The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC) and global technology investor Amadeus Capital Partners (Amadeus) today announce a new partnership, “AUGMENT” (Amadeus UTEC Global Market Expansion of Novel Technologies). The AUGMENT partnership is the newest chapter in the firms’ long history of supporting deep tech start-ups through their community of investors, entrepreneurs, and industrial partners.

UTEC recently announced the close of its fifth fund of 30 billion JPY (about $275 million USD), bringing its total assets under management close to $800 million. This makes it one of the largest deep tech venture capital funds in Asia. From its inception in 2004, it has invested in more than 110 science/technology-focused start-ups in Japan and abroad, including peptide drug discovery company PeptiDream (TYO: 4587), industrial drone developer and implementer ACSL (TYO: 6232), AI Inside who develops AI image recognition products (TYO: 4488), AI engineering company Neural Pocket (TYO: 4488), and Fyusion (acquired by Cox Automotive) who develops 3D image technology based on intelligent robotics. UTEC has also built close relationships with the world’s top-tier VC firms including ARCH Venture Partners in the US and BLUME Ventures in India to accelerate investments in global portfolios.

Amadeus Capital Partners has been investing in technology-enabled products and services for over 20 years, focusing on early stage in the UK and Europe, plus primary and secondary growth capital in Europe and Latin America. Founded in 1997, it has backed more than 180 companies and raised over $1 billion for investment. Its team of 40 operates from London, Cambridge (UK), Bogotá, San Francisco and São Paulo.

Pioneering businesses backed by Amadeus include cyber security vendor ForeScout (NASDAQ:FSCT); Graphcore, innovators in intelligent microprocessors; IVF genetic testing company, Igenomix; the first single-chip Bluetooth solution, CSR (acquired by Qualcomm); IndiaMART, the B2B online marketplace (NSE: INDIAMART) and speech recognition company VocalIQ (acquired by Apple)..

UTEC and Amadeus share significant synergies in their investment philosophy and style, and also maintain a close relationship with leading universities and academic institutions, venture capital funds and industrial partners in their respective regions. Through AUGMENT, they will form a deep-rooted network which can be accessed by portfolio start-ups as a part of the hands-on support provided by the funds.

Noriaki Sakamoto, Partner, at UTEC commented: “The AUGMENT partnership will accelerate the globalisation of technological and scientific innovation from the UK, Europe and Japan”. John Suzuki, Associate, at UTEC added “Amadeus and UTEC will support tech start-ups through their respective academic and industrial networks, deep knowledge of cutting-edge science and technology and access to local markets.”

Pierre Socha, Partner, Amadeus Capital Partners, said: “Our ambition is to back tech start-ups that have disruptive potential in the UK and Japan, and help them grow faster through our respective networks. AUGMENT will be a bridge for innovation between two island nations, bringing the opportunity to expand onto the global stage one step closer for ambitious early-stage deep tech teams.”