Overview

On December 2, 2025, we co-hosted the event “Field-Driven AI: Cutting-Edge Technologies Creating Value in the Real World – UTEC × DRONE FUND Joint Portfolio Pitch” together with Mori Building Co., Ltd. and The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC) at Tokyo Venture Capital Hub (Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza B).
The audience consisted mainly of CVCs and corporate leaders, with approximately 40–50 participants in attendance.
Tokyo Venture Capital Hub：https://www.azabudai-hills.com/tokyo_vc_hub/index.html

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Intent of This Event

Recognizing challenges in corporate–startup collaboration

In traditional pitch formats, the core technology and its applicable domains are often not fully conveyed, which tends to stall internal discussions within corporates.
This issue is especially notable in deep tech and hardware fields, where the lead time from initial evaluation to actual adoption can be very long.

Design Philosophy

We clarified what to focus on through “recommended comments” for each presenting company, reducing the cognitive load for participants.
Our partners and investment leads also provided follow-up explanations from an investor’s perspective, highlighting additional strengths and the rationale behind our investments.

For this event, we collaborated with UTEC, which has deep expertise in hard tech and deep tech. This allowed us to shape the pitches around themes such as the technical strengths and how AI can be applied in real manufacturing environments. We aimed to make complex technologies and domains easier to understand.

Through these efforts, participants were able to engage with startups with a proper understanding of their value, enabling higher-quality conversations rather than just exchanging business cards.

Intended Effects

Reducing Lead Time to Proof of Concept (PoC): By establishing a common language at the first touchpoint, we reduced the back-and-forth typically required to reach requirements definition.
Facilitating Internal Consensus Building: The recommended comments were structured to provide talking points that participants can easily bring back to their organizations and explain to internal stakeholders.

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Presenting Companies

A total of four companies presented: two funded by UTEC and two funded by DRONE FUND.
(Although not directly aligned with the theme, Red Cliff joined the lineup on short notice.)

RICOS (UTEC portfolio): AI × CAE / Simulation
https://www.ricos.co.jp/

Algo Artis (UTEC portfolio): AI × Planning Optimization
https://www.algo-artis.com/

Proxima Technology (DRONE FUND portfolio): AI × Control Optimization
https://proxima-ai-tech.com/

Red Cliff (DRONE FUND portfolio): Drone Light Shows
https://redcliff-inc.co.jp/

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Key Features of the Event

Pre-distributed “Recommendation Comments”

We shared a brief document in advance summarizing each company’s key points, expected use cases, and possible collaboration areas.
This helped participants understand the pitches more quickly and improved the quality of questions.

Partner Follow-Up After Each Pitch

Right after each pitch, partners from both funds added brief comments from technology, market, and implementation perspectives.
With support from UTEC, which has strong expertise in hard tech and deep tech, the pitches focused on how AI can be applied in real-world manufacturing and technical fields.

This made complex topics easier to understand and helped organize discussion points, enabling smoother conversations about what would be needed for potential adoption.

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Impressions of This Event and Future Events

Even after the scheduled teardown time, networking continued without slowing down
— the energy at this event was truly remarkable.

The timing of the next event is currently undecided.

〈Contact for Inquiries〉
DRONE FUND Inc.
Mail: info-nrply@dronefund.vc