Innovation Kyoto 2021 Investment Limited Partnership ("KYOTO-ICAP No.2 Fund"), with Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd. ("Kyoto-iCAP") (Head Office: Sakyo-ku, Kyoto; CEO: Ko Kusumi) as general partner, has made a new investment in GRA&GREEN Inc. (Head office: Chikusa-ku, Nagoya; CEO: Masaki Niwa).

Overview of this investment
GRA&GREEN is a start-up company co-founded (and currently serving as a technical advisor) by Professor Michitaka Notaguchi of Kyoto University's Graduate School of Science (also a professor at Nagoya University), which aims to significantly accelerate plant breeding using platform technology to apply genome editing to various crops and varieties.

In the past, humans have used various technologies such as "hybridization" and "genetic modification" to improve crop varieties in order to cope with the rapidly increasing population. In order to continue sustainable development while adapting to recent climate and environmental changes, it is necessary to develop seeds and seedlings with higher production efficiency and better quality more rapidly. Under these circumstances, attention is focusing on "genome editing technology," which can artificially create the same genetic changes that occur naturally in the target location, and which does not require regulatory approval in many countries for the release of improved crop varieties.

However, there are many technical barriers to applying genome editing to various crops and varieties, and only a few genome-edited varieties have made it to the market. Therefore, Grand Green aims to standardize and package genome editing technologies that can be applied to various crops and varieties, thereby enabling rapid breeding of more crops.

Kyoto-iCAP invested approximately 100 million yen out of a total of 450 million yen in a third-party allotment in collaboration with Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Seiho Investment Works, SB Players, Mizuho Capital, Hulic Startup, Aichi Capital, and other investors, in hopes that GRA&GREEN's platform technology will be useful and contribute further to accelerating the process of breeding, a common challenge for all humankind.

Outline of GRA&GREEN Inc.
Established: April 2017
Business activities: Development of original varieties in plants, sales of seeds and products, joint development of genome editing
Head Office: Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan
CEO: Masaki Niwa
HP: https://www.gragreen.com/ 

About Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd.
　As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kyoto University, KYOTO-iCAP provides investment and other business support to companies that utilize research results generated by Kyoto University and other national universities. We currently operate the Innovation Kyoto 2016 Investment Limited Partnership ("KYOTO-iCAP 1 Fund") (established in January 2016) with a total value of 16 billion yen and the KYOTO-iCAP 2 Fund (established in January 2021) with a total value of 18.1 billion yen. The KYOTO-iCAP No. 1 Fund has a maturity of up to 20 years, and the KYOTO-iCAP No. 2 Fund has a maturity of up to 17 years, making it possible to provide long-term support for the practical application of research results from Kyoto University, which has strengths in basic research. In addition, KYOTO-iCAP No. 2 Fund will invest a portion of the funds in ventures originating from national universities other than Kyoto University.

Contact information for inquiries
Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd.
36-1 Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8317, Japan
Osami Kono, Senior Officer, Business Development Department
TEL: 075-753-7588 FAX: 075-753-7592
E-mail: info@kyoto-unicap.co.jp