Goldwin Play Earth Fund holds the “Play Earth Fund Summit” for accelerating innovation
2023.02.16
Top row, from left to right: Takero Kaneda[GVP], Watanabe Takao[Goldwin Inc],Daisuke Tsuboi[Sanu],Yuki Tshiro[IGP-VP]. Bottom row, from left to right: Yusuke Matsuura[vivid garden], Kazuya Kawasaki[Synflus], Kazuki Miwa[Bioworks], Hiroki Sugiyama[JEPLAN]
Goldwin Play Earth Fund (hereafter “GW-PEF”), co-managed by Goldwin Venture Partners Inc. (hereafter “GVP”) and Ignition Point Venture Partners Inc. (hereafter “IGP-VP”) held the “Play Earth Fund Summit” on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, to provide opportunities for new innovation.
At the Summit, Takao Watanabe, the President and Representative Director of Goldwin Inc., announced the mid-term vision, and Yuki Tashiro, CEO Director of IGP-VP, presented the investment policy and strategy. Representatives of five investment recipients, vivid garden Inc., Sanu Inc., JEPLAN Inc., Bioworks Corporation, and Synflux Co., Ltd., participated in the Summit and made presentations describing their respective businesses. In the following panel discussion, panelists from Goldwin, IGP-VP, and Synflux presented their co-creation case studies, discussing their own experiences with commercialization of products including failures and difficulties in the process, and shared their future visions.
Goldwin Play Earth Fund celebrated its one-year anniversary of operation on Saturday, April 1, 2023, and the Summit saw 50 attendants in total. By hosting it, we aimed to offer opportunities for all the participants to learn more about Goldwin and IGP-VP as well as each other, and particularly for the recipients to build a network among themselves that will lead to creation of new innovations and further accelerate investment activities and collaborations through CVC.
Investment recipients:
- Company Name
- vivid garden Inc.
- Business Contents
- Vivid garden Inc. has developed and operates “Tabechoku,” the largest online marketplace in Japan for ordering produce and cut flowers directly from producers across Japan.
- URL
- https://vivid-garden.co.jp/
- Company Name
- Sanu Inc.
- Business Contents
- Sanu Inc. has developed and operates “SANU 2nd Home,” a subscription service enabling members to have a lifestyle with a second home in the natural environment.
- URL
- https://sa-nu.com/
- Company Name
- JEPLAN Inc.
- Business Contents
- JEPLAN Inc. operates a business involving technology for chemical recycling of PET materials (PET bottles and polyesters). Its brand BRING collects used clothing and turns them into new ones many times over.
- URL
- https://www.jeplan.co.jp/
- Company Name
- Bioworks Corporation
- Business Contents
- Bioworks Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets modified polylactic acid compounds (PlaX) and polylactic acid fibers.
- URL
- https://www.bioworks.co.jp/
- Company Name
- Synflux Co., Ltd.
- Business Contents
- Synflux Co., Ltd. develops software for fashion designs that minimize waste, and operates a virtual fashion platform.
- URL
- https://www.synflux.io/
Speakers’ Comments
Takao Watanabe
Our founder taught us that the spirit of manufacturing (monozukuri) calls for “Dedication to detail,” i.e., giving the greatest attention to that which can easily oversighted.
It is a guiding principle for our company that we have followed to this day.
Now, in addition to our traditional business of making and selling sports apparel, we are turning our attention to the totality of sports infrastructure with concepts for the places and times in which our products are used. I am strongly aware that to achieve this goal, we must create products that can benefit a new era. Expanding our monozukuri network with a focus on circularity will let us build a commons that has the potential to bring together today’s fragmented society.
A good example of this initiative is our joint product development with Spiber Inc. Following seven years of hard work starting in 2015, we succeeded in commercializing Brewed Protein™ fiber . The time is fast approaching when new materials like this, which are applicable not only to apparel but also to other industries, will play a major role in society.
The world may be filled with conflicts, but creative ideas can show us the way to a better, joyful life. You have conceived businesses in the belief that you can change the global environment, moving us all forward while having fun. I am one with you in that belief, and grateful that we are able to gather here today.
We wish each of you to do your best and not give up until you reach your goals. And we will offer our wholehearted support every step of the way.
Yuki Tashiro
We launched Goldwin Play Earth Fund as a joint general partnership in April 2022, and have completed its first year of operation. During that time, we invested in five startups, each of which aims for a sustainable society and shares Goldwin’s “Play Earth” vision. This has already resulted in successful co-creations in several fields.
From our second year onwards, the Fund’s management will continue to support open innovation that advances Goldwin’s principles, and endeavor to realize the Ignition Point group plan to become a platform for all types of innovation that lead to affluence.
About Goldwin Play Earth Fund
- Fund Name
- Goldwin Play Earth Fund
Investment Limited Partnership - Established date
- April 1, 2022
- Operation period
- 10 years
- Operation scale
- 3 billion yen
- Operating company
- Goldwin Venture Partners Inc.
Ignition Point Venture Partners Inc.
About GP
Company Name：Goldwin Venture Partners Inc.
Representative：Takeo Kaneda, Representative Director
Main Office：Seiho Building, 3-5-6 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Company Name：Ignition Point Venture Partners, Inc.
Representative：Yuki Tashiro, Representative Director
Main Office：Shibuya Property Tower 8F, 1-32-12 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
TEL：+81-3-6434-1412 (main office)
Investment Inquiries
Contact : info_playearthfund@goldwin.co.jp
URL： https://cvc.goldwin.co.jp/en/
Share this article :
