The Japanese chemicals manufacturer Mitsui Chemicals has partnered venture capital firm Global Brain to launch a ¥5bn ($36.8m) investment vehicle.
The fund, named 321Force, will invest in seed-stage companies that dovetail with Mitsui Chemicals’ four areas of focus – life and healthcare, mobility, information and communications technology, and sustainable materials. It will also target new markets and technologies.
Global Brain, which already manages 11 corporate venturing units in Japan, is general partner of the new fund.
The CVC units that Global Brain helps manage include vehicles for estate company Mitsui Fudosan, financial services firm Sony Financial Group and KDDI, a telecommunications business.
Mitsui Chemicals president and CEO Osamu Hashimoto
Mitsui Chemicals is part of conglomerate Mitsui & Co, the holding group for several large Japanese companies including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, Mitsui Engineering and Sapporo Breweries.
Mitsui & Co itself has been a prolific corporate investor, having backed companies including cancer therapy developer Ensem Therapeutics, automotive communications technology provider Autotalks and Punjab Renewable Energy Systems, a biomass briquette manufacturer. The firm’s corporate venturing arm, Mitsui Global Investment, was launched in 2001 as Mitsui & Co Venture Partners.
Images courtesy of Mitsui Chemicals.
