Kureha Invests in US Startup Wootz

By Justin Johnson.
Updated Feb 15, 2022

TOKYO and HOUSTON (PRWEB) February 15, 2022 - Kureha Corporation announced today that it is leading the seed round fundraising of Texas, US-based Wootz, Inc., via its wholly-owned subsidiary Kureha America Inc.

Wootz is an early-stage startup developing high performance carbon nanotube products. The founders of the company, both alumni of Rice University, have developed a proprietary technology to produce high quality carbon nanotube materials at scale. To commercialize these materials, they are focusing on conductive fibers, films, and coatings to disrupt or augment e-textiles, sensors, and other verticals with high value applications.

By establishing a strategic partnership through this investment in Wootz, Kureha aims to accelerate the joint development of functional electronic devices utilizing both companies technologies, contributing to healthy lifestyles and solving social issues while expanding its business portfolio.

As part of its mid-term management plan Kurehas Challenge 2022, Kureha is actively exploring businesses opportunities globally and accelerating open innovation with startups that show potential synergies.

Kureha is seeking new opportunities for joint development with or investment in startups with strong strategic fit to us in its value proposition. Wootzs carbon nanotube technology has great fit to our existing assets and brings us great inspirations for innovative application ideas. I believe this strategic partnership can accelerate creating a lot of innovations, said Naomitsu Nishihata, President of Kureha America.

Our partnership with Kureha underscores the massive commercial opportunity that carbon nanotube materials represent, both in terms of augmenting existing technologies and developing entirely new ones, said Amram Bengio, Wootz CEO. This partnership will validate our ventures vision, reinforce our core technology and open a commercial roadmap for bringing this new material to market with the support of Kurehas technology portfolio, materials expertise, and global footprint.

*Details of Kurehas investment in Wootz are not disclosed.

About Wootz, Inc. Founded in 2018, Wootz tackles modern commercial and industrial challenges with aligned carbon nanotube products in various forms. These specialty materials have been confined to niche markets for decades due to the lack of a scalable process that can also capture the remarkable properties displayed at the nanoscale. Wootz is commissioning a pilot plant to manufacture high-performance carbon nanotube materials with reliable properties at a cost and volume that make sense for the conductive fibers and fabrics market. Our core team features expertise in carbon nanotube materials science, extrusion engineering and manufacturing operations. For more information, visit https://www.wootznano.com/

About Kureha Corporation: Kureha Corporation is a manufacturer of highly original specialty chemicals and plastics that leverages proprietary technologies to develop products in the fields of advanced materials, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and packaging materials. Since its establishment in 1944, Kureha has utilized its strengths in technology and innovation to provide a wide range of solutions suited to the market needs of each era. For more information, visit https://www.kureha.co.jp/en/