# Universal Materials Incubator

> Universal Materials Incubator is a VC fund backing Manufacturing. See 38 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Tokyo, Japan
- Total investments: 38
- Last investment: Dec 2025
- Lead investor: 39%
- Fund size: $1.3B
- Last fund: Apr 2019
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/universal-materials-incubator-co.-ltd./
- Website: https://www.umi.co.jp/en/

Universal Materials Incubator is a VC fund in Tokyo focused on Manufacturing and Biotechnology. Universal Materials Incubator Co., Ltd. is venture capital firm specializing in materials and chemical industry investments. The firm was established on October, 2015 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Universal Materials Incubator. Shizune tracks 3 team members at Universal Materials Incubator. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/universal-materials-incubator-b260?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Series A | $2M–$17M |
| Series B | $2.8M–$99M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Manufacturing | 10 | 26% |
| Biotechnology | 9 | 24% |
| Chemical | 7 | 18% |
| Medical | 3 | 8% |
| Agriculture | 3 | 8% |

47 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Funding Round | 9 | 24% |
| Series A | 7 | 18% |
| Series B | 6 | 16% |
| Seed | 5 | 13% |
| Series C | 2 | 5% |

7 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Japan | 21 | 55% |
| United States | 4 | 11% |
| India | 1 | 3% |
| New Zealand | 1 | 3% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Yosuke Yamamoto | Director | 5 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/yosuke-yamamoto-0e98 |
| Shosuke Kiba | Founder, CEO & Managing Partner | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/shosuke-kiba-d542 |
| Wataru Mizutani | Principal | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/wataru-mizutani |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Polyuse | Polyuse Co., Ltd. is developing technology centered on "3D printers for construction" for the construction and civil engineering industries under the mission of "updating the construction industry with the power of technology". | $17.4M | Series B | Dec 03, 2025 |  |
| EF Polymer | EF Polymer is an agricultural firm. The company came up with the idea to utilize this waste most efficiently without creating any kind of pollution. It developed an Eco-Friendly Water Retention Natural Polymer named "Fasal Amrit" which can absorb 300 times more water than its weight for as long as 10-12 days. It helps to reduce irrigationwater requirement by 30-40% along with a 40-50% reduction in fertilizer because it prevents the leaching of fertilizer causing 10-20% fertilizer loss. The "Fasal Amrit" itself is made from organic waste hence it has a great number of micronutrients to support the better growth of crops/plants. It is organic in nature, chemical-free, and pollution-free, and what is interesting, it is 100% biodegradable in the soil after 5-6 months of application. The farmers can reduce their cost of water and fertilizer by 20-40% and can increase the yield by 10-20%. The application of "Fasal Amrit" includes but is not limited to in-house plants to save them for a week or two in case you are not at your home to water them, keep your garden green forever by reducing the daily watering cycle, enhance the growth of your plant in an organic way, save your plant far from your home or on hilly areas where it is difficult for your water them daily, etc. |  | Series B | Sep 30, 2025 |  |
| Fermelanta | Fermelanta produces rare plant-based ingredients through microbial fermentation. It engineers a cell to build a biosynthetic pathway of target molecules with gene transfer and disruption. | $13.6M | Series A | Aug 29, 2025 |  |
| EF Polymer | EF Polymer is an agricultural firm. The company came up with the idea to utilize this waste most efficiently without creating any kind of pollution. It developed an Eco-Friendly Water Retention Natural Polymer named "Fasal Amrit" which can absorb 300 times more water than its weight for as long as 10-12 days. It helps to reduce irrigationwater requirement by 30-40% along with a 40-50% reduction in fertilizer because it prevents the leaching of fertilizer causing 10-20% fertilizer loss. The "Fasal Amrit" itself is made from organic waste hence it has a great number of micronutrients to support the better growth of crops/plants. It is organic in nature, chemical-free, and pollution-free, and what is interesting, it is 100% biodegradable in the soil after 5-6 months of application. The farmers can reduce their cost of water and fertilizer by 20-40% and can increase the yield by 10-20%. The application of "Fasal Amrit" includes but is not limited to in-house plants to save them for a week or two in case you are not at your home to water them, keep your garden green forever by reducing the daily watering cycle, enhance the growth of your plant in an organic way, save your plant far from your home or on hilly areas where it is difficult for your water them daily, etc. | $7.1M | Series B | Apr 16, 2025 |  |
| Scimplify | Scimplifi is a B2B fulfilment platform that provides customized solutions for sourcing and manufacturing of innovative chemistries. | $40M | Series B | Mar 12, 2025 |  |
| iMicrobes | Industrial Microbes designs and builds microbes that produce better chemicals with lower costs and lower carbon emissions. We use greenhouse gases as the raw materials, including biogas, natural gas, and carbon dioxide. We scale our process with global chemical producers. | $10M | Seed | Nov 19, 2024 |  |
| iMicrobes | Industrial Microbes designs and builds microbes that produce better chemicals with lower costs and lower carbon emissions. We use greenhouse gases as the raw materials, including biogas, natural gas, and carbon dioxide. We scale our process with global chemical producers. | $10M | Seed | Nov 19, 2024 |  |
| Allied Carbon Solutions Co. | Allied Carbon Solutions is a biotechnology company that manufactures and sells biosurfants and livestock feed. | $3.8M | Series C | Oct 01, 2024 |  |
| IPEACE223 | IPEACE223 is a chemical company that produces green propylene from raw biomass materials using zeolite catalyst technology. | $1.6M | Seed | Sep 10, 2024 |  |
| Listie | Listie is an industrial engineering company that develops, supplies, and maintains lithium separation equipment and membranes. It is an important infrastructure resource that supports modern life, including electric vehicles, smartphones, and renewable energy storage. | $973.1K | Seed | Jul 28, 2024 |  |

10 of 38 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Mitsubishi UFJ Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mitsubishi-ufj-capital) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [UTEC - The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/utec) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Ajinomoto](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ajinomoto) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Beyond Next Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/beyond-next-ventures) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Agribusiness Investment Development](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/agribusiness-investment-consultation) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Angel Bridge](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/angel-bridge) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does Universal Materials Incubator invest in?

Universal Materials Incubator invests primarily in Manufacturing, Biotechnology and Chemical startups, most often at Funding Round and Series A stage. Most of the 38 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Japan. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Universal Materials Incubator's check size?

Universal Materials Incubator typically joins rounds of $2M–$17M at Series A and $2.8M–$99M at Series B. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Universal Materials Incubator participates in.

### How do I contact Universal Materials Incubator?

Public channels for Universal Materials Incubator include LinkedIn and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Universal Materials Incubator?

The team at Universal Materials Incubator includes Yosuke Yamamoto (Director), Shosuke Kiba (Founder, CEO & Managing Partner) and Wataru Mizutani (Principal). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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