Mitate Zepto Technica Inc. (Abbreviation: MZT, headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, President: Keisuke Harashima), a venture company pioneering a new era of high-speed genome analysis utilizing cutting-edge semiconductor technology, has conducted a seed round of funding in June this year. They raised 150 million yen through J-KISS type stock acquisition rights from Monozukuri Ventures Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, Representative Director: Narumasa Makino), Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, Representative Director: Kimi Kusumi), and three individual investors. The funds raised will be allocated to the development of the logic and physical design of a genome analysis-specific semiconductor (hereinafter referred to as ASIC: application-specific integrated circuit) and the development of hardware accelerators using ASICs.

About Monozukuri Ventures Co., Ltd.
Monozukuri Ventures Co., Ltd. is a company based in Kyoto and New York that operates venture investment funds for hard-tech startups and provides technical consulting for hardware prototyping and manufacturing.　It was established in January 2020 by combining the management resources of Darma Tech Labs (Kyoto City), which operates Makers Boot Camp, and FabFoundry, Inc. (New York City) to support hard-tech startups. The MBC Prototype Fund operated by Monozukuri Ventures launched its first fund in the summer of 2017 and its second fund in 2021. To date, it has invested in 53 hard-tech startups in Japan and the US (24 in Japan and 29 in the US). Utilizing insights and networks from prototyping to mass production, it provides technical consulting and has supported over 150 projects, mainly for startups, up to the present (as of the end of May 2022).
For more information, please refer to their website.

About Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd.
Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kyoto University, investing in and supporting businesses that utilize research outcomes originating from national universities, centered around Kyoto University. The company currently manages the 16 billion yen KYOTO-iCAP Fund No. 1 (established in January 2016) and the 18 billion yen KYOTO-iCAP Fund No. 2 (established in January 2021). The maturity of the first fund is set for a maximum of 20 years and the second fund for up to 17 years, enabling long-term support for the commercialization of research outcomes from Kyoto University, which has strengths in basic research. Additionally, the second fund also invests a portion of its capital in ventures originating from national universities other than Kyoto University.
For more information, please refer to their website.