Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo: 4183; President & CEO: HASHIMOTO Osamu; hereinafter 'Mitsui Chemicals') is pleased to announce its investment in Monozukuri Ventures Corp. (Kyoto; CEO & Managing Director: MAKINO Narimasa; hereinafter 'MZV') in October 2020. MZV operates a consulting business and venture capital fund specializing in hardware startups.
With materials being a source of innovation, an in-depth knowledge of materials is essential for any company to take on the challenge of creating game-changing new products. Mitsui Chemicals' New Business Incubation Center develops, manufactures and sells plastic parts that leverage the strengths of various materials for use in innovative new products in the robotics field. These plastic parts have already been put to use some applications, including personal mobility solutions, social robots, powered exoskeletons and industrial robots.
MZV supports monozukuri - the art of making things in a creative way - by startups through a venture capital fund launched in 2017, based on the vision of shaping a future in which anyone across the globe can take on the challenge of manufacturing hardware. The fund primarily focuses on hardware startups in Japan and North America. A variety of Japanese manufacturing companies have become involved in the project by investing in new funds and existing ones, enabling MZV to expand the network of startups that it supports.
Partnering with MZV through this new investment will enable Mitsui Chemicals to help support the monozukuri of these startups and new businesses, supplying them with optimal parts encompassing not only plastic but also metal and electronic parts - right from the pilot run in the initial development phase. Mitsui Chemicals also plans to work with MZV to promote monozukuri in other countries and will step up efforts to expand the New Business Incubation Center's business overseas.
Mitsui Chemicals will continue undertaking initiatives to support startups and new businesses as it looks to help promote innovation throughout the world.
Representative
MAKINO Narimasa
Established
August 2015
Paid-in capital
95.04 million yen
Address
Kyoto, Japan
Business
Venture capital funding and technical consulting services
Major monozukuri-related shareholder companies
Sony Corp., Hong Kong Tohei E.M.C. Co. Ltd., Yasuda Precision Tools K.K. and the 11 member companies of Kyoto Shisaku Net, among others
Major monozukuri-related fund investors
DMG Mori Co., Ltd., Maxell, Ltd., Musashi Seimitsu Industry Co., Ltd., Sala Corp. and Shimadzu Corp.
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Mitsui Chemicals Inc. published this content on 25 November 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 25 November 2020 04:50:06 UTC
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. specializes in the manufacture and marketing of chemicals products. Net sales break down by product family as follows:
- basic chemicals and fine chemicals products (48.8%): polypropylene, polyethylene, phenols, polyolefins, polyurethane, etc.;
- performance chemicals products (25.5%): elastomers, urethane, polymers, etc. intended in particular for the automotive industry;
- coating materials, films and agrochemicals (14.6%): resins, adhesives, polypropylene films, polyethylene films, industrial films, agrochemicals (insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, etc.) for the food and packaging sectors;
- specialty materials (10.2%): ophthalmic lens materials, photochromic materials, non-woven fibers, dental products, etc. dedicated to the medical and healthcare industry;
- other (0.9%).
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Japan (52.2%), China (14.5%), Asia (13.6%), America (11.8%), Europe (7.3%) and other (0.6%).
MITSUI CHEMICALS, INC. 
