What Soil does

Soil (公益財団法人Soil) is a Tokyo-headquartered public interest incorporated foundation established in 2023 by Hisata Tetsushi, the founder and former representative director of Speee and current representative director of Datachain. The foundation operates as an incubator and accelerator dedicated exclusively to nonprofit startups — ventures that pursue social impact without targeting financial returns and therefore cannot access conventional seed capital. Soil provides equity-free grant funding (寄付) through staged programs: Soil 100 (up to 1 million yen for pre/early-stage founders), Soil 1000 (up to 10 million yen for established teams), and Soil 400 (up to 4 million yen through co-branded initiatives), alongside a policy-advocacy track (Soil x Policy Fund, operated jointly with PoliPoli) and regional or sector-specific co-programs with MUFG, Forbes JAPAN, Kobe City, UTokyo, the SOLVE University Alliance, Kyoto University, and Osaka Sangakukan.

Its core "technology" is a grant-making methodology that imports for-profit startup accelerator practices — staged funding tiers, selection committees, mentorship networks, and a community-building content cadence (Soil 100 VOICE interviews, monthly news, co-hosted events) — into the social sector. Soil does not charge fees, take equity, or require repayment; all funding flows from individual and corporate donations, supplemented by partner co-funding on named programs. By May 2026 the foundation had cumulatively supported 84 projects with total disbursements of 222,125,000 yen.

The customer base is bifurcated: grant recipients (a horizontally diversified set of nonprofit startups across environment, welfare, education, healthcare, regional development, and technology) and donors/partners (a concentrated pool of high-credential Japanese tech operators and a handful of anchor corporate and municipal partners). Governance is provided by a board of directors and a separate selection committee, with the founder serving as representative director and Kudo Nanako — former Mitsui & Co. and Japan Foundation impact-investment lead and founder of SIIF — serving as a director.

Name

Soil

Legal name

公益財団法人 Soil (Public Interest Foundation Corporation Soil)

Website

https://soil-foundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Startup Grants and Incubation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Investors, Nec (6799)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

Keywords

• Nonprofit startup grants
• Equity-free funding
• Social entrepreneurship support
• Policy advocacy grants
• Nonprofit incubator

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grant Funding: Soil operates as a public interest incorporated foundation funded entirely by donations from individuals and organizations. It does not charge fees for its programs, generate product revenue, or accept equity. All funds received are redistributed as grants (donations) to nonprofit startups. The foundation also co-creates named funds with partners (e.g., Forbes JAPAN Fund, MUFG Fund, Policy Fund) where partner capital supplements Soil's own resources.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Soil is a public interest incorporated foundation that provides equity-free grant funding (donations) to nonprofit startups in their pre-seed and early stages, offering up to ¥1 million through Soil 100 for pre/early founders and up to ¥10 million through Soil 1000 for established nonprofit teams. It supplements the grants with mentorship from successful for-profit entrepreneurs, community events, and co-branded programs with corporate, university, and municipal partners (MUFG, Forbes JAPAN, Kobe City, UTokyo, Kyoto University, SOLVE University Alliance), as well as a policy advocacy track (Soil x Policy Fund).

Product overview

Soil is a public interest foundation that operates as an incubator and accelerator for nonprofit startups, offering a portfolio of grant programs at different funding levels. The core programs include Soil 100 (up to 1 million yen for pre/early-stage founders), Soil 1000 (up to 10 million yen for established nonprofits), and Soil 400 (up to 4 million yen for joint initiatives). Collaborative programs partner with universities, corporations, and media organizations to expand the nonprofit startup ecosystem through policy advocacy, mentorship, and regional support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Soil 1000: A grant program providing up to 10 million JPY to nonprofit startups with established teams and ideas.
• Soil 100
• Soil x Policy Fund
• Soil x MUFG
• Soil x Kobe
• Soil x 大学連合 (Soil x SOLVE)
• Soil x UTokyo
• Soil Forbes JAPAN 基金
• Soil x Kyoto University
• D-JEDI (Soilフェロー)

