Germination Fund I, Managed by Leave a Nest Capital, Invested in Aster Co., Ltd., Memory Lab Inc., and Innoqua Inc. Marking its First Cohort of Investments

Germination Fund I Investment Limited Liability Partnership (hereinafter referred to as “Germination Fund I”), the fund managed by Leave a Nest Capital Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Mr. Ikegami Masahiro; hereinafter referred to as “Leave a Nest Capital”), has completed the first cohort of investments on 28 April 2023 by investing in three companies: Aster Co., Ltd. (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Mr. Suzuki Masaomi; hereinafter “Aster”), MEMORY LAB Inc. (Head office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Mr. Hatase Kento; hereinafter “MEMORY LAB”) and Innoqua Inc. (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Mr. Takakura Yota; hereinafter “Innoqua”). 

Aster is a venture company born at the University of Tokyo with the vision of “Creating a world where people can live safely without the fear of natural disaster”. To that end, it has developed an earthquake-resistant paint that, when applied to masonry buildings, exhibits a high level of resistance to earthquakes.

MEMORY LAB, with its vision of “Becoming a Bridge between Science and People’s Lives”, has significantly streamlined the process of searching for papers, patents, and market surveys. With its research discovery service, what once took six months to a year can now be accomplished in just one week, providing instant access to vast amounts of information.

Innoqua is a venture company born at the University of Tokyo in 2018 with the vision of “Creating a world where people and nature coexist in harmony”. Following this philosophy to create a world of peaceful coexistence that would last 100 years, the company is driving research, development, and social implementation of Environment Transfer Technology(1) using IoT and AI.

The three companies in which Germination Fund I has invested have a close relationship with Leave a Nest Group, dating back to their team’s participation in the TECH PLANTER conducted by Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Group CEO: Dr. Yukihiro Maru; hereinafter “Leave a Nest”) and internship experiences at the company, and each of them is committed to solving deep issues, related respectively to natural disasters, R&D, and water environment.

We are convinced these three are fitting recipients for the first cohort of investments from Germination Fund I, which specializes in making small investments in the seed phase of Japanese venture companies founded by entrepreneurs passionate about solving deep issues.

Going forward, Leave a Nest Capital and Germination Fund I will continue working towards Leave a Nest Group’s goal of contributing to global happiness by continuing to support through their investment entrepreneurs who create deep tech to solve deep issues without time constraints.

(1): Innoqua’s original technology. It uses IoT devices developed by the company to recreate the environment of a specific aquatic ecosystem in an aquarium without using natural seawater. It works by balancing a wide range of parameters such as water quality (i.e. the dissolved concentration of more than 30 trace elements), water temperature, water flow, lighting environment, and the relationship between various (micro)organisms.

About Aster

• Company Name: Aster Co., Ltd.
• Website: https://www.dis-aster.com/
• Head Office: N&E Bld. 6F, 1-12-4 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
• CEO: Mr. Masaomi Suzuki
• Incorporation: 31 January 2019

About MEMORY LAB

• Company Name: MEMORY LAB Co.
• Website: https://memorylab.jp/
• Head Office: Kuwano Building 2F, 6-23-4 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
• CEO: Mr. Kento Hatase
• Incorporation: 7 July 2021

About Innoqua

• Company Name: Innoqua Inc.
• Website: https://corp.innoqua.jp/index_en.html
• Head Office: Landic Toranomon Building 2F, 3-7-10 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo
• CEO: Mr. Yota Takakura
• Incorporation: 8 April 2019