Oxford Research-Backed Venture Studio Selected for Tokyo Metropolitan Government Support to Create Next-Generation Unicorns

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has selected the Black Belt Global Venture Studio under TOKYO SUTEAM（多様な主体によるスタートアップ支援展開事業).  Black Belt is a partnership led by Joshua Flannery, Co-Founder and CEO, Innovation Dojo Japan, Itaru Ueda, Founder and Managing Director, Japan Tech Ventures, and Professor Paul X. McCarthy, Co-Founder, Science of Startups Initiative, University of Oxford, and Co-Founder and CEO of League of Scholars.

The program applies insights from Oxford’s Science of Startups within a venture studio model to systematically scout founders and technologies, build complementary teams, and accelerate Proof-of-concept and Minimum Viable Product development in collaboration with leading corporations and investors.

Research, led by Professor Paul X. McCarthy, from UNSW Sydney with Oxford Science of Startups co-founder Dr Fabian Braesemann, analysed 21,000 startups in more than 120 countries, including Japan, to pinpoint the factors most associated with success. The findings show that multi-founder teams with diverse and certain complementary personality traits are more than twice as likely to succeed. The foundation study in Nature’s Scientific Reports has exceeded 100,000 downloads, and the work has been covered by The Times, Forbes, and The Economist.

The initiative also represents market entry into Tokyo for Innovation Dojo Japan, which has supported 816 startups since being established in Kobe city. The company provides bilingual innovation professionals for domestic and international organisations operating in Japan's innovation ecosystem, and its founder, Flannery, has previously established the UNSW Sydney startup programs now widely recognised as Australia’s #1 entrepreneurial university, and led the Japan market entry for European venture studio firm Rainmaking famous for Startupbootcamp.

Running from October 2025 to February 2027, the Black Belt Studio will pair founder science with corporate pilots to transform these into investible new high growth businesses in Tokyo.

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Program at a glance

- Black Belt Global Venture Studio is a new global partnership designed to support Tokyo’s ambitious vision to transform science-backed research into globally competitive startups with strong growth potential, by uniting universities, research institutes, investors, corporates, and government to accelerate commercialization and scale. This 10 x 10 x 10 vision involves creating ten times more global and unicorn-scale startups, expanding the startup base tenfold, and fostering ten times more collaborations across government, industry, and academia.

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- When: Oct 2025 to Feb 2027

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- What we do: Identify founder talent and business and technology innovation, assemble complementary teams using founder science, provide mentoring, and run corporate Proof of Concept (PoC) pilots that validate real-world performance, integration, and commercial value, then accelerate Minimum Viable Product development, partnerships, and company launches.

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- Quotes:

Professor Paul X. McCarthy, UNSW Sydney and Co-Founder, Science of Startups Initiative, University of Oxford

“Our founder analytics, based on data and peer-reviewed research, will be applied throughout the venture studio process. This includes founder sourcing and selection, evidence-based team assembly, and identifying and connecting with the best possible global investors and corporate first customers. By bringing founder science into each phase, we reduce guesswork and give more world-class ideas the teams and partners they need to succeed.”

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Joshua Flannery, Co-Founder and CEO, Innovation Dojo Japan

“Tokyo has the talent, the technology, and the corporate partners. This studio connects them faster, turning promising people and IP into tested MVPs and investable companies that can scale from Tokyo to the world.”

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Itaru Ueda, Founder and Managing Director, Japan Tech Ventures

“We bridge startups and enterprises through practical, measurable pilots. PoC for us means real integration, real usage, and real evidence on performance, cost, and compliance. That evidence de-risks adoption and opens the door to strategic partnerships and investment.”

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Media Contact:

Kanako Murase, Senior Program Manager, Innovation Dojo Japan LLC

kanako.murase@innovationdojo.com.au

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About the Black Belt Studio Team

‍- About Innovation Dojo Japan

Innovation Dojo Japan is an Australia-founded, Japan-anchored global initiative led by seasoned innovators with deep experience in both high-growth startups and inside corporate giants. We leverage a unique whole-of-ecosystem approach - engaging talent, universities, corporates, VCs, and government - including our offer to embed our people into your team delivering people-first innovation as a trusted partner with a global perspective.

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- About Japan Tech Ventures

Japan Tech Ventures is a Japan-based early-stage venture partner. We support startups with business expansion, capital readiness, and market entry, while working with corporates on investment vehicle design and open innovation programs aimed at new business creation. Through proof-of-concept projects, we connect both sides and help accelerate collaboration and growth.

Web: https://en.japantech.ventures/about

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- About Science of Startups

Launched last year by Professor Paul X. McCarthy of UNSW Sydney and CEO League of Scholars and Dr Fabian Braesemann at the University of Oxford, the Science of Startups Lab advances evidence-based venture design grounded in a decade of research. We turn science-backed methods and metrics into practical tools that help founders, corporates, and investors make better decisions from idea to scale.

The Lab’s research analysed 21,000 startups across more than 120 countries, including Japan, and found that multi-founder teams with diverse and complementary personality traits are more than twice as likely to succeed. The foundation study in Nature Scientific Reports has been downloaded over 100,000 times and covered by The Times, Forbes, and The Economist.

Web: https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/projects/the-science-of-startups-initiative/

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