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TECH PLANTER in Silicon Valley 2025

Discovering and nurturing Deep Tech seeds
and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley
ABOUT
Purpose
At universities, research institutes, and corporate laboratories, the "seeds" of science and technology are being born, and it takes a lot of time and effort before they sprout into practical applications. The "TECH PLANTER" organized by Leave a Nest with its partner companies is an ecosystem that aims to discover these seeds and serve as a planter to turn them into businesses. TECH PLANTER in Silicon Valley will be showcasing startups in Silicon Valley and US deeptech startups. This event will further provide the opportunities for the team to showcase their project to wider range of ecosystem players.
Target
  • Early stage startups and pre-startup researchers' team or individual in Deep Tech Field
  • Mature startups or SMEs seeking collaborators are also welcome, even if they are close to mass production or PMF establishment.
  • Visionaries that aim to change the world and/or their own country to a better place based on the science and tech based seeds
  • Those who are interested in the Japanese market or collaboration with Japanese corporations.
Categories of the TECH
Manufacturing, robotics, IoT, AI, agri-tech, bio-tech, healthcare, life-tech, food-tech, care-tech, marine-tech, ecotech, and etc.
Judging Criteria
A panel of judges consisting of Leave a Nest and its partners will evaluate each of the following items.
  1. 01NOVELTY
  2. 02PRACTICABILITY
  3. 03IMPACT TO THE WORLD
  4. 04PASSION
Awards
The Winner: 2,000 USD
SCHEDULE
4/23[WED]

Announcement of Finalists

Selected Finalists will be announced in the beginning of August.
For those selected as finalists, interviews will be held to brush up their presentations for the final DEMO DAY.
In addition, it is possible to set up interviews with partner companies for the purpose of business consultation and to develop collaboration projects.

4/25[FRI]

DEMO DAY

The 10 finalist teams that was selected will be judged on their presentations.

PARTNER
Local Partners
ASSET
  1. ASSET01Leave a Nest Communicator
  2. ASSET02Japanese Partner Companies
  3. ASSET03Local Partners
  4. ASSET04Super Factory Group
SUPPORT
  1. SUPPORT01Organizing the vision your business
  2. SUPPORT02Brushing up your presentation
  3. SUPPORT03Opportunities for collaboration with Japanese corporates
  4. SUPPORT04Support for R&D and prototype development
  5. SUPPORT05Support for Knowledge and IP Strategies
  6. SUPPORT06Investment and support for finance
DEMO DAY
Name of the DEMO DAY
TECH PLANTER in Silicon Valley 2025
Place
Online
Date & Time
2025/4/25 (Fri)09:00-11:00 in Japan Time
Eligible Participants
Closed, pre-registration required (finalists, partner companies, local supporters)
Organizer
Leave a Nest America Inc. & Transitions First
Timeline
@Japan Time
09:00～09:15
Opening Ceremony
09:15～10:35
Finalist Presentations
10:35～11:00
Awards & Closing
JUDGE
  • Dr. Ryuta Takeda
    Chief judge
    Leave a Nest America Inc.President
    Dr. Ryuta Takeda
    He received Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, and trained as a pure scientist in a biotech field. After joining Leave a Nest, he initiated “TECH PLANTER” in Japan, and managed to spread it to 10 countries to explore Deep Tech to match Deep Issues. As well as managing international teams and businesses in Leave a Nest, he also developed a lot of international PoCs and collaborative researches between MNC and startup and different startups, so called international co-creation activities.
  • Dr. Alic Chen
    Transitions FirstManaging Partner
    Dr. Alic Chen
    Dr. Alic Chen serves as Managing Partner at Blue Bear Ventures. He serves as Managing Partner at Transitions First. He served as Managing Director at CITRIS Foundry. He received his Ph.D. in Mech. Engineering from UC Berkeley in 2012 and has been growing a diverse portfolio of startups that develop technologies ranging from health and therapeutics to novel sensors and AI. He has advised and invested in science and technology startups that have cumulatively raised. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
  • Mr. Akitaka Wilhelm Fujii
    Untrod Capital AsiaExecutive Director
    Mr. Akitaka Wilhelm Fujii
    Akitaka joined UntroD in 2019 and oversees its corporate division, impact investing activities and drives global expansion. Prior to that, he was at Climate-KIC, a European organization that transforms ideas into climate-addressing businesses, where he assessed innovations addressing climate change, evaluated their impact climate impact and led a company wide employee change management program.
  • Mr. Takeshi Kawakubo
    Kirin Holdings Company, LimitedManager, Health Science Business Division
    Mr. Takeshi Kawakubo
    Joined Kirin Brewery Company, Limited in 2009. After joining the company, he was engaged in technical development and production management of beer and chuhai products. Later, he was transferred to the New Business Division through an in-house recruitment system. Experienced the launch of the health science business centered on plasma lactic acid bacteria. Currently, in order to take on the challenge of developing the next mainstay business, he is in charge of service development for the intestinal bacteria business, which has the vision of "resolving people's "disadvantages" through intestinal bacteria regulation," as well as the development of new businesses through open innovation.
  • Mr. Akira Itoh
    Liberaware Co., Ltd.Head of Business Development
    Mr. Akira Itoh
    Akira Ito turns frontier tech into market results. After a decade in TV and digital campaigns, he founded a Singapore mar‑tech start‑up and convinced Malaysia’s Aerodyne Group—then the world’s No. 1 drone provider—to launch Aerodyne Japan, scaling it from zero to multimillion‑dollar infrastructure deals. He now forges cross‑border partnerships for confined‑space inspection drones, converting UAV innovation into revenue for railways, utilities, and asset owners while mentoring Asia’s deep‑tech founders.
  • Mr. Kentaro Nishida
    Japan Tobacco Inc.Manager
    Mr. Kentaro Nishida
    After graduating from the University of Tokyo with a Bachelor of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology with a Master of Technology Management (MOT), and the University of Tokyo with a Master of Engineering, he was engaged in new business development (solution sales, marketing/promotion, alliance with platformers, etc.) at a major electronics manufacturer.
FINALIST
  •  
    Maiven
    Philip Sell
    The science behind personalized vitamins

