TECH PLANTER
total entries
Across seven fields in Japan, regional programs, and six Southeast Asian countries
WHY LEAVE A NEST
Connect technology to business and industry,
and contribute to the planet.
We connect researchers, startups, companies, and regions, moving from challenge definition to technology scouting, validation, and commercialization.
We create flows and cycles of water that nurture life as projects that keep moving forward.
FROM TECHNOLOGY TO INDUSTRY
Technology alone
does not create industries.
To establish new technologies in society, we need to understand the challenges to solve, bring together researchers, startups, companies, and regions with different strengths, validate solutions in the field, and grow them into sustainable businesses.
The LVNS Water Cycle Project is not simply a network for introducing water-related technologies.
Using the knowledge platform built by the Leave a Nest Group, we move consistently from discovering challenges to scouting technologies, building teams, validating in the field, productization, commercialization, and regional development.
KNOWLEDGE PLATFORM
To technologies and people yet to be found.
The potential to transform water-cycle challenges also lies beyond the water sector. Leave a Nest has continuously discovered and engaged with early-career researchers and deep-tech teams.
TECH PLANTER
Independent
early-career researchers
Leave a Nest research platform
Leave a Nest Research Grant
recipients
Research promoted by companies and early-career researchers
TECH PLANTER alumni
total funding raised
Publicly disclosed amounts only
Figures are approximate and based on internal proposal materials as of 2025. TECH PLANTER figures represent total entries, not unique organizations or teams. Please confirm the latest figures and scope before publication.
SCIENCE BRIDGE COMMUNICATION
Build bridges between differences and create relationships that move projects forward.
Researchers, startups, large companies, regional companies, and local governments use different language, timelines, and measures of success.
Leave a Nest’s Science Bridge Communicators translate the challenges, technologies, facilities, fields, and networks each party brings. We go beyond one-to-one introductions to build teams with shared challenges and validation goals, and support them until a project begins to move.
WHAT WE DO
From organizing challenges to industry.
Leave a Nest does more than scout and introduce. We design projects, bring people together, and create the next stage of development.
Organize challenges and technology assets
We organize the challenges faced by companies and regions, along with technologies, facilities, materials, byproducts, people, and fields. We also reframe assets that have not yet created value in an existing business as starting points for new businesses.
Explore researchers, startups, and companies
We search across Japan and overseas for the technologies and people needed, including researchers, startups, and regional companies beyond the water sector. We uncover candidates through ongoing dialogue, not only public information.
Build a project hypothesis
We design which challenge to solve, with which technologies and team. We organize the technical validation items and conditions needed for commercialization, turning them into a testable hypothesis.
Build a validation team
We bring together researchers, startups, companies, local governments, fisheries cooperatives, schools, and others. We clarify each party’s role and value to build a team that can collaborate continuously.
Validate in the field
We run demonstrations in factories, rivers, coastal areas, aquaculture facilities, and communities. We clarify the conditions for implementation by looking beyond technical performance to operations, costs, regulations, and relationships with the region.
Move toward productization, commercialization, and regional development
Based on validation results, we consider productization, manufacturing systems, business models, funding, and customers. We connect each demonstration to expansion into other regions and overseas markets.
LEAVE A NEST GROUP
Connect research, manufacturing, funding, and overseas expansion.
The Water Cycle Project advances by combining multiple foundations held by the Leave a Nest Group.
Connect with researchers
Through Leave a Nest research grants, interdisciplinary conferences, and media for researchers, we explore researchers who are not bound by the frameworks of existing fields.
Connect with startups
We collaborate with deep-tech startups and pre-startup teams in Japan and overseas that we have discovered through TECH PLANTER.
Connect with prototyping and manufacturing
We connect technologies with the companies and engineers needed for prototyping, design, manufacturing, and mass production, so they do not remain in the laboratory.
Connect with companies
We incorporate the technologies, facilities, and customer bases of large and regional companies to advance joint development and new business creation.
Connect with regions
We work with local governments, regional companies, fisheries cooperatives, schools, and others to create demonstration fields and projects rooted in regional challenges.
Connect with funding and overseas opportunities
We consider research grants, joint research, investment, and public programs, and support expansion through domestic and overseas bases and networks.
BEYOND MATCHING
We create projects, not just encounters.
General technology scouting and introductions
Water Cycle Project
Technology scouting
Search for candidates through public information and known companies
Search broadly, including researchers, startups, and technologies from other fields
Collaboration
Make one-to-one introductions between a company and technology holder
Build teams of companies, researchers, startups, and regional partners
Technology evaluation
Focus on market size and business potential
Evaluate potential from both scientific and business perspectives
Validation
The company prepares the site and implementation structure
Plan together with the validation field and the people involved
After validation
End with a report on research or validation results
Design the next project through productization, commercialization, and regional development
HOW WE WORK
From the world's first to industry.
Organize challenges and technology assets
Structure challenges and strengths to find the starting point for a project.
Explore the researchers, startups, and companies needed
Look beyond existing fields to uncover potential collaborators.
Build a project hypothesis and validation plan
Combine technology, business, and region into a testable plan.
Validate in the field and refine the business model
Bring the people involved together, operate the validation, and build the next hypothesis.
Move toward productization, commercialization, and regional development
Connect manufacturing, funding, customers, and regions to grow a sustainable business.
PROJECTS IN ACTION
Combine different technologies and people to redesign the water cycle.
WASTEWATER × NATURE POSITIVE
Turn dyeing wastewater into water that nurtures ecosystems and local industries
Starting with the challenge of factory wastewater, we combine purification technologies, biodiversity assessment, regional partners, and finance to turn environmental action into new business value.
Leave a Nest’s role: challenge definition, technology scouting, validation team building, and business hypothesis designView project ↗RAS × NITROGEN CYCLE
Redesign the nitrogen cycle in closed recirculating aquaculture
We address the cost and environmental impact of nitrogen treatment by combining technologies in microbiology, materials, feed, and resource recovery.
Leave a Nest’s role: structuring technology challenges, scouting beyond existing fields, and designing the validation planView project ↗MATERIALS × MARINE RESTORATION
Apply companies’ materials technologies to restore marine ecosystems
We transform companies’ materials, manufacturing technologies, and unused resources into materials that restore seaweed beds and marine ecosystems, then validate them in local waters.
Leave a Nest’s role: organizing company assets, connecting with regions, building the validation structure, and designing expansionView project ↗FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is the LVNS Water Cycle Project?
It is a project-creation platform that connects researchers, startups, companies, regions, and governments to organize water-cycle challenges, scout technologies, validate them, and move toward productization, commercialization, and regional development.
How is it different from general technology matching?
We go beyond one-to-one introductions. We design project hypotheses and validation plans by combining multiple technologies and organizations, then support the path to commercialization after validation.
Can technologies from outside the water sector participate?
Yes. Technologies in materials, microbiology, sensing, robotics, information science, energy, and other fields may help solve water-cycle challenges.
Can I consult you without a specific project idea?
Yes. We can start by organizing the challenges, technologies, facilities, materials, byproducts, and fields held by a company or region to find the starting point for a project.
START A PROJECT
Start the next project
from your challenge or technology.
You do not need to have a project fully defined. Leave a Nest’s communicators can think with you, starting by organizing your challenges and assets.