Establishment of UMI II Investment Limited Partnership

On April 25, 2019, Universal Materials Incubator Co., Ltd. (UMI) established the UMI II Investment Limited Partnership (UMI II Fund) with a promised investment scale of more than 6 billion yen, and implemented an initial cutoff. The promised investment scale is scheduled to be expanded to around 10 billion yen.

The material and chemical industries are large-scale industries that account for about 1/3rd of all industries in Japan, and the innovations derived from many Japanese technologies support the development of other industries as well. At the same time, many material and chemical companies have struggled to achieve balanced profit structures during the growth process, and have been forced to create new businesses or to make changes to those profit structures. These industries have longer R&D cycles than other industries, however, and also lack the capital required to support these R&D operations and the human resources with specialized knowledge to undertake these activities. As such, many new businesses and promising technologies in the embryonic stage from large corporations, venture companies, and academia end up being hidden away, unable to be matched with optimum partners. In response to these issues, in January 2016, UMI started up the UMI I Investment Limited Partnership (UMI I Fund; the first managed fund), and formed an investment team with the specialized knowledge to provide hands-on support specializing in the stages ranging from product development to the development of production technologies, which are issues in the creation of business in the material and chemical industries in particular. As a result, after seeking out more than 300 potential investment targets, the UMI I Fund invested in a total of 12 companies, and new investments ended in December 2018.

UMI decided to establish the new UMI II Fund to continue with the further development of the above activities. The continuing goal is to establish a position as a platform for the creation of new business, focusing on new businesses and outstanding technologies at major corporations, academia, and venture companies in the material and chemical industries, and actively supporting business creation by serving as a receptacle for those businesses and technologies. UMI will collaborate with academia-related organizations including universities with strengths in the material and chemical fields, and with a wide range of industries, strengthen Japan’s technical capabilities by fostering new businesses and the manpower responsible for those businesses, and strive to be a venture capital fund that contributes to creating industry structures that can compete in the global arena.

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the many parties who contributed to the establishment of the UMI II Investment Limited Partnership, and we look forward to your valued support of UMI in the future.

UMI II Investment Limited Partnership
Location：8-1 Akashi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0044, Japan
Administrative member : Universal Materials Incubator Co., Ltd.
Formed: April, 2019
Total Commitment: 6.01 billion JPY(Scheduled call for investments of up to 10.01 billion yen)
Goal of formation : To invest in and foster venture companies in the materials and chemical industries

Investors (as of first deadline) :
AGC inc.
UBE Corporation
Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited
SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
NIPPON SHOKUBAI CO., LTD.
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd.
SWCC SHOWA HOLDINGS Co., Ltd.
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
Daicel Corporation
TOPPAN PRINTING Co., Ltd.
SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING CORPORATION
(12 companies; no specific order)

About Universal Materials Incubator Co., Ltd. (UMI)
Location：8-1 Akashi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0044, Japan
Representative Director: Seiichi Tsukioka
Establish：Oct 6, 2015
UMI invests in outstanding new technologies and businesses in the fields of materials and chemicals that form the foundations for future industry, originating from both Japanese companies and academia, based on the vision of “Strengthening Japan’s engineering capabilities and cultivating an industry structure that can compete globally, by fostering outstanding material/chemical companies.”