INCJ leads $16m investment in Japan's Atonarp

Additional participants in the round include Walden Riverwood Ventures, which led Atonarp's $8 million Series A round in 2014, and Innovative Venture Fund Investment, a joint venture between NEC Capital Solutions and SMBC Venture Capital. Atonarp will use the capital to ramp up production on its line of advanced spectrometers in expectation of growing demand from its customers.

Founded in 2009, Atonarp targets the energy, petrochemical, electronics and pharmaceutical sectors. Its flagship Smart Spectrometer product uses a powerful processor and proprietary software, along with miniaturized instruments to fit in a small form factor, to create a highly portable analytic tool for use in a wide range of applications.

In addition to its current customers, Atonarp also plans to reach out to the healthcare and food and beverage industries. A version of the Smart Spectrometer tailored to these sectors is expected to be introduced after the initial release.

"The company's innovative technology and product performance is creating a groundswell of customer support," said Atonarp CEO Prakash Murthy. "This funding will allow us to ramp into unit volume to meet our customers' production schedules."

INCJ, a state-backed investor with a remit to provide financial, technical and management support for the creation of next-generation Japanese businesses, has made a number of investments in Japan's technology sector. Earlier this year it contributed to a JPY1.1 billion ($10 million) round for robotics company 3D Media, alongside Sparx Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital; last year it joined a consortium of investors to commit $21 million to stem cell technology developer Megakaryon.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• North Asia
• Technology
• Industrials
• Venture
• Early-stage
• Japan
• Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ)
• Walden International
• SMBC Venture Capital