    Theme:
    The science behind personalized vitamins

  •  
    OptoCeutics
    Mai Nguyen
    Advancing non-invasive brain stimulation technologies, based on gamma light therapy, to prevent and treat cognitive decline such as ALZ disease.

    Theme:
    Advancing non-invasive brain stimulation technologies, based on gamma light therapy, to prevent and treat cognitive decline such as ALZ disease.

  •  
    Wavital
    Niraj Patel
    Turning any medical monitor into a real-time signal platform for research, AI, and care.

    Theme:
    Turning any medical monitor into a real-time signal platform for research, AI, and care.

  •  
    Janus Labs
    Shaun Kohei Westbrook
    Wearable device for pets to monitor the health of our loved ones.

    Theme:
    Wearable device for pets to monitor the health of our loved ones.

  •  
    Maiven
    Kishen Kavikondala
    Maiven is the first quick, low-cost, self-serve, fully transparent AI-powered video testing platform.

    Theme:
    Maiven is the first quick, low-cost, self-serve, fully transparent AI-powered video testing platform.

  •  
    Nextnet
    Steven Banerjee
    An AI knowledge platform for life sciences and health teams to discover, visualize and share research. Get started for free: https://getnextnet.com/

    Theme:
    An AI knowledge platform for life sciences and health teams to discover, visualize and share research. Get started for free: https://getnextnet.com/

  • Grand Winner
    Ruby Bio
    Charlie Silver
    A biotechnology company that focuses on naturally occurring yeast to convert low-cost sugar and upcycled waste into high-value products for various industries

    Theme:
    A biotechnology company that focuses on naturally occurring yeast to convert low-cost sugar and upcycled waste into high-value products for various industries

  •  
    Olfactive Biosolutions
    Christopher Hanson
    Olfactive Biosolutions uses proprietary formulations of food molecules to activate ectopic receptors in the body, to replace pharmaceuticals and treat myriad chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

    Theme:
    Olfactive Biosolutions uses proprietary formulations of food molecules to activate ectopic receptors in the body, to replace pharmaceuticals and treat myriad chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

  •  
    Impact Food
    Kelly Pan
    Food technology platform that uses plants and novel process engineering to create whole muscle seafood that tastes just like fish.

    Theme:
    Food technology platform that uses plants and novel process engineering to create whole muscle seafood that tastes just like fish.

  •  
    Resynergi
    Brian Bauer
    Reduce plastic back down to base molecules for infinite reusability, using highly practical modular deployment.

    Theme:
    Reduce plastic back down to base molecules for infinite reusability, using highly practical modular deployment.