Create New Industries Through Open Innovation

Policy

In order to resolve social issues and create new value, the Group is working to promote innovation and create new industries by collaborating and cooperating with a variety of government bodies and companies inside and outside the Group.

Creating New Value and Markets

Innovation Hubs: Organizations and Structures to Promote Business Innovation

Against the backdrop of rapid changes in the business environment, companies face a need to transform their management and their business models through IT technology and digital transformation. Mitsui Fudosan is working to create new industries under a structure to create innovation within and outside the Group, through collaboration that leverages the strengths of five organizations: the Industry-Academia Collaboration Department (established in 2020), DX Division (established in 2020), Business Innovation Planning Department (established in 2020), Venture Co-creation Department (established in 2015), and Life Science Innovation Department (established in 2017).

In-House Hub Organizations That Support Innovation
DX Division

We strengthened the IT Innovation Division and are promoting digital transformation, including transformation of existing businesses, system enhancement, new business support, and better use of data, through the latest digital technology and support from digital experts.

Industry-Academia Collaboration Department

On the 4th floor of Tokyo Midtown Yaesu, which is being promoted as a member of the Yaesu 2-chome North District Urban Redevelopment Association in collaboration with the University of Tokyo, the UTokyo Yaesu Academic Commons, a satellite base in the city center will open in October 2022.

The University of Tokyo Yaesu Academic Commons will offer various programs for a wide range of students and human resource development programs for working adults, providing a new venue for educational research and information dissemination. In addition, the University of Tokyo and Mitsui Fudosan signed an industry-academia collaborative creation agreement, and at the Mitsui Fudosan University of Tokyo Lab, which launched in 2020, efforts are focused on practical research and human resource development using the knowledge of the University of Tokyo and the fields created by Mitsui Fudosan. The University of Tokyo Yaesu Academic Commons was born out of this initiative.

Business Innovation Planning Department

This department engages in new business development with a focus on the real estate tech domain. It also promotes the creation of new businesses through its MAG!C business proposal system, which solicits a wide range of business ideas from throughout the company.

Life Science Innovation Department

This department constructs ecosystems in the field of life science by building communities, developing opportunities, and providing funds to support the creation of innovation. The Life Science Innovation Business Division is also building LINK-J, a platform for bringing together humans and sharing information for professionals in the field of life science.

Life Science Innovation Department
Venture Co-creation Department

This department engages in startup investment, promotion of collaboration, ecosystem restoration, and support for intrapreneur training in large companies, with the aim of creating new industries through open innovation. The Venture Co-creation Department is deploying 31VENTURES, which provides comprehensive backing for startup growth centered on community, support, and funding, by utilizing the Group’s wide-ranging domestic and international business domains. We also launched BASE Q, a nexus for business creation, in TOKYO MIDTOWN HIBIYA. As a place where people seeking to create new value and address social challenges can gather to create new businesses, BASE Q offers a diverse range of facilities and events where advanced technologies and innovative ideas intersect.

BASE
31VENTURES
Nihonbashi Urban Planning and Development Department

As one of our initiatives to create industries in the Nihonbashi area, we are forming an ecosystem for space-related fields, and have established the open platform Cross U to encourage participation in the industry for existing players but also companies from other industries. Based on a cooperative agreement with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), our activities aim to create space business opportunities and to promote a community with Cross U Steering Advisory Committee members and supporters. We also encourage cooperation between members and innovations. As a competitive base to house the space industry, we have opened the X-NIHONBASHI BASE facility to provide a venue for space business activities and are supporting the creation of industry opportunities.

クロスユー

A Framework for Using Digital to Promote the Creation of New Industries The MAG!C Business Proposal System

To activate Mitsui’s spirit of entrepreneurship and its DNA of sparking innovation while promoting the creation of new businesses by drawing out the ideas of individual employees, we enhanced our business proposal system in terms of budget, personnel, and incentives to create MAG!C. This system launched in FY 2018.

Business Incubation Training Program

Under mentoring by multiple outside partners, this incubation program provides powerful support for the development and commercialization of business seeds that have passed the final screening of the MAG!C business proposal system.

WARP Studio Open Innovation Hub

In the Yaesu area of Chuo-ku, Tokyo, we established the WARP Studio open laboratory under the concept of accelerating creative ideas by getting away from the head office. The studio is used by several different project teams, including those of new business projects created under the MAG!C business proposal system and DX projects that combine Group companies and partner venture companies. Here we work to create an open and creative atmosphere and to accelerate innovation, allowing mixed internal and external teams to function effectively.

WARP Studio open innovation hub
WARP Studio open innovation hub