Funding Hongo, Tokyo
Soil100 selects HydroBeetle for a ¥1,000,000 grant
The Soil Foundation picked four student projects at the University of Tokyo. HydroBeetle was one. It is HydroBeetle’s first funding, and it comes with three months of mentoring.
On 16 January 2026, the Soil Foundation selected four student projects at the University of Tokyo for its Soil100 programme. HydroBeetle was one of them. Each project can receive up to ¥1,000,000 and gets three months of mentoring. HydroBeetle received the full ¥1,000,000.
How the selection worked
Soil and the university’s Division of University Corporate Relations held a two-day workshop on 29 November and 13 December 2025. Twenty-one students took part and worked on a plan for a social problem they wanted to take on.
Those who wanted to go further applied to Soil100, passed a review on paper and an interview, and gave a final pitch at the Hongo campus on 16 January 2026. The judges looked at three things: the difference the project could make, the will and vision behind it, and the ability to carry it out.
“We place importance on presenting the challenge as a realistic option.”
What the grant is for
Soil100 is for people who are about to start. It gives up to ¥1,000,000 and three months with a mentor, to help a plan become real work. It was the first money HydroBeetle received, and all of it went into building the device.
What came next
The mentoring began with a kickoff on 19 February 2026. In the same months HydroBeetle joined the Hongo Tech Garage programme and built its third and fourth prototypes.
Timeline
- 29 November and 13 December 2025Two-day workshop at the Hongo campus.
- 16 January 2026Final pitch. Four projects are selected.
- 19 February 2026Kickoff. Three months of mentoring begin.
