Epson has established Epson X Investment Corporation (EXI), a new corporate venture capital (CVC) subsidiary aimed at accelerating collaboration and innovation, growing existing businesses and creating new ones. A multi-million dollar fund will be set up for venture investment.
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One of the basic policies of Epson's Phase 2 Mid-Range Business Plan is to accelerate growth by taking maximum advantage of assets and through collaboration and open innovation, the company says. In the past ten years, Epson has invested millions of dollars in mergers and acquisitions and in collaborative projects and capital tie-ups with venture businesses.
“Epson have primarily pursued opportunities in which they could take advantage of synergies with their core devices, especially their core inkjet devices,” says a company statement. “This has helped the company break ground in new businesses and develop new markets that expand the scope of applications.
“M&As are the most common way for enterprises to enter other industry sectors. In recent years, however, CVC has gained attention as an effective way to form collaborative relationships and capital tie-ups with venture companies in a wide and diverse range of fields and sectors. It is also seen as a way to prepare for major environmental changes and disruption.
“This situation prompted Epson to found EXI as a CVC subsidiary capable of rapidly making decisions and investments. This will help the company further accelerate their open innovation strategy.”
Epson's general partner in EXI will be Global Brain Corporation (GB), an independent venture capital company with considerable expertise in CVC management. The Epson Group will have a 99% interest in a new corporate venture fund with “many millions of dollars available for investment." Fund management will target investments in venture companies worldwide.
Epson says it will help to achieve a sustainable society by creating “a variety of partnerships and synergies based on its proprietary technologies, products, and services.”
For more information on Global Brain Corporation, go to: https://globalbrains.com/en/
Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, Epson Group generates global annual sales of more than US$10 billion.
Epson Australia offers image capture and image output products for commercial, industrial, consumer, business, photography and graphic arts markets, and is also a leading supplier of point-of-sale (POS) solutions for retail. Established in 1983, Epson Australia is headquartered in North Ryde NSW and is a subsidiary of the Epson Group headquartered in Japan.
