DMM.Make AKIBA

Since its creation, DMM.Make AKIBA gathered more than 1700 members, using the facilities or the co-working space. 40% are startup teams, 40% big companies using facilities or working with startups, and 20% are students, working on university projects. 95% of the users are Japanese.

Most of the startups are joining the lab for its impressive diversity of machines put at their disposal, the 24h/7 availability of the facility, which always includes the presence of engineers ready to help. Big companies are joining mostly to organize events, and collaborate with the startups on the development of innovative products.

For one year, startups are also looking to join the acceleration program, developed by DMM and other big companies like Intel or Orix.

The place was funded by DMM group, for an initial investment of 10 million USD, including the facility and the machines.

Today, 40% of the revenues come from membership fees, 15% from workshops to companies, 15% from the prototyping as a service activity, and 10% from events created for companies. The last 20% are coming from partners sponsoring the makerspace (big companies).

The main challenge for the lab is to adapt its processes and services to each startup. In hardware, every startup has different needs, and they need a customized service to help them, far from the standard approach that can be used for software.

After having built an acceleration program to help startups from idea to prototype, the lab is now working on developing a manufacturing service, to accompany startups “from idea to market”. This new service should be launched early 2018.

DMM.Make AKIBA gathers a team of 65 people, including 25 “mentor engineers”. This number ensures the run of the facility 24/7.

Every week, workshops are delivered on machine uses, prototyping, 3D printing, sensors… They are available to anyone (even non members). Companies are also allowed to set up their own workshops, to present and train startups on the use of their technology for example.

The basic membership provides access to the co-working space and makerspace. Based on demand, DMM.Make provides consultancy, especially in the field of Design for Manufacturing. Workshops are also dedicated to introduce big companies the potential of Internet of Things.

In 2016 an acceleration program has been launched for IoT based hardware startups. Startups are selected based on their technology and business plan. It’s a 3-month program during which entrepreneurs will get free access to the co-working space, develop their prototype and have mentorships from big companies like Intel, Orix… At the end, they participate to a DEMO day in front of investors. In October 2017 18 startups did benefit from this program.

DMM.Make AKIBA organizes many events for its partners. Companies like L’Oreal organized hackathons to work on “Beauty and IoT”. It also creates international partnerships, with “La French Tech” for example. In 2017, DMM sent 6 startups to the SIDO event in Lyon.

Documentation of projects is never mandatory for startups. If they are part of the acceleration program, those latter have to present their advancement once every two weeks to their team of mentors, in order to ensure that they reach their objectives within 3 months.

Workshops and events are documented internally and shared only with the team of the lab.