Japan-based autonomous robotics technology developer Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory (ACSL) announced on Wednesday that it will form a corporate venture capital (CVC) arm next month.
Plans for the vehicle were first revealed in the company’s medium-term management direction report, ACSL Accelerate 2020, in August this year.
ACSL I Limited Liability Partnership is set to run until March 2030, though that period may be extended. The maximum fund size will be ¥1bn ($9.5m) and its activities will be overseen by Satoshi Washiya, ACSL’s president and chief operating officer (COO).
Spun out of Chiba University in 2013, ACSL produces drones for both public and private sectors. The corporate venturing initiative will target developers of artificial intelligence, blockchain and image processing technologies that can be applied to its products.
The CVC unit is likely to count Real Tech Holdings, an investment firm formed by biofuel supplier Euglena, research firm Leave a Nest and investment firm SMBC Nikko, as an adviser, to be represented by Akihiko Nagata, Euglena’s director and COO.
