News

JIC Venture Growth Investments (VGI) has acquired the shares in elleThermo, Ltd. (elleThermo), through its JIC Venture Growth Fund 2.

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elleThermo is a deep-tech venture company spun out of Tokyo University of Science that conducts research and development, manufactures, and sells semiconductor-sensitized thermal cells* (STC).

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In Japan and around the world, there are indications that electricity consumption and waste heat are increasing in tandem with the growing demand for data centers.

By utilizing our proprietary STC technology, elleThermo is able to convert low-temperature waste heat—which was previously considered difficult to convert—into electricity.

This holds the potential to serve as the foundation for next-generation sensors and new energy harvesting technologies. elleThermo has already established partnerships with several companies, and moving forward, the company will advance research and development toward commercialization, conduct pilot production, and aim for widespread adoption in society.

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The purpose of investment in elleThermo is to realize the social implementation of their technologies and contribute to improvement of energy efficiency and decarbonization.

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VGI would like to support elleThermo to accelerate the research and development and contribute to the revitalization of the venture ecosystem in Japan.

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^{* A thermal energy conversion technology used in dye-sensitized solar cells—a type of chemical solar cell—that converts “optical excitation of the dye” into “thermal excitation of the semiconductor” to generate electricity. It can be used at low temperatures, such as room temperature.}

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_{The information contained in this notice is current at the time of publication and subject to change without notice}