Omron Ventures, the corporate VC arm of automation equipment manufacturer Omron, is looking to deepen its global mindset and harness innovation, CEO Tomoko Inoue said.
“Since I joined Omron Ventures, we have been focusing more on companies outside of Japan. This past year, we have invested in four companies and all of them are from abroad,” she said. The companies include US-based connected car analytics provider Connected Signals and Israel-based facial recognition technology developer De-Identification.
Omron Ventures was founded in 2014, and Inoue came on board in April 2018. It currently targets early-stage developers in three areas: digital health, mobility and industrial robotics.
Inoue mentioned healthcare as an example of how Omron is looking to reinvent a well-established industry through innovative companies, adding: “The area has already been established in the global ecosystem, so it is really hard to take the risk to develop new ways to fulfil some of their needs.
“The large medical device corporations’ strategy is looking at startups that have cutting-edge technologies, and once they obtain official approval, the corporate either acquires the startup company or gets the tech distribution rights.
“Omron Ventures is doing both; not only do we look at the deep medical field, but we also focus on consumer health. The risk level is different from therapeutic devices but the competitive landscape changes very fast, so it is important to create a good collaboration or partnership with the startups.”
The unit enters into what Inoue calls a soft engagement with entrepreneurs in order to avoid “narrowing the scope of the startup’s future strategy,” and it generally takes observer seats while being less keen on full board seats.
Inoue said Omron Ventures places an emphasis on strategic return but does not neglect the financial side, supporting portfolio companies to eventually work towards an exit.
The unit has invested 12 startups to date and exited two: industrial robotics technology developer LifeRobotics and high-speed gesture tracking technology developer Exvision.
Her experience plays a role in Inoue’s current remit. Prior to joining Omron Ventures, she had helped set up MedVenture Partners, a venture capital subsidiary of public-private investment partnership Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), in 2013, at the start of a five-year stint as a senior manager.
“For me, the major milestone was starting this new fund and achieving investment success to develop the Japanese ecosystem,” Inoue said. She conducted medtech deals on behalf of the firm not only in Japan but also in the US.
Inoue was also involved as a faculty fellow in the Biodesign Program at Stanford University, and said: “Several Japanese universities also started the Biodesign Program in partnership with Stanford University, and I supported this initiative.”
Having been involved in the investment space in Japan for more than a decade, Inoue believes Omron Ventures acts as a successful role model in Omron’s open innovation process, bridging the gap between seasoned and more nascent business departments.
“Going forward, we would like to leverage this model to make a cultural change at Omron, making it more open and putting its words and thoughts into action,” she concluded.
– Photo of Tomoko Inoue courtesy of Omron Ventures.
