Terumo, a Japan-headquartered medical equipment multinational, has set up a corporate venture capital arm called Terumo Ventures.
The CVC unit, which falls under the auspices of the firm’s Terumo Americas Holding subsidiary, will invest $75m globally over the next five years, targeting medical technology startups. Cardiovascular disease treatment, chronic disease treatment and digital technologies will be the main areas of focus.
While this marks the first time Terumo has set up its own corporate venturing fund, the company has been investing in VC funds in the US and China since 2013.
In 2019, Terumo announced it had made limited partner commitments to two US-based VC firms, Treo Ventures and Catalyst Health Ventures, providing $25m for each fund.
Another Japanese pharmaceutical firm, Taiho, boosted the capital of its domestic CVC and incubation arm, Taiho Innovations, to $32m in June, five months after the US-based sister unit, Taiho Ventures, increased its assets to $400m.