Jul 13, 2019
TDK recently announced the establishment of a venture capital firm, TDK Ventures, which focuses on investing in early innovation companies in materials science, energy/electricity, etc. to drive innovation in related areas where these venture capital portfolios are relatively inadequate. TDK Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TDK, has an initial fund size of $50 million.
Based on TDK's 85 years of experience in the commercialization of magnetic and electronic materials, TDK Ventures will focus its investments on technologies and solutions that leverage basic materials science to create an attractive and sustainable future for the world. Specifically, TDK Ventures' investment direction will include, but is not limited to, magnetism, MEMS, piezoelectric technology, electricity, semiconductors, organic materials, and neuroelectrics. TDK Ventures hopes to identify and explore new ideas and technologies, provide funding and support to promising companies, and provide opportunities to enter the market for TDK operations.
Innovative start-ups will be able to leverage the scale and resources of TDK to reach potential customers, channels, global ecosystems, industry resources, market and operations expertise, and market/brand guidance. In return, TDK will gain early insight into new technologies, enabling the world's leading electronics companies to reinforce their technology roadmaps and enter new markets and segments.
TDK President and CEO Shigenao Ishiguro said: “The investment of TDK Ventures will bring new, powerful and transformative business opportunities to TDK. With TDK Ventures, TDK will continue to expand the market and bring us a sustainable future. ""
TDK Ventures' vision is to embrace and drive digital and energy transformation in areas such as health, next-generation transportation, robotics, industry, mixed reality (MR), and the broader Internet of Things (IoT). TDK plans to hire experienced top talents related to venture capital to collaborate with global start-ups. Nicolas Sauvage has more than 20 years of industry experience and will serve as Managing Director of TDK Ventures.
TDK Ventures is looking for start-ups that are in line with its investment direction, working together to develop and leverage basic materials science to create megatrends.