NEDO Entrepreneurs Program (NEP)

NEP Exploratory Track

Supports Japanese early innovators exploring deep-tech ideas before formal company formation through applied feasibility work.

NEP Exploratory Track is NEDO's (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) entry-level support instrument for individuals — researchers, engineers, and would-be founders — who are validating deep-tech ideas before company formation. The track is the earliest rung in NEDO's startup support ladder, which extends upward through the NEP Advanced Track and ultimately to the Deep-Tech Startups Support Program (DTSU), the flagship multi-phase R&D programme running FY2023 to FY2032 with a total budget of JPY 87.7 billion. NEP Exploratory funds basic feasibility validation activities: technical proof of concept, market opportunity validation, IP landscape analysis, and business model exploration.

Award amounts are smaller-ticket, typically in the range of JPY 5 million to JPY 50 million, reflecting the pre-company-formation validation stage, with a typical project duration of one year. Eligible TRL range is 1 to 4 at application. Individual researchers, engineers, and would-be founders are eligible — applications are accepted before a company has been incorporated, and universities and research organizations can host individual applicants. NEDO sits under Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Applications and project documentation are conducted in Japanese, though NEDO publishes English programme summaries.

NEP Exploratory graduates who incorporate a company and progress technically typically advance to the NEP Advanced Track for larger-scale prototype development, and subsequently to DTSU for long-duration R&D support up to JPY 300 million (STS phase), JPY 1 billion (PCA phase), and JPY 2.5 billion (DMP phase). DTSU requires co-investment from venture capital or corporate venture capital partners of at least one-third of subsidy-eligible expenses, making the Exploratory Track's pre-VC validation window strategically important for founders building investor readiness. NEDO's Startup Support Department (dtsu@nedo.go.jp) handles programme inquiries.