Monozukuri Ventures

We Make Hardware Startups Together. Empowering people to build high-quality products. For startup founders, it takes more than funding to bridge the gap between idea and product/market fit. With our unique way of supporting startups with manufacturing needs, we partner with startups for the long term and work hand-in-glove with our portfolio every step of the way to grow their businesses. Monozukuri Ventures (former Makers Boot Camp) is an early stage VC focused on hardware startup investments in the US & Japan. Our mission is to help the world’s entrepreneurs deliver high-quality products to the market, regardless of production volume. As a global ecosystem contributor, we provide founders with essential resources such as investment, mentorship, prototyping know-how, manufacturing expertise, and community support. To achieve this ambitious goal, we stress the importance of Monozukuri, the art of making things in a creative way. Although known as a traditional practice of manufacturing in Japan, Monozukuri enables us to create new values by fusing two opposite ideas integrated into harmony, such as old and new, East and West, hardware and software, and historical and modern. Based in historical Kyoto City and modern New York City, Monozukuri Ventures empowers talented and diverse people to build tangible solutions to create a better future.

Fujiwara, Kenshin

Co-Founder

Narimasa Makino

CEO

56 past transactions

Seasats

Seed Round in 2022
Seasats autonomous ocean vehicles provide remote monitoring and data collection for defense and commercial customers at a fraction of the cost, logistics, and risk compared to traditional methods.

Proteus Motion

Series A in 2022
Proteus Motion develops a physical rehabilitation technology to optimize movement using 3D resistance training and analytics. The company features hardware and analytics software that fundamentally alters and improves the way athletes rehab and train.

Arieca

Series A in 2022
Arieca manufactures and distributes a thermally conductive rubber composite. Arieca's composite is a stretchable, thermally conductive rubber that combines elasticity of soft silicone with the thermal of metal to be used as circuit wiring, sensors, and passive heat exchangers, allowing manufacturers to deploy an alternative form of rubber that improve the performance electronics and help them to safely interact with humans.

BRELYON

Venture Round in 2022
Brelyon is a deep tech startup realizing headset-less solutions for immersion in enterprise and metaverse applications. Breylon is introducing the world's first headset free virtual monitor. The experience is like looking through a window at a large IMAX screen on your desk. This allows replacing multi-monitor setups and having to wear headsets in a variety of enterprise and consumer applications.

Maxwell Labs

Venture Round in 2022
Maxwell Labs (MXL Labs) is pioneering the next generation of high-performance computing with our patented, groundbreaking photonic cooling technology. By transforming heat into light, our innovative approach solves one of the most critical challenges in AI and HPC hardware — heat management. Unlike traditional air or liquid cooling systems, MXL Labs’ photonic cooling enables faster processing speeds and heat recycling – all without moving parts or water. Backed by world-leading experts in nanophotonics and thermal engineering, MXL Labs is unlocking new possibilities for data centers and pushing the boundaries of modern computing.

FingerVision

Seed Round in 2022
FingerVision consists of specialists in this field to generate robot motions. The company solves social issues by putting advanced visual and haptic technology from universities into practice and expanding the application areas of robots and machines.

Seasats

Venture Round in 2021
Seasats autonomous ocean vehicles provide remote monitoring and data collection for defense and commercial customers at a fraction of the cost, logistics, and risk compared to traditional methods.

ESTAT Actuation

Seed Round in 2021
ESTAT Actuation is a developer of electroadhesive clutches to make robots or machines more capable and affordable. The company was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

team S

Venture Round in 2021
team S develops the 1st SSE (Smart Streaming Engine) embedded software for bi-directional linkage between smartphones and external displays.

Edgecortix

Series A in 2021
EdgeCortix is a fabless semiconductor company that meets the demand for efficient AI solutions across multiple sectors. EdgeCortix offers a software-centric approach with its patented "hardware and software co-exploration" system to design an AI-specific runtime reconfigurable accelerator processor. The company is pioneering advancements in AI accelerators, aiming to enhance the capabilities of connected devices in intelligent edge computing.

Digital Dream Labs

Venture Round in 2021
Digital Dream Labs provides hands-on educational technology for children ages 4 to 9. Its products satisfy the need for engaging, language- and system-agnostic designs that allow pre-readers to interface with both on-screen environments and other devices such as educational robots, smart speakers and other smart devices, and drones. The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Denshindo

Venture Round in 2021
DENSHINDO is a beauty equipment R&D, manufacturing, import, and export company. They provide plasma air shower beauty equipment. They also offer online shopping services.

