Spiber Corporation (Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture), a developer of new materials with low environmental impact, has raised 34.4 billion yen from the Carlyle Group, a U.S. investment firm, and others.
One of the largest single funding amounts for startups in Japan.
This time, by combining the issuance of new shares with "securitization of business value," in which funds are raised by backing intangible assets such as intellectual property, the company succeeded in raising a large amount of funds.
Spivar has developed and marketed its own artificial protein material, Brewed Protein, which is inspired by spider silk.
Since the material is made from biomass materials and microorganisms, it is more environmentally friendly than petroleum-derived chemical fibers such as polyester and nylon, and the company plans to establish a mass production system.