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Monozukuri Ventures Launches “Deep Tech Forum” and Brings It to Three North American Cities in January 2024 and Japan in March 2024

Deep Tech Forum will convene the world's leading deep tech startup ecosystem of founders, startups, investors and supporting communities to address the barriers to growth and success. Deep Tech Forum's inaugural year, 2024, will feature "RAAI in Manufacturing," where RAAI stands for Robotics, Automation and AI, and will be held in January in three North American cities - Toronto, Canada; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and New York City, New York - known for their industrial backgrounds and emerging tech startup ecosystems beyond the San Francisco Bay Area.

KYOTO, Japan and NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2023 — Monozukuri Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on hardware and deep tech startups, today announced the launch of the Deep Tech Forum, where the world's leading deep tech startup ecosystem of founders, startups, investors and supporting communities will come together to address the barriers to growth and success. The Deep Tech Forum's inaugural year, 2024, will feature "RAAI in Manufacturing", where RAAI stands for Robotics, Automation and AI, and will be held in January in three North American cities - Toronto, Canada; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and New York City, New York - known for their industrial backgrounds and emerging tech startup ecosystems beyond the San Francisco Bay Area. To connect to the world's leading manufacturing companies with deep tech startups, the Deep Tech Forum will take place in March 2024 in Kyoto, a Japanese city known for its historical heritage as well as global manufacturing companies such as Kyocera, Maxell, Murata, Nidec, Nintendo, Omron, Rohm, Screen and Shimadzu. "Japanese manufacturing companies do business globally, but they are still shy about working with startups, especially outside of Japan," said Nobuhiro Seki, Chief Investment Officer and Founding Partner of Monozukuri Ventures. "At the Deep Tech Forum in Kyoto, deep tech entrepreneurs, especially in the RAAI industries, will find strategic partners with global presence in supply and value chains, as well as essential resources to grow their business". The Deep Tech Forum in Kyoto is scheduled to be held on March 7th and 8th, 2024. The deep tech sector is one with a high affinity for "open innovation," in which companies collaborate with large corporations and others. Unlike software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups that dominate the current startup landscape, deep tech companies need to collaborate with other companies to become part of the supply and value chain, even in the early stages of the startup. The startup ecosystem is more willing to collaborate with the open innovation arms of large corporations. Dave Mawhinney, founding executive director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University and also a serial entrepreneur, explained the importance of the Deep Tech Forum. "Accelerators and VC support alone are not enough for deep tech startups, especially those spun out of universities. Active collaboration with the open innovation departments of large corporations is one of the keys to success."

Overview of Deep Tech Forum North America 2024

■January 15, 2024 in Toronto, ON: Deep Tech Forum Toronto 2024

  • Keynote: "Why Toronto? What's missing for global manufacturing corporations to add value in the deep tech ecosystem? What do startups need to grow from the early stage to the next steps?"
  • Speaker: Thomas Park, Lead Partner, BDC Deep Tech Venture Fund
  • The BDC Deep Tech Venture Fund is Canada's largest VC fund ($200 million) dedicated to deep tech.
  • Registration: https://deep-tech-forum-toronto-2024.peatix.com/
  • Excursion (optional): Visit to University of Toronto and the innovation hub "MaRS"

    • ■January 17, 2024 in Pittsburgh, PA: Deep Tech Forum Pittsburgh 2024

  • Keynote: "Pittsburgh: The world's leading ecosystem for robotics startups"
  • Speaker: Kevin Dowling, Managing Director of Robotics Factory, Innovation Works
  • Robotics Factory is a startup accelerator who creates, accelerates and helps scale robotics startups in the Pittsburgh region.
  • Guest speaker: Ilana Diamond, Managing Partner at 412 Venture Fund, Founder of Hardware Cup Pitch Competition and former Founding Managing Director of AlphaLab Gear
  • Registration: https://deep-tech-forum-pittsburgh-2024.peatix.com/
  • Excursion (optional): Visit to Carnegie Mellon University & Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship (planned on January 16)

    • ■January 19, 2024 in New York, NY: Deep Tech Forum New York 2024

  • Keynote Speaker: Duncan Turner, General Partner SOSV & Managing Director HAX
  • HAX is the first startup accelerator focused on hardtech. It was first founded in Shenzhen, China but SOSV, its parent, announced they selected Newark, NJ as its U.S. headquarters.
  • Registration:https://deep-tech-forum-nyc-2024.peatix.com
  • Excursion (optional): Visit to Newlab in Brooklyn Navy Yard. Newlab is one of the largest hardware incubators and Urban-X by BMW MINI.

    • Sponsorship opportunities are available to promote brands and showcase products. Contact details here.

    Media Contact Sabrina Sasaki, Monozukuri Ventures, [email protected], monozukuri.vc