graduate School of Engineering)
- "Development of a nerve stimulation device for early weaning the patients from the ventilator in intensive care unit" - TAMAGAWA Yuki (Graduate School of Medicine)
- "Developing a patient-centered AI app for early dementia detection" - Specially Appointed Assistant Professor Gajanan S. Revankar (Graduate School of Medicine)
Closing Remarks: ISHIHARA Takeshi (Deputy Consul-General, Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco)
This event was held in cooperation with Japan Society of Northern California and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) San Francisco.