The corporate startup house

Fujitsu Launchpad (FLP) is a venture studio established in 2022 and based in Tokyo. It operates as a subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited, the Japanese information technology giant. While many corporate innovation arms focus on incremental improvements to existing service lines, FLP is designed to build entirely new digital ventures from the ground up. They act as an institutional co-founder, providing the initial capital, talent, and operational framework required to move a concept from a raw insight to a market-ready product.

The studio is led by CEO Raleigh Morgan and a leadership team that includes Janna Fuller (Product), Dmitriy Paunin (Engineering), and Aki Toyoshima (GTM). The team brings an aggregated 250 years of startup experience to the table, having collectively managed over $500 million in investments. This external expertise is a deliberate choice, intended to contrast with the traditional corporate culture of Fujitsu and enable a faster, more iterative approach to software development.

The venture building methodology

FLP does not just fund startups; they build them. Their process begins with identifying unmet needs both within the Fujitsu customer base and in the broader global market. The studio casts a wide net during the ideation phase but maintains a rigorous validation process that intentionally kills off most ideas before they reach the market. This 'fail fast' mentality is common in the venture studio world but is often difficult to execute within a legacy corporate structure.

Once a concept is validated, FLP assembles a core team to build the product iteratively. They prioritize speed and craft, aiming for product-market fit with sustainable business models. A unique component of their model is the Venture Associate program, which is open to Fujitsu’s 130,000 global employees. This allows internal talent to join the studio for six-month rotations to support ideation and growth, effectively acting as a bridge between the agile studio environment and the parent corporation.

Market position and diversification

For Fujitsu, the studio represents a strategic shift toward diversification. As a global technology provider often associated with hardware and large-scale IT services, Fujitsu uses FLP to experiment with new revenue streams and customer segments. The studio’s portfolio companies are currently incubating across diverse domains, aiming to create high-caliber products that can eventually scale to millions of users.

Unlike traditional accelerators that take small equity stakes in existing startups, FLP’s role as a co-founder means it maintains a deeper level of control and involvement in the early stages of its ventures. This model is becoming increasingly popular among Japanese conglomerates looking to revitalize their innovation engines. By separating the venture studio from the main corporate hierarchy, Fujitsu gives FLP the autonomy to use modern tech stacks, hire specialized talent, and operate at the pace of the software market while still benefiting from the parent company's immense resources and customer access.