Canada–Japan Keihanna Global Acceleration Program—Spring 2023

1. Introduction

The National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) in partnership with Japan's Keihanna Research Complex is pleased to invite Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to submit an expression of interest to participate in a 5-minute pitch event to seek co-innovation partnerships with Japanese corporations. Selected Canadian SMEs will be invited to meetings in Osaka, Japan to solidify their partnerships with interested Japanese corporations.

2. Application deadlines

This call for proposals is open year-round, with pitch events held twice per year. Below are the upcoming scheduled events:

• Canadian registration deadline: April 24, 2023
• Canadian expression of interest deadline: May 1, 2023
• Expression of interest result notification: May 17, 2023
• Pitch event: May 29, 2023
• Selection notice: June 5, 2023
• Program start (1 week online): June 13, 2023
• Travel to Japan to meet partners: July-August 2023

3. Program objective

This event is focused on establishing industrial co-innovation opportunities between Canadian and Japanese organizations with the aim of participants joining in collaborative research and development (R&D) projects. In previous years, over 70% of Canadian participants in this program successfully matched with a Japanese corporate partner.

4. Sectors of focus

This call for proposals is open to projects in all sectors that are civilian in nature.

5. Canadian eligibility requirements

In order to participate in this initiative, Canadian participants must meet the following requirements:

• be an incorporated, profit‑oriented small or medium‑sized business in Canada
• have 500 or fewer full‑time equivalent employees
• pursue growth and profit by developing and commercializing innovative, technology‑driven new or improved products, services or processes in Canada
• have a differentiated and protectable technology that could become competitive in global markets
• be committed to significant growth through Japanese market expansion

Preference may be given to SME applicants who:

• have a minimum of 10 full‑time equivalent employees;
• have commercialized 1 or more products domestically or internationally;
• have greater than $500,000 CAD in annual revenue;
• have experience in the Japanese market.

Note: Canadian SME applicants must be eligible for funding as NRC IRAP clients before they can be considered for funding through this call for proposals. For more information on NRC IRAP eligibility and becoming a client, please contact NRC IRAP at 1-877-994-4727.

6. Workshop description

The Global Acceleration Program is a week-long course in Japan with mentoring, networking and business strategy development to support entry into the Japanese market. The goal is to match Canadian SMEs to Japanese co-innovation partners.

For each pitch event, NRC IRAP will select 5 to 10 companies to present their project ideas online to a Japanese panel. The Japanese panel will invite the successful Canadian participants to join the KGAP+ acceleration program in Osaka, Japan. Previous Japanese multinationals (MNEs) that have been involved in this program include Toray, Kyocera, Murata, Panasonic and others.

7. Funding

Canadian SMEs selected to participate in the KGAP+ acceleration program may receive up to 50% reimbursement of eligible activity costs up to a maximum total NRC IRAP funding amount of $75,000.

8. How to apply

Interested Canadian applicant must register using the register button at the bottom of this page.

An Expression of Interest form will be provided to potentially eligible applicants. The Expression of Interest application form will request additional information about the applicant, organization, technology and co‑innovation opportunities of interest.

Only qualified Canadian applicants will be invited to participate in a one-week mentoring program and submit the more detailed international collaborative R&D project with their Japanese project partners.

9. Contact

For more information, contact the NRC IRAP International Office at IRAP.International.PARI@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca or Harvey Lam, NRC IRAP Japan National Program Coordinator at Harvey.Lam@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.

10. Registration

Canadian SME participants must be registered NRC IRAP clients. If not already an NRC IRAP client, Canadian SMEs must contact 1-877-994-4727 to determine if they might be eligible for support through NRC IRAP.

To begin the application process, interested Canadian participants must first register online to receive an Expression of Interest form by clicking the register button.

If there is no register button visible below this line, it means the call for proposals has closed. Please contact IRAP.International.PARI@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca for more information.