TOKYO -- The University of Tokyo plans to start investing directly in startups spawned at the school through a new 60 billion yen ($536 million) fund, Nikkei has learned, as the venerable institution aims to support the creation of unicorns and help Japan catch up in the global tech race.

The university has already invested in over 110 startups through a partnership with The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners, a private sector VC.

National universities are currently prohibited from directly investing in startups, but a legal amendment will take effect in April, allowing the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Tohoku University and six other institutions conducting world-class research to directly invest in new companies.

The University of Tokyo will begin by investing 10 billion yen. It will seek further funding from outside investors. The plan is to increase the size of the fund to around 60 billion yen in 10 years and to financially support the formation of 300 startups. This will double the number of startups originating from the university to about 700.

The fund is expected to become Japan's largest university-launched startup fund.

The fund is expected to give the university some flexibility when it comes to making decisions, but the school will establish a financial management department in a bid to make accurate investment decisions.

The university will likely finalize details after taking into account the opinions of investment experts.