Tokyo Metropolitan Government Launches Recruitment for Startup Collaboration Project

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) is promoting collaboration with startups that contribute to solving social and administrative issues. Under its upgraded startup strategy, 'Global Innovation Strategy 2.0: STARTUP & SCALEUP' (released in November 2025), TMG is accelerating these efforts.

As part of this initiative, TMG is implementing the 'Field-Dialog Startup Collaboration Project,' which leverages the excellent skills and technologies of startups to address various administrative challenges through dialogue.

TMG has decided on 20 themes for this year's project and is now calling for startups to collaborate with government offices to resolve these issues.

1. Project Flow

- Recruiting startups to solve 20 specified themes in collaboration with government offices. - Government staff and startups engage in discussions to deepen mutual understanding and share perspectives on challenges. - Startups propose concrete solutions for the deeply explored issues. - Selected startups carry out pilot projects in government offices to resolve the issues. - Upon project completion, TMG conducts an evaluation for certification under the Policy-Purpose Discretionary Contract system based on the startup's request. Once certified, the startup can enter into discretionary contracts with the administration. The services and products will be publicized through the TMG website.

* This is based on Article 167-2, Paragraph 1, Item 4 of the Local Autonomy Act Enforcement Order. * The TMG startup department provides comprehensive support throughout the project.

2. Project Themes

3. Schedule

Phase 1 (1) Application for Participation: May 29, 2026 (Fri) – June 12, 2026 (Fri) 17:00 (2) Dialogue with Administration: Around late June 2026 (3) Pitch Event: Around early July 2026 (4) Selection and Review: Around mid-July 2026 (5) Project Start: Around late July 2026

Phase 2 (1) Application for Participation: July 2, 2026 (Thu) – July 16, 2026 (Thu) 17:00 (2) Dialogue with Administration: Around late July 2026 (3) Pitch Event: Around early August 2026 (4) Selection and Review: Around mid-August 2026 (5) Project Start: Around late August 2026

4. Application Details

For details on application procedures, please refer to the following special website: Special Website URL: https://dialogue-startup.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/

For last year's initiatives, please click here.

This project is part of the '2050 Tokyo Strategy'. Strategy 10: Startup - 'Building a field where startups are born and grow'.