Products and services

• Soil 100 Equity-free grant program providing up to ¥1 million (donation) to individuals at the pre-founding or early-founding stage of nonprofit startups who are developing ideas to address social challenges.
• Soil 1000 Equity-free grant program providing up to ¥10 million (donation) to established nonprofit startups with strong teams and innovative ideas addressing social challenges.
• Soil x Policy Fund Policy advocacy program commissioning up to ¥5 million per organization to selected nonprofits and research bodies conducting evidence-based policy research and advocacy, with accompaniment support from PoliPoli for rulemaking and policy proposal development.
• Soil x MUFG Joint grant program with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group providing up to ¥4 million in grants to nonprofit startups, plus potential partnership opportunities with MUFG's network and business development support.
• Soil x Kobe Joint program with Kobe City providing up to ¥3 million in grants plus introductions to Kobe-based proof-of-concept partners to nonprofit startups nationwide, with a pathway to conduct PoC experiments in Kobe.
• Soil x SOLVE (Soil x 大学連合) Joint program with the University Alliance for Realizing Shared Capitalism (SOLVE) providing entrepreneurship workshops, mentoring, and grants up to ¥1 million for university students tackling social issues across member institutions.
• Soil x UTokyo Partnership program with the University of Tokyo leveraging its entrepreneurship and industry-collaboration infrastructure to identify and support social startup ventures from the UTokyo ecosystem.
• Soil / Forbes JAPAN Fund Joint fund with Forbes JAPAN providing up to ¥10 million in donations, entrepreneur feedback, Forbes JAPAN magazine media coverage, and networking support for social startups with high growth potential.
• Soil x Kyoto University Grant program in collaboration with Kyoto University's Industry-Government-Academia Liaison Headquarters, providing up to ¥1 million for students and researchers in the Kansai region tackling social issues.

Quantifiable outcome

• 84 nonprofit startups supported with cumulative grants of 222,125,000 yen as of May 2026
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• 公益財団法人大阪産業局minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 2 May 2026Soil co-hosts a two-day 'Social Problem Solving Entrepreneurship Workshop + Soil 100' program targeting Kansai-region students and young professionals. Participants may qualify for Soil 100 grants (up to 1M yen). The workshop takes place at Osaka Innovation Hub in June 2026.
• 株式会社PoliPolicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2023PoliPoli is a strategic co-development partner for Soil's policy advocacy program (Soil x Policy Fund). PoliPoli provides accompaniment support (伴走支援) in rulemaking and policy proposal development to selected委托 organizations. The partnership began in November 2023 (first SoilxPolicy Fund round) and continues into its third iteration as of 2026.
• 共助資本主義の実現に向けた大学連合 (SOLVE Alliance)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe 'University Alliance for Mutual Capitalism' is a multi-university consortium that co-delivers the Soil x 大学連合 program. The program provides entrepreneurship workshops and Soil 100 grants to university students across member institutions.
• 国立大学法人東京大学 (UTokyo)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSoil x UTokyo is a co-branded program leveraging the entrepreneurship and industry collaboration infrastructure of the University of Tokyo to identify and support social startup ventures.
• 神戸市minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSoil x Kobe provides grants of up to 3 million yen plus introductions to Kobe-based POC partners to nonprofit startups nationwide. The program offers a pathway to conduct proof-of-concept experiments in Kobe.
• Forbes JAPAN (iage株式会社)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerSoil x Forbes JAPAN Fund is a co-branded grant program (up to 10M yen) that combines grant funding with entrepreneur mentorship, Forbes JAPAN magazine coverage, and networking support. The program targets social startups with high growth potential.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• New Profit: Venture philanthropy fund providing unrestricted capital, strategic support, and network access to social entrepreneurs. Directly mirrors Soil's model of providing non-extractive capital plus mentorship to early-stage impact ventures.
• Echoing Green: Provides fellowships and seed funding to emerging leaders driving social change. Mirrors Soil's approach of providing equity-free early-stage capital and mentorship to social entrepreneurs, though it follows a fellowship model rather than tiered grants.
• Ashoka: Global social entrepreneur support network that identifies and funds leading social entrepreneurs with stipends and professional support. Closest comparable to Soil's nonprofit-startup-incubator model, though operating globally rather than Japan-specific.
• PoliPoli: Japanese policy-tech platform connecting citizens with policymakers, and Soil's strategic co-development partner for the Soil x Policy Fund. Comparable in building infrastructure around social and policy innovation in Japan.
• RSF Social Finance: Provides loans, grants, and investment capital to social enterprises and nonprofits. Comparable in deploying non-extractive patient capital to mission-driven organizations, though with a broader geographic and sector scope.
• Acumen: Patient-capital investor in businesses tackling poverty. Shares Soil's mission of supporting mission-driven ventures and providing early-stage capital, though Acumen uses debt and equity structures rather than pure grants.
• Social Impact Investment Foundation (SIIF): Japan-based social impact organization founded in 2017 as a spin-off from the Japan Foundation by Nanako Kudo, who is now a director at Soil. Directly comparable as a Japanese social-impact funding intermediary with overlapping leadership and mission.

Broad incumbents

• Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship: Affiliated with the World Economic Forum, supports a global network of social entrepreneurs. Comparable to Soil's role as an ecosystem builder for social founders, though it operates at global incumbent scale.
• Skoll Foundation: Large-scale foundation funding social entrepreneurs and investing in systemic solutions. Comparable to Soil in mission focus on social entrepreneurship, but at materially larger scale with global mandate and broader portfolio.
• Nippon Foundation: One of Japan's largest philanthropic foundations funding social programs across welfare, maritime, education, and international cooperation. Comparable as a Japan-based grantmaking foundation with broad social-issue scope, though at vastly larger scale.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Soil