EIC and JETRO fast‑track 26 EIC-backed innovators to Japan’s industry leaders
- ›The EIC and JETRO organised a Multi-Corporate Day in Osaka and Tokyo on 5-8 October 2025, bringing 26 selected EIC-backed innovators to meet senior decision makers from DNP, JX Advanced Metals, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NEC and Shimizu Corporation.
- ›The programme combined market briefings, reverse pitches by corporates, founder presentations, bespoke pitch preparation and curated one-to-one meetings to compress weeks of outreach into a few days.
- ›Startups presented technologies across advanced materials, energy transition, digital and space services with explicit aims to secure pilots, cross-border consortia and blended finance deals.
- ›Organisers and corporate participants framed the event as a practical, time-efficient pipeline to evaluate technologies, while follow up and the gap from meetings to commercial pilots remain the main uncertainties.
EIC and JETRO connect EIC-backed innovators with Japan’s top industry leaders
Osaka and Tokyo, 5-8 October 2025 — The European Innovation Council and the Japan External Trade Organization convened a delegation of 26 EIC-backed companies for a four day market access and corporate matchmaking mission in Japan. The programme is the largest single delegation of EIC awardees outside Europe to date. It paired founder pitches with structured one-to-one meetings and corporate reverse pitches from Dai Nippon Printing, JX Advanced Metals Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NEC and Shimizu Corporation.
Programme design and activities
The mission combined market insight sessions, visits to the Osaka Expo and an EU Pavilion event attended by the EU Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, followed by site meetings in Tokyo including an EIC Multi-Corporate Day held at JETRO headquarters. Activities included preparatory coaching, pitch checks and dry runs ahead of curated one-to-one meetings. The cohort also attended BIO-Japan to extend technical discussions and follow up potential pilot opportunities.
JETRO and the EIC emphasised the practical nature of the sessions. Corporate teams used the meetings to move quickly from technology scouting to feasibility and resourcing conversations. JETRO described the event as a way to compress weeks of scouting into a single, well-structured programme that delivers higher quality shortlists than ad hoc approaches.
Who participated and what they pitched
The 26 participating teams span advanced materials, printed electronics, energy transition technologies, digital and space-based services. Several founders singled out immediate leads and corporate interest that could become targeted trials or pilots. Below is the full roster and a one line description for each company as provided during the event.
| Company | Country | Brief description |
| ALTAROAD | France | AI identification and certification of reclaimed materials for circular construction. |
| BRINEWORKS | Netherlands | pH-swing direct air capture coupled with hydrogen co‑production using low‑CAPEX electrolyser. |
| CATALYXX | Spain | Catalytic conversion of bio-ethanol to drop-in linear alcohols for coatings, adhesives and fuels. |
| constellr | Germany | High-accuracy thermal intelligence from orbit for day-night monitoring and anomaly detection. |
| danalto | Ireland | Middleware and APIs for GNSS-like positioning from terrestrial radio signals. |
| Dunia Innovations | Germany | Autonomous, physics-informed AI and robotics platform for accelerated materials discovery. |
| ELONROAD | Sweden | In-motion and static conductive charging rails to reduce battery size and increase fleet uptime. |
| Hardt Hyperloop | Netherlands | High-speed, low-pressure tube transport system aimed at zero emissions mobility. |
| MAGMENT | Germany | Magnetisable concrete cores for compact solid-state transformers and power electronics. |
| ManoMotion | Sweden | Vision-based AI for touchless gesture control and industrial safety applications. |
| Materrup | France | Low-carbon cement from cold-activated clays with lower lifecycle footprint. |
| MBRYONICS | Ireland | Terabit-class optical inter-satellite links and terminals for multi-orbit networks. |
| Neuron Soundware | Czech Republic | AI-enabled, sound and physical-signal monitoring for predictive maintenance. |
| Neutron Star Systems | Germany | High-temperature superconductor propulsion and autonomy platforms for space mobility. |
| NewPhotonics | Israel | Optical signal-processing chipsets to replace DSPs in data-centre optics. |
| OCEAN VISUALS | Norway | Below-surface LiDAR for ppm-level detection and classification of oil and organics. |
| OXYBATT | Italy | Lithium-free, rechargeable solid-state batteries operating at 250-600 degrees Celsius. |
| QUSIDE TECHNOLOGIES | Spain | Quantum random-number generators for verifiable entropy in cryptography and AI. |
| RECATALYST | Slovenia | Advanced platinum-based nanocatalysts for fuel cells and electrolysers with reduced precious metal use. |
| SEMIQON TECHNOLOGIES | Finland | Scalable quantum processors built on cryo-optimised CMOS for manufacturability and cryogenic electronics. |
| SILICON AUSTRIA LABS | Austria | Circular printed-electronics platform with bio-based, recyclable materials and green inks. |
| SIMLAB | Poland | 3D digital-twin software linking scans, BIM and IoT for smart construction and lifecycle operations. |
| SOLAR MATERIALS | Germany | Chemical-free thermo-mechanical PV module recycling with up to 98 percent recovery of components. |
| SYNEST | Greece | Modular reactors converting CO2 and water into drop-in fuels and chemicals and low-cost ocean capture. |
| SYNAERGY | Ireland | Modular direct-air-capture using low-grade heat and non-toxic adsorbents for continuous operation. |
| TRANSMETRICS | Bulgaria | AI and big-data analytics for logistics networks to forecast demand and optimise capacity. |
Corporate reactions and immediate outcomes
Corporates reported the day as practical and succinct. Organisers said the preparation that preceded the mission - tailored pitch coaching, proposal reviews and dry runs - enabled rapid technical conversations and more targeted follow ups. Several founders flagged concrete interest and next steps with named partners. Examples quoted in the programme material included ELONROAD pursuing talks with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries about materials handling pilots and SIMLAB advancing targeted pilot scoping with Shimizu.