Edge Case Research

Series A in 2021
Edge Case is the trusted risk-management partner for companies building self-driving trucks, autonomous robotaxis, and smarter passenger cars. We help developers and operators measure, manage, and insure the risks posed by software driving in the real world. Our mission is to deliver the promise of safe autonomous mobility. It was founded in 2013 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Sana Health

Venture Round in 2021
Sana Health is an audio-visual neuromodulation device, that provides anxiety relief on-demand - multiple applications in pain and mental health, 2 pivotal studies are underway in Fibromyalgia (FDA designated breakthrough device) and Neuropathic Pain. Anxiety and PTSD trials starting in Q2 2022, DoD grant for PTSD. SOSV, Founders Fund, Noetic Fund, Harmonix, Dreamit, Esplanade, Bridge Builders Collective, Menlo Ventures.

BRELYON

Seed Round in 2021
Brelyon is a deep tech startup realizing headset-less solutions for immersion in enterprise and metaverse applications. Breylon is introducing the world's first headset free virtual monitor. The experience is like looking through a window at a large IMAX screen on your desk. This allows replacing multi-monitor setups and having to wear headsets in a variety of enterprise and consumer applications.

Arieca

Venture Round in 2021
Arieca manufactures and distributes a thermally conductive rubber composite. Arieca's composite is a stretchable, thermally conductive rubber that combines elasticity of soft silicone with the thermal of metal to be used as circuit wiring, sensors, and passive heat exchangers, allowing manufacturers to deploy an alternative form of rubber that improve the performance electronics and help them to safely interact with humans.

Mentore.ai

Seed Round in 2021
Iterate Labs is a developer of a smart wearable device used to track relevant hand and wrist actions for workplace safety. Its device is a smart glove that collects and analyzes biomechanics data to alert workers and managers of injury risk and fatigue that enable health and safety officers to monitor and prevent workplace injuries through sensors and data analytics.

Melody International

Venture Round in 2021
Melody International is a manufacturing company that develops and offers medical equipment for remote medical services.

Forest Devices

Venture Round in 2020
Forest Devices is a medical device startup that develops a novel stroke screening device designed to detect early signs of stokes.

Enowa

Series A in 2020
Enowa bases on the production management, sales management system, and B2B construction know-how for small and medium-sized manufacturers that they have developed, suggests several systems that use IoT technology in the agriculture industry. In order to comprehend the trends in various industries, they also offer IoT development support to businesses. The company will assist in the internet store's sales and introduce clients who have purchased their goods to the restaurants owned by their business partners.

Atmoph

Series B in 2020
Atmoph is rethinking the way we connect with nature and information, in order to change quality of time at home better. Atmoph Window, the world’s first smart digital window, opens to beautiful scenery from around the world with 4K-shot videos and sounds.

Blast Radio

Venture Round in 2020
Blast Radio is a creator of an audio platform that connects creators and audiences. The platform allows creators to stream audio, share ideas with fans, and preview radio shows and album releases, allowing creators to experiment with content and audiences to follow and support them.

Melody International

Venture Round in 2020
Melody International is a manufacturing company that develops and offers medical equipment for remote medical services.

Mira Robotics

Seed Round in 2020
Mira Robotics is a software based company provide services that can robots in various fields.

Sembient

Funding Round in 2020
The Sembient sensor platform provides detailed occupancy data for buildings, empowering enterprises to design indoor environments that are more safe, productive, comfortable, and engaging for all occupants, while minimizing energy use and real estate costs. A complete toolkit for creating an occupant-responsive environment. Sembient sensors continuously measure and report occupancy levels and environmental conditions across the entire building, in real time. In a commercial office building, this enables facilities managers and workplace designers to create safe and productive workspaces where ideal occupant density and space utilization levels can be achieved. Real-time occupancy data can be used to guide employees to rooms or workstations that are available and safe for use, at any given time, by taking into consideration the current and prior usage of all the workspaces. Finally, the live occupancy data can also be used to dynamically control ventilation systems in order to maximize air quality while keeping energy costs in check. The sensors are easy and quick to deploy, do not interfere with enterprise wireless networks, and privacy protection is built into the hardware so that no personally identifiable information (PII) can ever be collected.

Arblet

Seed Round in 2020
Since the company was founded in 2016, Arblet Inc. focuses on developing non-invasive methods to measure inner body changes. Arblet’s mission is to elucidate the mystery of mankind.

