Innovation Kyoto 2021 Investment Limited Partnership" ("KYOTO-icap FundⅡ"), managed by Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co.,Ltd. ("Kyoto iCAP")(Headquarters: Sakyo-ku, Kyoto; Representative Director: Ko Kusumi) as its general partner, has made a new investment in eSep Inc. (Headquarters: Seika-cho, Souraku-gun, Kyoto; Representative Director: Kenichi Sawamura), a start-up that leverages research outcomes from national universities.

Overview of the investment
eSep is a startup that promotes the social implementation of university-based seed technologies, beginning with those from Hiroshima University. The company develops, manufactures, and sells solvent separation systems that use nano-silica membranes.

To achieve carbon neutrality—a common goal shared by all humankind—reductions in greenhouse gas emissions such as CO₂are required. Among all industries, the chemical industry has the second-highest CO₂emissions, and separation processes including distillation account for roughly 40% of those emissions. Decarbonizing these separation processes would therefore have a significant impact on reducing emissions from human activity as a whole.

While replacing distillation with membrane separation is one of the major options for decarbonizing distillation processes, no membrane has been available at an industrial level that can be used to remove water from hydrophilic organic solvents such as acetic acid—processes with particularly high environmental burdens—while still delivering the required performance. As a result, replacing distillation in these applications has been practically impossible. Moreover, because the market for hydrophilic organic solvents is extremely large, the market size for materials used in these processes also amounts to several hundred billion yen.

To address this, eSep developed a membrane separation process capable of replacing the distillation of hydrophilic organic solvents by extending the lifespan and enabling mass production of silica membranes with nanoscale pore diameters, based on the research of Professor Toshinori Tsuru of Hiroshima University (currently a technical advisor to eSep). This process not only reduces environmental impact but also offers economic advantages such as shorter investment payback periods, and major chemical manufacturers have begun adopting the system.

With the introduction of automated production equipment funded through this recent round of financing, eSep will begin large-scale manufacturing and sales for its first commercial customer. Leveraging this achievement, the company plans to expand not only in Japan but also globally. eSep is also developing a system that can produce methanol—an important hydrogen carrier—at significantly lower cost compared to existing methods by using its nano-silica membranes. The company will continue to advance both this development and its social implementation.

Kyoto iCAP invested approximately 100 million yen of the roughly 550 million yen raised through this third-party allocation of shares, in collaboration with Money Forward Venture Partners, NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd.’s CVC, and others. Kyoto iCAP expects eSep’s products to significantly contribute as practical solutions for mitigating climate change.

eSep, Inc. summary
Establishment : October, 2013
Business : Development, manufacturing, and sales of separation processes centered on nanosilica membranes
Head Office: Seika-cho, Souraku-gun, Kyoto, Japan
Representative Director: Kenichi Sawamura
HP : https://esep.kyoto/

About Kyoto University Innovation Capital , Co. Ltd. (Kyoto iCAP):
As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kyoto University, KYOTO-iCAP provides investment and other business support to companies that utilize research results generated by Kyoto University and other national universities. We currently operate the Innovation Kyoto 2016 Investment Limited Partnership ("KYOTO-iCAP 1 Fund") (established in January 2016) with a total value of 16 billion yen and the KYOTO-iCAP 2 Fund (established in January 2021) with a total value of 18.1 billion yen. The KYOTO-iCAP No. 1 Fund has a maturity of up to 20 years, and the KYOTO-iCAP No. 2 Fund has a maturity of up to 17 years, making it possible to provide long-term support for the practical application of research results from Kyoto University, which has strengths in basic research. In addition, KYOTO-iCAP No. 2 Fund will invest a portion of the funds in ventures originating from national universities other than Kyoto University.

Contact information for inquiries
Kyoto University Innovation Capital, Co. Ltd.
36-1 Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8317, Japan
Osami Kono, Senior Officer, Business Development Department
TEL: 075-753-7588 FAX: 075-753-7592
E-mail: info@kyoto-unicap.co.jp