JETRO framed the approach as a shortcut for busy corporate R&D and procurement teams to access a high quality shortlist of relevant European deep tech companies. JETRO also signalled interest in building long term industrial alliances, including pilots, procurement pipelines and investment flows.
What the technologies mean in practical terms
Several participating innovations carry technical complexity that benefits from short explanatory context. These are technologies that can require long validation cycles and sector specific procurement approaches. The mission aimed to start those validation pathways rapidly by exposing founders to potential pilot hosts and technical buyers.
Why this matters for EU-Japan cooperation
Organisers framed the mission as reinforcing EU-Japan cooperation across innovation, R&D and industrial chains. For European start-ups it offered a route to Japanese pilots, procurement and access to large industrial systems. For Japanese corporates it opened access to pre‑selected European deep tech and potential IP that could be integrated into local supply chains. The stated strategic goals included creating pipelines for pilots and investments, strengthening resilience in key value chains and accelerating standards and regulatory alignment.
The public narrative emphasised mutual benefits. The EIC offered its rigorously selected portfolio as a quality signal about technical readiness. JETRO offered Japan market insight and matchmaking to corporate buyers. Corporates highlighted time saved versus conventional scouting and the improved technical fit of the curated startups.
A cautious note on outcomes and common roadblocks
Structured and well prepared meetings are a meaningful step. They are not a guarantee of pilots or procurement. Converting meetings into fielded pilots requires alignment on IP, safety testing, regulatory compliance, procurement timelines, procurement budgets and local operational adaptation. Corporates typically run long internal validation cycles. Startups need local partners, language and regulatory insight, and realistic expectations about procurement timeframes. Pilot fatigue is a real risk if activities are shallow or lack clear acceptance criteria and financing.
Practical advice for founders and corporates after the mission
For founders: document follow up asks clearly, prioritise pilots with measurable success metrics and secure written agreements on IP and data sharing before trials start. Consider local partnerships for deployment and compliance. Be realistic on timelines and capital needs to move from lab to industrial environment.
For corporates: define success criteria and resource commitments for pilots upfront. Be transparent about procurement and integration constraints. Use structured due diligence to evaluate technical readiness, manufacturing scale up and supply chain resilience. Where appropriate, blend corporate contracting with concessional finance or co-investment to de‑risk initial pilots.
Context from the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme
The mission was organised under the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme. Since 2017 the programme has run events and matchmaking activities to connect EIC-backed startups with large corporations. The EIC reports that through the Corporate Partnership Programme it has organised dozens of initiatives involving over 100 corporate partners and that more than 1,200 EIC-funded start-ups and scale-ups and over 2,500 corporate representatives have taken part in its activities. The programme aims to create collaborations across procurement, R&D, procurement and investment.
Implications for EU innovation policy and industrial strategy
Cross-border corporate missions are increasingly part of European scale up strategies. They reduce discovery costs for corporates and can accelerate early customer traction for startups. From a policy perspective, missions that include follow up support for pilot finance, standardisation pathways and regulatory navigation are more likely to produce durable commercial outcomes. The presence of an EU Commissioner at the EU Pavilion highlighted the political visibility of such missions as instruments of industrial diplomacy.
Conclusions and next steps
The EIC-JETRO mission brought a concentrated, well prepared group of European deep tech founders to meet Japanese industrial decision makers. The format sped up initial discovery and produced concrete leads. The central question now is whether those leads will be translated into funded pilots, procurement contracts, or equity partnerships. Effective next steps include agreeing pilot scopes with measurable KPIs, setting budgets, clarifying IP arrangements and securing local implementation partners.
If the EIC, JETRO and participating corporates sustain the momentum and pair matchmaking with practical de‑risking tools such as pilot funding, standards roadmaps and local partner facilitation, this type of mission can become a repeatable channel to internationalise European deep tech. If they do not, the event risks becoming a useful but ephemeral networking milestone.
Contacts and further information
The mission was delivered by the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme as part of the EIC Business Acceleration Services with support from JETRO. Participating companies and corporate partners were briefed on next steps at the close of the Tokyo sessions. Companies interested in future Corporate Days can engage with the EIC Corporate Partnership Programme through the EIC Community portal.