On the day of the event, roughly 100 people from NEC and beyond gathered at the venue and attended talk sessions and a networking event. NEC invited new business development executives from major companies and venture capital (VC) representatives to explore potential collaborations with NEC.

Let's begin with an overview that highlights the “three announcements” at the event.

The first announcement was a presentation by Naohisa Matsuda, General Manager of NEC's Business Development Management Department, on the strategy for promoting Open Innovation. He highlighted key achievements to date and emphasized the overall vision for moving forward with the two wheels of “inbound” and “outbound” approaches.

Furthermore, Shintaro Matsumoto, President and CEO of NEC X, Inc. (NEC X) which leads Open Innovation commercialization centered on NEC's advanced technologies in Silicon Valley, visited Japan. NEC X has been well-received for its initiative to hire “entrepreneurs in residence” and provide a 6-9 month business development program to carefully select and support promising start-ups..

NEC also announced that it intends to apply the frameworks and knowledge cultivated in the US, a global hub for startups and innovation, in Japan as well. It plans to launch “NEC X Tokyo (provisional name),” the Japan-based counterpart to NEC X, in the summer of 2025.

An important announcement for the event was the capital alliance between Spready, which provides a new business development platform, and NEC. In the talk session with Masaaki Sako, Spready's CEO, the two companies shared the vision for Open Innovation.

There was also a notable scene aligned with the event's advocacy for Open Innovation that seeks cooperation with other companies beyond just the three announcements. Hirofumi Ukita, Senior Director of the Strategic Alliance Headquarters and Representative of FUJITSU ACCELERATOR from long-time rival Fujitsu, participated in the talk session.

During the discussion, NEC expressed a constructive stance toward stimulating Open Innovation in Japan, not just within NEC itself. The two companies agreed on a plan to realize collaboration. As a first step, they exchanged their staff T-shirts and shook hands.

Next, let's take a more detailed look at the event.

NEC BluStellar Missionary Kei Noguchi, who also hosted the event, communicated the prospects for this day with his enthusiastic opening at the start of the event.

“We hope to genuinely make today, February 28, 2025, a turning point for Open Innovation in Japan! This is more than just NEC's initiatives.

We want to focus on discussing what we can create with you.”

Energized by these comments, Naohisa Matsuda from NEC's Business Development Department took the stage next. While NEC has continuously pursued innovation since its founding, he explained that NEC began its new business development initiative around 2013 and initially had a model where the new business development team accelerated ideas from business units.

However, since results were limited, it shifted around 2018 to a model where the new business development team took the lead in developing businesses using NEC technologies. He cited three key achievements to date.

• 1. Exploring new business areas: “CropScope” farming assistance solution, “Shines” personal financial service
• 2. Creating new value with AI: “AI Drug Discovery” that uses AI to design vaccines and “Materials Infomatics” that offers advanced technology consulting
• 3. Carve-out business activities: “dotData” data analytics automation tool based in Silicon Valley, “BiTQuark,” “Intent Exchange,” and “hootfolio” based in Japan

Building on this history, the Open Innovation framework “NEC Open Innovation,” which also served as the title of the day's event, was introduced. NEC's approach to Open Innovation is structured around the following two models.

• 1. Inbound approach: Leverage and integrate external technologies at NEC

  - Investments in startups (eco-system CVC “NEC Orchestrating Future Fund,” VC investments, BS investments)
  - Business contestt (“NEC Innovation Challenge”)

• 2. Outbound approach: Provision of NEC's technologies and assets to external parties

  - Advanced technology consulting (accompanied assistance for customer technology issues and DX by researchers)
  - Startup studio (“NEC X” that accelerates business launch and growth with NEC technology)

For the “inbound approach,” NEC focuses its investments through the “NEC Orchestrating Future Fund” in six priority areas: 5G/6G, smart cities, DX, healthcare and life sciences, digital government/digital finance, and carbon neutrality. As of the third year since its establishment, the fund has raised approximately 20 billion yen from six companies, including NEC, and has already invested in nine startups. It aims to foster co-creation and ecosystem development through startup investments.

NEC also utilizes “VC investments” and “BS investments” to drive new business development. For VC investments, which mainly focus on understanding cutting-edge trends and introducing startups into the portfolio, it makes LP investments in global VCs. It also advances BS investments, which primarily focus on new business creation, understanding technology and cutting-edge trends, and R&D collaboration, too. The investment in Spready, which was announced on the event day, was part of this effort.

NEC actively organizes business contests under the “NEC Innovation Challenge” banner. It runs an Accelerator Program focused on co-creation with global startups and aims to foster Open Innovation that transcends industry boundaries. Compared to fiscal 2022, the number of applications doubled (from 312 to 708), and the number of participating companies grew to nine. NEC formed partnerships in fiscal 2024 with Canada-based Prevu3D Inc., which provides 3D tools for use in factories and plants, and Italy-based Algae Scope Ltd., and develops algae-based bio-coating materials.

For the “outbound approach,” he emphasized “NEC X” as a standout initiative. NEC X is located in Silicon Valley and utilizes a model of nurturing startups that use NEC technologies in exchange for equity.

