Corporate Venture Activity

Strategic partnerships with startups around the world to accelerate innovation

Our corporate venture activity has entered its fourth year since the founding of Silicon Valley-based Diamond Edge Ventures in fiscal 2018. Our global team, located in Tokyo, Silicon Valley and Germany, catalyzes engagements between startups and our company’s business units to create mutual opportunities for innovation. As of March 2022, we have created over 270 such engagements and invested in nine startups, including four new investments in fiscal 2021.

Accelerator programs

In fiscal 2021, we rolled out our first partnership program “KAITEKI Challenge,” focused on “Re-imagining Proteins, Plastics, and Packaging.” We selected six startups as finalists, and we are working with them to validate several innovative concepts. In fiscal 2022, we will launch our next partnership program “TANAMIN Digital Health Challenge,” aiming to create novel digital healthcare solutions.

DAIZ Inc.

DAIZ Inc. is a Japanese plant-based meat company delivering safe, sustainable, and high-quality alternative protein based on proprietary germination and extrusion technologies. The company’s prduct MIRACLE MEAT has been already adopted by many food suppliers and restaurant chains. We are co-developing food ingredients for plant-based meat, supporting the DAIZ mission, and expanding our own food-related technological capabilities and market access.

Lingrove Inc.

Lingrove Inc. is a provider of low-carbon-intensity composites made from plant-based fiber in a wide variety of resins. The company's signature product Ekoa® is made of flax fiber and resin, enabling “wood without trees” by creating appearances similar to stained and finished wood. Leveraging our diverse materials portfolio, this partnership aims to create low CO2 footprint products in many applications including architecture and automotive interiors.

Eridan Communications, Inc.

Eridan Communications, Inc. aims to reduce the power consumption for wireless communications by enabling the world’s most efficient radios for 4G/5G. Eridan’s MIRACLE RF front-end module is based on a digital switching architecture with GaN power devices that realizes ultra-clean signals and significant size reduction. Our collaboration opens new opportunities for expansion into the RF module market.

Myoridge Co., Ltd.

Myoridge Co., Ltd. provides cells and custom-designed serum-free media for cell culture applications, serving pharma, regenerative medicine, and food industries. Myoridge has the unique ability to address cost, reliability, and cell quality challenges by creating bespoke media recipes for each cell type and development stage. We are partnering with Myoridge to develop plant-based growth factors for various cell culture markets.
Focus on precision medicines.