On September 29, 2023, Mitate Zepto Technica successfully raised 40 million yen in funding from Monozukuri Ventures and Kyoto University Innovation Capital. The company is engaged in the development of genome analysis-dedicated semiconductors (ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit) and hardware accelerators using ASICs. The funds raised will be utilized to advance the evaluation of the genome analysis-dedicated accelerator currently under development.

About Monozukuri Ventures
Monozukuri Ventures is a company based in Kyoto and New York that operates a venture capital fund for hardtech startups and provides technical consulting for hardware prototyping and manufacturing. It was established in January 2020 through the collaboration of Darma Tech Labs (Kyoto), which operates Makers Boot Camp, and FabFoundry, Inc. (New York City), combining their resources to support hardtech startups. Monozukuri Ventures’ MBC Prototype Fund launched its first fund in the summer of 2017 and its second fund in 2021. To date, it has invested in 53 hardtech startups (24 in Japan and 29 in the US). Leveraging their expertise and network from prototyping to mass production, they also provide technical consulting services, supporting over 150 projects to date (as of May 2022).
For more details, please refer to their homepage

About Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd.
Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kyoto University, invests in and supports businesses that utilize research findings from national universities, centered around Kyoto University. The company currently manages the KYOTO-iCAP1 Fund (established in January 2016) with a total of 16 billion yen and the KYOTO-iCAP2 Fund (established in January 2021) with a total of 18 billion yen. The maturity of the first fund is set to a maximum of 20 years and the second fund to a maximum of 17 years, allowing for long-term support of the commercialization of Kyoto University’s research, which excels in basic research. Additionally, the second fund is designated to invest part of its capital in ventures originating from national universities other than Kyoto University.
For more details, please refer to their homepage