UTEC — The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners

Founded in 2004, UTEC is a science-and-technology-focused venture capital firm affiliated with the University of Tokyo, created to bridge the gap between deep academic research and commercial investment in Japan.
UTEC sources deep-tech ideas from university labs and research institutes, makes seed and early-stage investments (now typically $10-20 million per company) in fields such as healthcare/life sciences, IT and physical sciences/engineering, and supports portfolio companies through to IPO or acquisition.
Over two decades, UTEC has invested in more than 150 startups, generating 20 IPOs and 22 M&A exits, including PeptiDream, Mujin and TIER IV. In 2025 it closed its sixth fund at JPY 47 billion (~$326 million), pushing total assets under management above $1 billion — making it, by its own and press accounts, Japan's largest science-and-technology-focused VC firm.
Reported figures come from UTEC's own disclosures and trade/business press coverage of a single firm's track record; independent, fund-level return data (e.g. net IRR) is not publicly disclosed in the sources reviewed, so performance should be read via deal-count and exit-count proxies rather than audited financial returns.

Read the full analysis: https://www.ut-ec.co.jp/english/