Enowa

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Enowa bases on the production management, sales management system, and B2B construction know-how for small and medium-sized manufacturers that they have developed, suggests several systems that use IoT technology in the agriculture industry. In order to comprehend the trends in various industries, they also offer IoT development support to businesses. The company will assist in the internet store's sales and introduce clients who have purchased their goods to the restaurants owned by their business partners.

Everykey

Funding Round in 2019
Everykey is a offers a Bluetooth device designed to replace keys and passwords. It also generates secure passwords for website accounts, then automatically logs in when visiting a website. It was founded in 2015 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

Proteus Motion

Venture Round in 2019
Proteus Motion develops a physical rehabilitation technology to optimize movement using 3D resistance training and analytics. The company features hardware and analytics software that fundamentally alters and improves the way athletes rehab and train.

Hava Health

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Hava Health is a biotechnology research company that develops a digital drug therapy device for nicotine de-addiction.

OhmniLabs

Seed Round in 2019
OhmniLabs makes affordable easy-to-use, and useful home personal robots for elder care

Pristēm

Seed Round in 2019
The laundry & dry cleaning services industry has seen no hardware innovation in a long time resulting in 24 hr+ turnarounds, insanely expensive prices, and a complete lack of reliability. Pristēm has built a magical new clothing care experience that's 150x faster, 10x cheaper, and hassle free. Our smart hardware and consumable cleans your outfit exactly when you need it, not 24 hours later. Our nationwide network of smart hardware products can be accessed through your mobile phone and a monthly subscription. Pristēm provides the best customer experience that's a faster, greener, and more enjoyable alternative to the laundry and dry cleaning services available today.

Space Power Technologies

Seed Round in 2019
Space Power Technologies (SPT) was founded in 2019 as Japan's first start-up for “Spatial Transmission Wireless Power Transmission (WPT)”. We will harmonize elemental technologies cultivated through academics with people and society, and solve social issues related to power supply.

Atmoph

Series B in 2019
Atmoph is rethinking the way we connect with nature and information, in order to change quality of time at home better. Atmoph Window, the world’s first smart digital window, opens to beautiful scenery from around the world with 4K-shot videos and sounds.

Mentore.ai

Seed Round in 2019
Iterate Labs is a developer of a smart wearable device used to track relevant hand and wrist actions for workplace safety. Its device is a smart glove that collects and analyzes biomechanics data to alert workers and managers of injury risk and fatigue that enable health and safety officers to monitor and prevent workplace injuries through sensors and data analytics.

C-INK Co

Seed Round in 2019
Develops and manufactures conductive nano inks, range from materials to applications with joint-development and improvement of printers.

Y’s Global Vision

Seed Round in 2019
Y’s Global Vision is a planning, development, manufacturing and sales of eco and environmental products.

ORPHE

Series A in 2019
ORPHE Inc. provides “smart footwear”, footwear with built-in sensors and computers, and a sensing and creative platform “ORPHE” that utilizes the data obtained from these devices.

Hibersense

Seed Round in 2019
Hibersense Comfort Control for Every Room empowers homeowners with a smart HVAC control solution. The patent-pending, easy retrofit system uses wireless sensors, machine learning & battery-operated, wireless vents to heat or cool every space ensuring maximum room-by-room comfort and HVAC energy savings of up to 40%. Further, Hibersense services for multi-family operators increase tenant comfort, satisfaction, and renewal rates while providing detailed building thermal dynamics and usage rates providing increased opportunities for profitability and shareholder value.

Teplo

Seed Round in 2018
Teplo develops a tea maker that allows tea lovers to brew a cup of tea easily, each and every time of the day. Teplo's tea maker extracts tea automatically in collaboration with a smartphone app. Teplo's extraction technology supports all types of tea extraction methods, including jumping, steaming, and soaking, as well as interviews and tastings with hundreds of tea producers, experts, and enthusiasts. The app includes a database that stores delectable extraction conditions for each type of tea.

Amanogi Space

Seed Round in 2018
Amanogi Space is a developer of a minimal star tracker intended to use satellite edge computing to leverage space data. Their star tracker uses deep machine learning and artificial intelligence to collect data, allowing users to begin analyzing the satellite data they have collected and obtaining the analysis conclusions. Through their track record of locating marine debris that has drifted ashore in the ocean, they will contribute to numerous studies and demonstration projects employing satellite photos in the future.

EASEL

Venture Round in 2018
EASEL is a dynamic venture company specializing in wireless-based developments to advance the Internet of Things (IoT). As a comprehensive IoT solutions provider, EASEL offers end-to-end support for IoT projects, ensuring seamless integration and functionality across various stages of development.

