Innovation Kyoto 2021 Investment Limited Partnership" ("KYOTO-iCAP No.2 Fund"), in which Kyoto University Innovation Capital Corporation ( "KYOTO-iCAP") (Head Office: Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Representative Director: Ko Kusumi) is the unlimited liability partner, has made an investment in KOALA Tech Inc. (Head office: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture; CEO & CTO: Fatima Bencheikh), a venture company that utilizes research results from Kyushu University.

Overview of this investment
In 2019, Professor Adachi of Kyushu University proposed the basic concept of a novel device, Organic Semiconductor Laser Diodes (OSLDs), and founded KOALA Tech to promote their social implementation.

The market for transparent displays, which combine light-emitting elements with film and glass to reflect and project light with mirrors, is expanding for next-generation mobility and information terminals, with sales expected to exceed 200 billion yen by 2027 and peak at several trillion yen.

Micro OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) is an AR (Augmented Reality) display device used for transparent displays, but its lack of brightness makes it difficult to display information under sunlight. OSLDs developed by KOALA Tech are more than three times brighter than micro OLEDs and can be seen even in sunny conditions.

KOALA Tech has successfully synthesized new organic light-emitting materials with luminescence properties suitable for OSLDs for the three primary colors required for information display: red, green, and blue, and has also developed a new device for OSLDs that incorporates a resonator structure to amplify luminance. Currently, we are working on improving the lifetime and luminance, and plan to obtain several potential customers by the end of 2025 to proceed with negotiations for the adoption of our product OSLDs in transparent displays.

KYOTO-iCAP expects that OSLDs developed by KOALA Tech will solve the bottleneck of mobility and information communication terminals in terms of visibility in outdoor environments, and has made a new investment of 21,001,680 yen in the acquisition of shares from existing shareholders and 78,997,800 yen in a third-party allocation of new shares, for a total investment of approximately 100 million yen.

KOALA Tech Inc.　summary
Establishment : March 22, 2019
Business : Research and development of organic semiconductor laser diode OSLDs
Head Office : Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
CEO & CTO : Fatima Bencheikh
HP: https://www.koalatech.co.jp/

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