Monozukuri Ventures

Monozukuri Ventures, formerly known as Makers Boot Camp, is a Kyoto and US-based hardware-focused venture firm built around the Japanese tradition of monozukuri, the craft of making physical things. The firm’s thesis centers on hardware startups, often combining Japanese manufacturing depth with US market access, including IoT, robotics, advanced manufacturing, and selective medtech. Healthcare exposure is real but narrow, concentrated where hardware engineering and Japanese manufacturing are advantages, particularly in medical devices, surgical instruments, diagnostic hardware, and physical therapeutic tools. AI focus is opportunistic, generally relevant only when AI is embedded in a hardware product. Stage is typically Seed and Series A with checks plausibly in the USD 250K to USD 1.5M range, often paired with manufacturing partnerships and access to Japanese supply chains as the strategic value-add. This is the wrong door for software-only digital health, services, or therapeutics development. It is a strong fit for medtech and health-hardware founders who genuinely benefit from Japanese manufacturing partners, prototyping support, and a bridge into the Japanese market and corporate ecosystem. Entry path is the website application, LinkedIn outreach, and warm introductions through hardware-startup networks in Kyoto, Tokyo, and the US West Coast. Founders should arrive with a working prototype or engineering plan; the firm is unusually willing to engage at the hardware-craft level when the technology is real.