PlayDate

Seed Round in 2018
PlayDate is building out an ecosystem of pet tech for the connected home. Their first product is a robotic, camera-enabled smart ball that pet owners can control from their mobile devices from anywhere in the world, allowing them to interact with their pets remotely.

ARIN Technologies

Seed Round in 2018
ARIN Technologies is a startup developing high accuracy indoor positioning systems to improve productivity and safety in indoor work environments. It system enables them to accurately determine the location of a tag inside buildings. Its product comprises two parts, hardware and software. The hardware system is called SpotRightTM while the SaaS based software system is called SpotLightTM. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

CleanRobotics

Seed Round in 2018
CleanRobotics has built an autonomous system, called TrashBot, that makes recycling affordable for businesses and profitable for recycling plants. Using robotics, computer vision, and artificial intelligence we detect and separate landfill waste from recyclables while gathering useful data for recyclers, reducing waste hauling costs for businesses, and replacing expensive waste receptacles.

Atmoph

Seed Round in 2018
Atmoph is rethinking the way we connect with nature and information, in order to change quality of time at home better. Atmoph Window, the world’s first smart digital window, opens to beautiful scenery from around the world with 4K-shot videos and sounds.

Kakaxi, Inc.

Seed Round in 2018
At Kakaxi, we are developing high-tech, affordable farm monitoring devices that collect robust weather data with matching time lapse video to tell the story behind food. The Kakaxi platform services both sides of the supply chain, from producer to consumer. The device provides farmers with actionable insights, while creating value through transparency for foodservice distributors, certifiers, CPG brands, online grocery, restaurants, and farmers markets.

S-Mat

Seed Round in 2018
S-Mat is an eco-friendly IoT purchase system for on-demand, no-hassle grocery with cost-effective shipping.

Veldt

Seed Round in 2017
Veldt offer wearable products, IoT products and services under the VELDT brand with a clear concept and functional design. The first product we launched was a smart watch, VELDT SERENDIPITY. Their design concept of regaining the excess time spent on your smartphone, in order to spend it looking around and discovering something new, has received positive appraisals worldwide.

Flextrapower

Seed Round in 2017
Flextrapower is a remote monitoring company powered by graphene technology, a disruptive material with unique properties that allow for ground-breaking biomedical applications. Graphene is stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. It’s one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair. Our team has developed and patented a method to seamlessly embed graphene sensors into flexible materials, like clothing. This method enables us to develop state-of-the-art remote monitoring products that advance health outcomes and improve patient care. Currently, Flextrapower has developed a smart insole that detects diabetic foot ulcers, an EMG-integrated smart shirt, and a COVID-19 mask featuring a layer of graphene.

Veldt

Seed Round in 2017
Veldt offer wearable products, IoT products and services under the VELDT brand with a clear concept and functional design. The first product we launched was a smart watch, VELDT SERENDIPITY. Their design concept of regaining the excess time spent on your smartphone, in order to spend it looking around and discovering something new, has received positive appraisals worldwide.

ORPHE

Seed Round in 2017
ORPHE Inc. provides “smart footwear”, footwear with built-in sensors and computers, and a sensing and creative platform “ORPHE” that utilizes the data obtained from these devices.

Hoplite Power

Seed Round in 2017
At Hoplite Power, they understand the importance of staying connected. Whether it’s to meet up with a friend around the block or video chat with a loved one across the world, your smartphone is there for you—except when it’s not. When your battery dies, so do those connections. Have you ever tried to surf the web or download a new app on a dead phone? No? Yea, doesn’t work for us either.They’re here to defend your mobile usage habits by providing smartphone charging that keeps up with the pace of you, making battery power an afterthought.

Proteus Motion

Seed Round in 2017
Proteus Motion develops a physical rehabilitation technology to optimize movement using 3D resistance training and analytics. The company features hardware and analytics software that fundamentally alters and improves the way athletes rehab and train.

C-INK

Venture Round in 2015
If the problems your company is having can be solved by these three production processes of 1) faster; 2) more inexpensive; 3) more flexible: then Printed Electronics must be an extremely promising solution for you. Printed Electronics enables you to produce various electronics products by printing; using a printer which only calls for a predominately low initial investment. What they would like to emphasize here, however, is that it is quite a task making products comparable to the conventional ones using the method of printing; that means only few processes have been established so far. Therefore, if you are able to complete the process within you firm, then you will with no doubt be able to create something which cannot be copied by others easily. Their company will do everything they can do to support your challenges. Let’s make a bright future together!
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