[Entrepreneurship Support Program 5th Report] Collaboration with Corporate Partners and Fundraising

As part of its support for entrepreneurs, JAFCO operates the entrepreneurship support program 'First Leap'. In this program, aspiring entrepreneurs join JAFCO as visiting entrepreneurs, and over a three-month period, they refine their business ideas into concrete, actual businesses.

During this time, we invite a stellar lineup of lecturers, including experienced startup executives and entrepreneurship experts, to provide the necessary know-how for starting a business. In this report, we share the details of the 5th study session, which featured TechMagic Inc. CEO Yuji Shiraki as our guest speaker.

■ Lecturer Profile: Mr. Shiraki

👉 Mr. Shiraki's X account is here

Overview

<Purpose of the study session>
~On the 4 'magical' ways to accelerate business growth through collaboration with large corporations~
Drawing on his experience of successfully completing four major funding rounds in the robotics sector—a field often considered difficult for fundraising—he shared his expertise on collaborating with corporate partners and raising capital.

<Structure>
- 4 magical ways to accelerate business growth through collaboration with large corporations
- EQ Fundraising: Reflections on four funding rounds
- Value proposition and KFS

4 magical ways to accelerate business growth through collaboration with large corporations

Whether or not you can align your collaboration with a large corporation's mid-term management plan is a major factor in whether you can secure funding from them. Furthermore, collaborating with a large corporation not only allows you to generate significant sales but also gives you a competitive edge in marketing. (Press releases with large corporations attract high attention and easily lead to increased brand awareness.)
And while startups have limited resources, by maximizing the use of a large corporation's resources, you can accelerate product development.

EQ Fundraising: Reflections on four funding rounds

Here, Mr. Shiraki shared the realistic know-how and reflections he gained through his four funding rounds.
In particular, 'You should plan your capital policy as much as possible from the founding stage, but things often don't go as expected. Therefore, you must get large corporations and VCs to resonate with your vision. Also, the founder's passion in conveying that vision is crucial.' is a profound lesson applicable to startups in any field.

Value proposition and KFS

In conclusion, whether collaboration with a large corporation is necessary depends on each company's value proposition and KFS he said. He explained this using concrete examples of how TechMagic defined its value proposition and KFS during its founding period.

The chart below summarizes the points customers care about when buying robots during the startup phase.

He explained that by organizing these points, they were able to deepen and articulate their customer value. Furthermore, he discussed how this customer value connects to the company's competitive advantage. It seems they focused on building this for the first five years since founding.
This clarifies what needs to be done (where limited resources should be focused).

On that basis, TechMagic considered collaboration with large corporations strategically important for gaining high reliability and recognition, and they executed on that strategy!

Participant Comments

Organizer's Comments

While there are many books available on business development and expansion, capital policy is a highly confidential area where know-how is rarely made public. This session provided an opportunity for CEO Shiraki to share specifically what he was thinking when he crafted his capital policy while launching the business from scratch, and how he made the decision on which partners to welcome as shareholders. Even from an investor's perspective, this was an interesting theme, and it served as an opportunity to rethink what one should keep in mind to become a partner of choice for entrepreneurs.

Consultation for Entrepreneurs

JAFCO Group Co., Ltd. has been selected as a demonstration operator for the 'Demonstration Project for the Utilization of Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR)' implemented by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Leveraging our network, we provide a space for those preparing to launch a business or those involved in new business development to prepare for entrepreneurship. We are accepting consultations for entrepreneurs. If you are interested, please apply via https://jafcoeir.com/.