アド・ベンチャーフォーラム

"Working at a Venture Company"
New research career option

Many young researchers at universities have a passion for "contributing to society through research". Research and development ventures that aim to "develop products that do not exist and implement products in the world to solve social issues" are the perfect place to demonstrate their abilities.

Add Venture Forum is a place where young researchers such as students and post-doctoral fellows and venture companies can meet under the theme of "Discovering New Opportunities for Researchers". We have prepared booth sessions where company managers and employees and participants can freely discuss "future research themes and issues" and "what we want to contribute to society". Come and discover new ways to make the most of your research, new ways of working, and new ways of living that are not bound by stereotypes.

Researcher's Voice

Ventures have become a more realistic option.
It gave me a chance to think about my career from a broader perspective, including doctoral studies.
We visited companies for discussion at a later date.

Venture's Voice

We were able to meet people who can work together to tackle social issues.
We gained a long-term intern.
We were able to find a joint research partner.

I want to make a difference in society through research.

The Ad Venture Forum, launched in Tokyo in 2024, has expanded its stage to Southeast Asia as an event for researchers to explore ways to connect with the real world beyond the boundaries of academia. The AVF, held in the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia in 2025, offers researchers support and opportunities for social implementation from both local and global perspectives, while staying close to the characteristics and challenges of each region.

Philippines/ Visualizing the interface between social issues and research

Add Venture Forum Philippines

The Add-Venture Forum Philippines 2025 was attended by a total of over 300 students from Adamson University, the host institution, and six other universities, including the National University of the Philippines. In his speech at the event, he touched on the issue of the Brain Drain facing the Philippines: the outflow of talented people overseas, and stressed the importance of creating research opportunities for researchers in the country. Workshops and panel discussions by local companies were held as an opportunity to explore the possibilities of social contribution through science and technology.

アドベンチャーフォーラムフィリピンの様子 — Add Venture Forum Philippines 2025 / Manila

Singapore/Startup and Research Exchange

Add Venture Forum Singapore

At Add-Venture Forum Singapore 2025, where students from the National University of Singapore and four other universities participated, five Singaporean startups also took part in the discussions, which are unique to this country where there is an active movement toward commercialization and international expansion of technology seeds. The event featured sessions that allowed researchers and entrepreneurs to engage in direct dialogue, and case studies of young scientists who are actually commercializing their work, drawing attention to their attempts to cross the boundary between research and business.

アドベンチャーフォーラムシンガポールの様子 — Add Venture Forum Singapore 2025 / One North

Malaysia / Career Co-Creation Opportunity Linking Agriculture and Human Rights

Add Venture Forum Malaysia

The first-ever Add-Venture Forum Malaysia 2025 welcomed a total of 171 participants from 52 organizations, including startups, local SMEs, and government agencies. They brought their ideas and received on-the-spot feedback from business people to explore the possibilities of implementing their ideas in society. This initiative to find the interface between creativity and practicality was highly evaluated as a unique attempt not seen in other countries.

アドベンチャーフォーラムマレーシアの様子 — Add Venture Forum Malaysia 2025 / Kuala Lumpur

An ad venture rooted in the community and building the town

The Southeast Asian expansion of the AdVenture Forum provides an opportunity to confront the universal question of "how to connect research and society" in a way that is in tune with the realities of each country and region. For Japanese companies seeking contact with local researchers and students in Southeast Asia, this will be a valuable encounter and co-creation opportunity. Why not take a step forward into the "adventure" of experiencing local issues and creating the future together?

Mechanisms to accelerate co-creation between participants and companies

Ad Venture Scholarship

The Ad Venture Scholarship is an initiative to provide up to 100,000 yen in non-refundable scholarships for collaborative ideas between researchers and venture companies that aim to solve social issues. Participants have one minute to declare their ideas, which are generated through discussions at booth sessions, at the "Ad Venture Pitch" on the day of the event! At this year's (April 2025) Ad Venture Forum, we received over 30 applications for 12 companies. After the event, the participants and the companies that made the declarations will work together to develop them into feasible activities, and participants will submit specific activity plans. If selected, they receive a scholarship, which they can use to fund activities such as transportation and the purchase of materials.

アドベンチャー奨学金プレゼンの様子 — Add-Venture Forum / Pitch

The Next Step Born of the Ad Venture Forum

Cases that led to adoption

INOCA Corporation (Participated in April 2024)

INOCA Corporation is always looking for people who share our mission to "create a world where people have more choices and where both people and nature can thrive. We are always looking for new employees who share our mission to "increase human options and create a world where people and nature can flourish. Students who met through the Ad Venture Forum visited the company on the same day, came up with proposals that combined their own research with what they could do with INOCA, and discussed them with the employees. They are now active as human resources who support research and sales, and who can also talk about the world from the perspective of sea turtles, which they love.

Examples that led to collaborative projects

Liberaware Inc. (Participated in November 2024)

Liberaware Corporation, a developer of small drones, and Mr. Yamaguchi, a doctoral student at Toyo University, met at the Ad Venture Forum in November 2024 and started a collaborative project after applying for the Ad Venture Scholarship. Infrastructure maintenance in Japan has become an urgent social issue, triggered by such incidents as the road cave-in in Saitama. On the other hand, such sewers, inside factory tanks, and wastewater treatment facilities can contain gases such as hydrogen sulfide, which is a dangerous environment that can lead to worker fatalities. In April, an overview of the research was posted on Yamaguchi's laboratory's website, and the project is progressing steadily.