Come to Fukui! New Industry Creation with Textiles and Drones - Recruiting Participating Companies

"SAKAI WEAVE," the hub for 'New Industry Creation,' is located in front of the Happyline 'Harue Station' in Sakai City. The sign at the gate entrance is a tapestry with a logo woven using local textile technology.

Sakai City, which is engaged in the 'New Industry Creation Business' to match outstanding startup companies, researchers, and entrepreneurs with local companies and promote collaborative research to create new industries, is recruiting participating companies nationwide for the practical program in 2026, starting from June 8.

The partner for Sakai City in operating the New Industry Creation Business is the consulting and venture capital firm 'ReGACY Innovation Group (Legacy Innovation Group, headquartered in Tokyo, hereinafter referred to as Legacy Company).' The program for this business aims to activate industries in Sakai City and promote the development of a sustainable regional economy by encouraging innovation through collaboration between startup companies with innovative technologies and ideas and local companies in Sakai City.

Operating Partner 'Legacy Innovation G' (Tokyo) and Practical Program

Sakai City and Legacy Company have been engaged in this business since last year. Last year, five companies (including universities) were selected in the two fields of 'Textiles' and 'Drones,' and they conducted research practices and interactions with local companies for about half a year, and results were announced in March of this year.

While the five companies from last year will continue their business, this year, approximately six new companies will be recruited nationwide. For the activities of the five companies last year, several local companies, including 'Asahi Makam' (a knitwear manufacturer in Harue Town, Sakai City), participated in the collaboration. A unique example is the trial production of T-shirts and undergarments using 'wood silk,' which is expected as a new textile material. In the drone field, the laboratory of Kanazawa Institute of Technology used the runway of Fukui Airport to challenge drone flight experiments, among other challenging demonstration experiments staged in Sakai City.

Startup companies (including researchers) to be recruited this year must have the intention to conduct business verification using innovative technologies and ideas in Sakai City and be able to participate in all programs prepared during the period. This year, proposals related to the two themes of 'Textiles' and 'Drones' will be recruited, and adoptees will be decided through examinations centered on the continuity of the startup business and the continuity of activities such as establishing a base in the city.

Research institutions such as the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, universities, and the Fukui Industrial Technology Center are concentrated in the area.

Sakai City is located in the northern part of Fukui Prefecture, close to Ishikawa Prefecture, with a population of approximately 90,000. The value of manufactured goods shipped is the third highest in the prefecture at approximately 382.2 billion yen (2023). In addition to being a concentration area for textile industries such as woven names centered on Maruoka Town, Harue Town has Fukui Airport, which does not have regular flights. Along the basin of the Kuguryu River, the largest river in the prefecture, vast farmland centered on rice cultivation spreads, and vegetable and fruit cultivation are also thriving in Mikkabi Town. Along the coast of the Japan Sea, there is also the famous Tojinbo with its strange rocks, and the Bamboo Takeda district of Maruoka Town retains the old good satoyama landscape. In addition, many organizations that support technological research and management, such as the Industrial Technology Institute (AIST), Fukui University, Fukui Prefectural University, Fukui Industrial Technology Center, and Fukui Industrial Support Center, are located in the city and adjacent areas.

A free-to-use business hub 'SAKAI WEAVE' has also been established in Sakai City.

A three-story building 'SAKAI WEAVE,' the hub for the New Industry Creation Business, has also been established in Harue Town, and participating company staff are asked to use this as their base for activities, as well as being freely usable as a coworking space. Sakai City, facing the current situation of the decline of local industries due to population decline and the outflow of human resources, wants to put a stop to it and aims to create companies and industries that will support the new era through collaboration with local companies with excellent technological capabilities and manufacturing and production capabilities. The Planning and Policy Division in charge states, 'Last year, we received many applications from startup companies with technologies and ideas beyond our imagination. Through this business, we greatly expect that the industrial base and regional resources possessed by Sakai City will be linked with new technologies and ideas, leading to good effects on local industries, further ripple effects on related fields, and the creation of new business opportunities. We also hope that this business will be a trigger for many companies and human resources across the country to recognize that 'Sakai City is a place where it is easy to challenge new initiatives.'

An open and inviting coworking space in 'SAKAI WEAVE'

2026 Sakai City New Industry Creation Business Entry Requirements

Entry Acceptance Period: June 8, 2026 ~ July 27, 2026 (until 23:59)

Number of Companies Recruited: Approximately 6

Qualifications ・Intention to conduct business verification using innovative technologies and ideas in Sakai City ・Ability to participate in all programs (meetings with local companies, mentoring, DEMO, DEY, etc. by the secretariat) during the period （※It is not necessarily necessary to have legal personality, and it is possible to apply before starting a business）

Recruitment Themes ・Proposals related to textiles and drones 【※For details, please visit the Legacy Company's HP https://sakai-shinsangyo-kyoso.regacy-innovation.com/】

Examples of Practical Implementation by Startup Companies Adopted in 2025

HIRAXIS (Fukuoka Prefecture) Development of products using 'wood silk,' a natural fiber made from thinned wood ■ Hokkaido University (Hokkaido) Expansion to applications such as reinforcing materials for fiber-reinforced plastics and apparel fibers using microbial nanocellulose from agricultural by-products ■ Amateras Space (Tokyo) Research, development, and social implementation of intra- and extra-vehicular spacesuits, as well as the practical application of biometric information platforms in space ■ Site Sensing (Tokyo) Practical application of the 'Disaster Evacuee Tracking System,' enabling positioning of people regardless of the presence of GNSS using proprietary positioning technology ■ Kanazawa Institute of Technology (Ishikawa Prefecture) Service expansion of transportation and logistics operations using drones capable of high payload (50 kg) and long-distance flight (50 km)