Innovation Kyoto 2021 Investment Limited Partnership ("KYOTO-iCAP No.2 Fund"), with Kyoto University Innovation Capital Corporation ("Kyoto iCAP") (Head Office: Sakyo-ku, Kyoto; Representative Director: Kimi Kusumi) as the general partner, has made a new investment in Mitate Zepto (MZT; Head office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Keisuke Harashima).

Outline of this investment
MZT is a startup that develops application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to accelerate genome analysis in next-generation sequencers (NGS) in collaboration with national universities. The company is a startup that develops ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) that accelerate genome analysis in NGS.

Genome analysis is a technology to determine and analyze the base sequences of DNA molecules that constitute the genetic information possessed by living organisms, and is used in a wide range of fields in medicine, such as elucidation of disease-causing genes, drug discovery, cancer genome diagnosis, and drug discovery. Genome analysis requires extensive data processing to determine the nucleotide sequence by rearranging the DNA molecules that are dispersed in fragments measured by NGS. The data processing requires a computer with high computational performance, and the long processing time and machine cost have been a barrier to the widespread use of genome analysis. To address these issues, MZT has developed an ASIC dedicated to genome analysis, aiming at high-speed data processing and cost reduction.

Kyoto iCAP has made a new investment of 50 million yen in the hope that MZT's ASIC dedicated to genome analysis will contribute to solving the problem of data processing speed and high costs that have been the rate-limiting factors in genome analysis. The total amount raised is 150 million yen, and in addition to Kyoto iCAP, the investment is being made by an investment limited partnership managed by Monozukuri Ventures, Inc. and individual investors. MZT will use the funding to design and develop a dedicated ASIC to accelerate and reduce the cost of genome analysis and to develop a hardware accelerator equipped with the ASIC.

Overview of Mitate Zepto Technica, Inc.

Establishment	July 2020
Business	Development of semiconductors for genome analysis
Head Office Location	Shibuya Ward, Tokyo
President & CEO	Keisuke Harashima