SPARX : Mirai Creation Fund III Invests in ArchiTek, an Edge AI Processor Developer

The following is an English version of the official Japanese announcement, which has been given to the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the media in Tokyo, Japan.

June 20, 2022

For Immediate Release

SPARX Group Co., Ltd.

President and Group CEO Shuhei Abe

(Code: 8739, TSE Prime Market)

Mirai Creation Fund III Invests in ArchiTek, an Edge AI Processor Developer

-Addressing society's problems by expanding the five human senses through edge computing-

TOKYO-June 20, 2022-SPARX Group Co., Ltd. (SPARX; TSE Prime: 8739) today announced that its Mirai Creation Fund III-established in October 2021-has invested in ArchiTek Corporation. ArchiTek plans to use these funds to develop and mass-produce its edge AI processor AiOnIc®, a single-chip solution for edge-device AI and image/voice processing, using its proprietary aIPE architecture.

Portfolio Company Outline

Former Panasonic engineer Shuichi Takada founded ArchiTek in 2011 as an R&D start-up that develops architectures and algorithms and implements them in FPGA/LSI/software.

In 2018, the company raised JPY 500 million from Mirai Creation Fund I and other sources. It was selected for NEDO's Evolutionary, Low-Power AI Edge LSI R&D project in collaboration with Toyota Industries Corporation and Socionext Inc., successfully developing a chip utilizing its aIPE architecture.

In 2020, the firm raised another roughly JPY 500 million from Mirai Creation Fund II and other sources before independently developing a sample AiOnIc chip with aIPE architecture. A leading company rated this chip.

With this latest capital inflow, ArchiTek plans to mass-produce a commercial AiOnIc from late this year and into the next, as it looks forward to finally advancing into social applications. It aims to contribute to a safer, more secure, and more convenient society by simultaneously achieving the four requirements of low cost, low power consumption, high performance, and flexibility on a single chip.

■ Mirai Creation Funds I, II, and III Summaries

The Mirai Creation Fund I began operations in November 2015 with financing of JPY 13.5 billion from three companies: Toyota Motor Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and SPARX, the Fund's general partner. Ultimately, the Fund received contributions from 20 companies, including the above three. Casting intelligent technologies, robotics, and hydrogen-economy technologies as vital to the future, Fund I has invested in approximately 50 companies and projects-from the US, the UK, Israel, Singapore, and Japan-that possess innovations in these fields. In H2 2018, SPARX began managing the Mirai Creation Fund II, which targets the three existing Mirai Creation fields along with the two additional areas of electrification and new materials. In October 2021, SPARX launched the Mirai Creation Fund III with SPARX Asset Management Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of SPARX, acting as its fund manager, adding carbon neutrality to the five fields of the Mirai Creation Fund II. As of May 31, 2022, the combined AUM for Funds I, II, and III were JPY 150.1 billion.

Mirai Creation Fund investment track record: https://mirai.sparx.co.jp/en/investment/

• For inquiries related to this release, contact: Public Relations, SPARX Group Co., Ltd.
  Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] [e-mail]