At this point, he passed the stage to NEC X's President and CEO Shintaro Matsumoto. NEC X, which was established in Silicon Valley in 2018, has an excellent reputation, including selection as the “Best Tech Incubator/Accelerator” at the “Global Business Tech Awards” that recognizes excellence in global technology innovation and achievements.

NEC X incubates startups in collaboration with local entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and integrates NEC's research and technology to these firms. The “Elev X! Ignite” Program, which is held biannually, receives more than half of its applications via referrals, and the number doubled over the past two years to 411 applications. The program attracts startups from various fields, including healthcare, DX, and fintech.

Notably, there are not many applications at the idea stage, and the majority of startups already have a prototype and pilot users. He attributed this to a decrease in prototype development costs.

He introduced “Flyhound,” which uses NEC's radio wave detection technology, as a success story. The solution equips drones with a compact base-station function and detects the mobile phones of people in distress. NEC is deeply involved in this initiative, with a researcher from NEC Laboratories Europe serving as CTO. Another example introduced was “Qualitative Intelligence (QI),” which optimizes marketing content using generative AI. This solution leverages NEC's natural language analysis technology.

Furthermore, he announced the establishment of “NEC X Tokyo (provisional name),” a startup studio serving as the Japan-based counterpart to NEC X, making it a key highlight of the event. According to Kosuke Fujimura, Director of NEC's Business Development Department, the Japanese version has three distinctive features.

• 1. Business: Leveraging NEC's customer channels and 100,000 employees
• 2. Technology: Direct involvement by researchers beyond just engineering support
• 3. Operations: Knowledge from nurturing 150 companies in Silicon Valley and support for global expansion

He explained that the new entity will leverage these features to connect NEC's technologies with Japanese entrepreneurs and create startups with the potential for global expansion.

NEC announced its capital alliance with Spready on the day of the event, making it a major talking point. Spready CEO Sako, who participated in the panel discussion, analyzed a recent trend in new business development, noting that “the percentage of companies pursuing in-house venture programs and Open Innovation is declining, and more companies are shifting toward leveraging their own assets.”

He suggested that Open Innovation measures have moved into an evaluation phase after nearly a decade since 2015, when the government declared the advent of Open Innovation.

Spready provides the “Spready” user interview platform, designed for new business validation, and the “HASSAN” idea-creation cloud service using generative AI. It is working to create case studies to drive new “Japan-style Innovation.” Manufacturing clients have increased significantly in the past two years, and Spready opened a location in Nagoya as well.

NEC's Muneyuki Hamabe, Director of the Business Development Department, identified “enhancing both the speed and quality of business development” and “new value creation” as key drivers for the collaboration. He expressed a commitment to building a mutually complementary relationship in which “Spready has many insights, and NEC has methods (technologies),” and advancing seamless collaboration.

CEO Sako expressed his commitment, “Innovation for companies or industries ultimately depends on how effectively innovations can be deployed in society. Since social deployment capabilities are often weak, Spready aims to bring innovations to reality together with NEC.”

In another panel discussion, participants included NEC's Matsuda, previously mentioned, along with Fujitsu's Hirofumi Ukita, Senior Director of the Strategic Alliance Headquarters and Representative of the FUJITSU ACCELERATOR, and Hironobu Yoshikawa, a General Partner at Carbide Ventures which collaborates with NEC on VC investments. Mr. Yoshikawa is the founder of Treasure Data, a well-known Japanese technology company that succeeded in the US, and continues to be actively involved as a venture investor.

From a VC perspective, Mr. Yoshikawa commented that “no matter how great the technology is, it is difficult for large companies to go from zero to one in business creation.” He added that outsourcing new business development and initial-stage customer acquisition can effectively help overcome this challenge. The strength of large companies is their customer base, which spans the globe.

Fujitsu's Ukita emphasized the importance of Open Innovation, stating that “Now is not the time for Fujitsu and NEC to compete against each other as rivals. We need to work together when it makes sense. The key is to strengthen the overall vitality of Japanese companies as a whole.” NEC's Matsuda agreed with this view in his comment that “Japan will benefit from utilizing not only NEC technology but also technology from other companies.”

The discussion also covered the utilization of intellectual property. NEC's Matsuda explained that “Laboratories, new businesses, and intellectual property are in the same unit at NEC. It is important to bridge the gap between departments and create a cycle of effective utilization.” Additionally, from the standpoint of cultivating and recruiting innovators, Fujitsu's Ukita introduced the use of an entrepreneur mindset education program developed in collaboration with Babson College and the company's internal social media platform. NEC's Matsuda emphasized that “It is not just a matter of having experience with new business development. Experience in existing businesses is also a significant strength. A diverse workforce and organizational fluidity create potential.”

Mr. Yoshikawa explained that “Japan's top engineers aspire to work at NEC and Fujitsu. There is great social significance in instilling the “innovator spirit” in these people.” He also expressed hope that more startup founders would emerge from NEC alumni.

At the end of the session, a wave of applause from the audience inspired representatives from NEC and Fujitsu to agree on the spot to jointly host several ideas, and they shook hands firmly. This was truly a step forward in advancing Open Innovation in Japan.