Osaka opens AI matchmaking programme with Nishio Rent All and SoftBank
What's the deal? The Osaka Business Development AgencyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has launched xDrive, an AI open-innovation programme pairing startups and small firms with two major corporates: Nishio Rent AllDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and SoftBankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Applications opened November 4, 2026 and close December 28, 2026.
How it works: The two companies set out what they want to achieve with AI, then invite startups to pitch products, services, or joint-development ideas. Each corporate selects partners from the applicants and combines its own resources with the startups' technology.
The themes: Nishio Rent All is seeking AI, 5G, and XR technologies to improve on-site safety, efficiency, and to automate and digitise rental operations. SoftBank wants to pair 5G network slicing with AI to build new services and use cases.
Who can apply? The programme is open to small and medium-sized enterprises and startups holding relevant technology or services, provided their proposals use AI or other advanced technologies in line with the stated themes. Applicants download an entry sheet from the programme website and submit by email.
Why now? AI is advancing fast, and the agency argues that staying competitive increasingly requires combining it with technologies such as IoT. It frames co-creation — multiple firms working together to generate new value — as the way to keep pace.
What's the endgame? The agency runs the programme from its Software Industry Plaza TEQS, an Osaka city facility that supports SMEs building products with advanced technologies such as IoT and AI. The broader aim is to spur new AI-driven products and services across Osaka.
The signal: Public bodies are increasingly acting as matchmakers between incumbents and startups, using corporate demand to channel smaller firms' technology into real deployments. xDrive positions Osaka to compete as a regional AI hub by lowering the barriers between large buyers and emerging suppliers.
Read more: obda.or.jp
Image credit: Osaka Industrial Bureau
