Global Business Innovation Programme in Japan - Semiconductors

The Global Business Innovation Programme is structured around three main stages. Each business will have a designated Innovate UK Business Growth innovation and growth specialist to support them for at least the duration of the offering, including developing a work plan to capitalise on the opportunities identified.

The three main stages of the Global Business Innovation Programme are:

• Get Ready: A two-day in-person workshop to build knowledge and understanding of the market and potential opportunities, including how to do business, cultural aspects, how to protect your IP and training on how to better articulate your value proposition
• Visit the Market: Explore the opportunities first-hand through meetings with key companies, research organisations and potential collaborators and partners, through pre-arranged meetings and organised matchmaking
• Exploit the Opportunity: An exploitation workshop and one-to-one support from an Innovate UK Business Growth innovation and growth specialist to help you follow up and maximise the opportunities identified through the programme

The Global Business Innovation Programme operates on a competitive basis and businesses selected are required to actively participate in all three stages.

To apply, you must:

• Be a business focused on developing innovative solutions for semiconductors
• Be a UK-based innovation-led company with ambitions to grow and internationalise
• Be a company with fewer than 250 employees
• Be the CEO, founder or a senior decision maker in the business who is able to attend and complete all the programme activities

Unless there are exceptional circumstances, a business can only take part in two GBIPs in any rolling 12-month period (measured by the date of the Get Ready Workshop).

The Government of Japan is proactively advancing its semiconductor industry through strategic subsidies and targeted investments, fostering an environment conducive to the expansion of manufacturing operations by both domestic and foreign enterprises.

Japan is the world’s third-largest economy by gross domestic product (GDP), leads in R&D investment as a percentage of GDP and generates numerous scientific publications and patents.

Home to over 200 Forbes Global 2000 companies, Japan ranks third in global corporate R&D spending, trailing only the United States and China. This economic and technological prowess makes Japan a critical partner for the UK, especially in the semiconductor industry, where Japan’s manufacturing capabilities complement the UK’s strengths in design, intellectual property and advanced materials.

The UK and Japan have built robust collaborations, particularly in semiconductors, marked by a joint statement between Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry and the UK’s Department of Science, Innovation & Technology. This partnership focuses on joint R&D in chip design, fabrication, advanced packaging and materials. The collaboration includes leveraging R&D budgets, sharing expertise, organising skill exchanges and accessing research and prototyping facilities. The establishment of a UK-Japan semiconductor industry dialogue aims to enhance cooperation in trade and investment and bolster the resilience of semiconductor supply chains.

In May 2023, the UK and Japan renewed their science, technology and innovation agreement, underscoring their mutual desire to strengthen ties. This renewal includes a 2023 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Innovate UK (IUK) and Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO) to boost co-innovation in key technological areas such as semiconductors.

Japan’s significant investment in the semiconductor sector, surpassing $36 billion, along with plans by seven major semiconductor manufacturers to expand in the country, further highlights Japan’s strength and growing commitment to this field, especially in automotive, power semiconductors, sensors and datacentres.

You will have the opportunity to attend Semicon Japan 2025.

We are looking for innovative businesses that focus on delivering solutions in the following technology areas:

• Advanced packaging of semiconductors
• Compound semiconductors
• Semiconductor design/IP

To fall into the scope of this GBIP with Japan, the end use of your technology should be applicable to the following areas:

• Automotive
• Photonics
• High powered computing / data centres

“The Japan GBIP was excellent, providing good opportunities for semiconductor SMEs. Not only to develop contacts in Japan, but also to network with each other as an emerging UK supply chain.”

“A great innovation visit and flawlessly organised with a great cohort. I came away with a couple of potential collaborations that should see us trying some new technology to advance our product offerings. We hope these will lead to advancements of our products and give us a cutting edge.”

“The GBIP was an excellent opportunity for us to boost our presence and visibility in a market that can take a very long time to develop. The team from Innovate UK and British Embassy in Japan invited key stakeholders to attend presentation sessions and provided support for the delegates.”

“The Innovate UK GBIP supported us in finding out about the market and was an amazing opportunity to widen UK and Japanese network.”

The main cost to participate in the programme is the time commitment of a senior person from the business. The commitment includes working with an Innovate UK innovation and growth specialist, attending the Get Ready Workshop (2 days), Visiting the Market (1 week) and attending the Exploit the Opportunity Workshop (1 day).

Innovate UK will fund and organise flights, accommodation in Japan and one night for the Get Ready workshop in London, and any conference fees for successful applicants. Innovate UK will also fund for any reasonable adjustments throughout the initiative.

Only one representative from each company will be funded.

On acceptance, a commitment fee of £1,000 will be obtained from each delegate, which will be refunded on completion of the full activities and agreed action plan. Non-completion after formal acceptance may result in forfeiting some or all the commitment fees.

Key dates from July 2025 – March 2026:

• Closing date for applications: Friday 12 September 2025 at 10:00am
• Get Ready Workshop: Tuesday 11 & Wednesday 12 November 2025 (In-person, London)
• Visit the Market: Saturday 13 – Saturday 20 December 2025 (In-person, Japan)
• Exploit the Opportunity Workshop: Tuesday 10 March 2026 (In-person, London)

An example of the market visit itinerary in December 2025:

• Depart the UK: Saturday 13 December 2025
• In market: Monday 15 – Friday 19 December 2025 (Opportunities for B2B meetings, site visits and networking, together with an opportunity to attend Semicon Japan 2025)
• Depart Japan and arrive in the UK: Saturday 20 December 2025

The online application form can be found here.

To find out more about the programme, click here to view a pre-recorded briefing session.

If you have any questions, we are happy to help, email us at event.enquiries1@iukbg.ukri.org.