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This year's "MUFG ICJ ESG Accelerator" has successfully concluded. Thank you for your interest in our program.
Mitsubishi UFJ Bank and Inclusion Japan, with the support of Tokyo Metropolitan Government who aims to be an international financial city where investors and corporations supporting net-zero gather, have widely sought startups and projects that can contribute to the Electrification and decarbonization of industries, Reevaluation of natural conservation and food production, Carbon removal, and Behavioral change in society.
We received applications from 81 startups. Through interviews with each company, a total of 11 startups from Japan and around the world, including Canada, Thailand, and Ethiopia, were selected as finalists, and considerations for business discussions with members of Inclusion Japan and collaborations with sponsoring companies were conducted.
Demo Day was held on May 31st (Wednesday), and as a result of the voting by 22 mentor judges, the grand prize and ICJ award-winning companies were decided. Awards from each sponsoring company were also presented.
Highlights (3min.)
Finalists
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Friend Microbe
Grand Prize
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities award
JT award
Business outline
By using the high-performance microorganisms developed at Nagoya University, Friend Microbe can biodegrade oil and fat in wastewater that was conventionally separated through physical means.This technology reduces oily sludge and reduce GHG emissions generated by waste incineration in the food production process.
Kubik
ICJ award
Business outline
Kubik drastically reduces effects on GHG emissions in the construction industry by replacing plastic waste with novel low-carbon and low-cost materials.
Degas
MUFG Bank award
KEPCO award
TOKYO GAS award
NRI award
Fukuoka Sonoriku award
BrainPad award
Business outline
Degas is promoting the generation of naturally derived carbon credits through regenerative (environmentally restorative) agriculture, which combines covered crops, biochar production, and afforestation, leveraging a network of 15,000 farmers in Africa, to create a carbon absorption and removal system.
Soilgenic Technologies
Yammar Ventures award
Business outline
Soilgenic aims to get rid of 24% of GHG emissions from Nitrogen origin fertilizers by its high-efficient fertilizer, which can transform every Nitrogen origin fertilizer into less GHG emissions without drastically changing the production process or fertilization process for farmers.
Fermenstation
Mitsubishi Kakoki award
Business outline
Fermenstation upcycles unused biomass such as non-standard agricultural products and residue from food and beverage manufacturing processes into fermentation materials, which can be used as high-value and economically viable bioethanol and cosmetic raw materials, using the unique fermentation technology.
GOYOH
Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking award
Business outline
GOYOH provides a decarbonization solution "EaSyGo" that optimizes economic and social impact from both the hard (building) and soft (operations and behavior) aspects of real estate, by collaborating with real estate owners and tenant users.
Planet Savers
Business outline
Planet Savors developed a Direct Air Capture (DAC) system by combining zeolites with 10 times the conventional CO2 adsorption performance and a highly versatile CO2 recovery system, both are invented with the knowledge of Okubo and Iyoki research laboratory in Tokyo University.
Ac-Planta
Business outline
Ac-Planta sells a vinegar-based biostimulant "Skiipon" that promotes production under high-temperature and dry stress conditions, and reduces the amount of fertilizer used by farmers. Its products can be applicable to a wide range of crops including vegetables, grains, and trees.
UniFAHS
Business outline
As a substitute of antibiotics or chemical substances, phage-base “Natural Bacteria Eater” improves safety and sustainability in the food supply chain.
Eitoss
Business outline
Eitoss provides a cloud-based service "Cayzen" that collects improvement proposals from employees in manufacturing industries (and other fields) from the bottom up, and support idea management and implementation of measures which aim for cost reduction, quality improvement, CO2 reduction, and energy conservation.
Sharing Energy
Business outline
Sharing Energy provides "Share Denki" where the company support introducing solar power generation to customers at no initial cost by fully covering the purchase or lease cost that used to require millions of yen. Additionally, the company offers customers cheaper electricity rates.
Reviews from Startups
" There are no other startup accelerators specialized in ESG. It's great to have mentoring from a professional perspective that is essential for our business, something that's hard to find in other accelerators."
"The mentors were wonderful. Receiving comments from the mentor all at once in half a day is an excellent system."
"The compact timeline and steps of the program minimized the burden on startups."
"Demo Day is well organized. There's a good number of participants, not too many nor too few, allowing effective networking. Having corporate awards helps us understand collaboration needs."
"ICJ knows what startup needs for our marketing or publicity, such as video shooting."
"The quality of all various finalists is competitive. The audience also shows a high level of enthusiasm."
"The startup pitches, the enthusiasm of the people who gathered, etc., were excellent, even compared to other startup events."
"I think it's a great program to promote the development of the ESG sector ecosystem across borders."
"It was pleasure to listen to pitches from promising startup companies centered on the decarbonization area, and network with VCs and other business companies."