International. Daikin Industries, Ltd. has set aside US$100 million for use in investments targeting start-ups worldwide, for a five-year period through 2024. In addition, Daikin will establish the Technology and Innovation Center CVC Office to promote collaboration with start-ups as a means to accelerate open innovation by integrating technologies and knowledge both inside and outside the company.
Leveraging the business base of its global operations, Daikin is working collaboratively with local start-ups in locations including Silicon Valley in the United States and Shenzhen in China. In Japan, the company promotes partnerships with startups, including those associated with the University of Tokyo, based on an industry-academia co-creation agreement entered into with the university.
This allocation will allow each division and department of the company to make decisions faster and invest more flexibly in start-ups. By cooperating with new global companies that practice accelerated management and have advanced technologies, innovative ideas and a spirit of challenge, Daikin aims to quickly verify hypotheses and create new products, services and business models.
The role of the new CVC Office of the Technology and Innovation Center involves activities related to corporate venture capital, including finding startups that are candidates for investment, executing and tracking investments, and acting as a bridge between startups and the company's internal divisions and departments.
"Achieving further growth amid significant changes occurring rapidly in the industrial structure due to digital technology innovations such as AI and IoT requires companies to accelerate technology and product development, transform business structures and create new business models. To this end, Daikin engages in collaborative creation with external entities and creates new value by actively incorporating external technologies and knowledge while identifying what it needs to develop internally as proprietary knowledge," the company's statement reads.
For the future, the company intends to accelerate open innovation initiatives and use this investment allocation to build strong relationships with new external partners.
