Participated · Seed · Apr 2024

Alternō develops a sand battery thermal energy storage system that uses a heat‑conducting tube network combined with insulated sand to provide heating, drying and warming for agricultural users. Current system capacities range from 250 kWh to 1.8 megawatts, and the company is developing industrial versions of its sand battery systems. Alternō positions its technology as a lower‑cost, low‑carbon alternative to lithium‑ion batteries and conventional grid energy for price‑sensitive agricultural customers. The company targets decarbonizing Southeast Asia’s agricultural sector and aims to expand to markets such as Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Alternō highlights benefits including substantial energy cost savings and annual reductions in farm carbon emissions. The company also frames its offering as timely given policies like the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) and rising thermal energy demand in agriculture.

Led · Equity · Jan 2017

IntegriCulture is a Japanese cellular agriculture company founded in October 2015 that positions itself as an infrastructure platform for the industry rather than solely a cultured meat developer. Its patented CulNet System co-cultures growth-factor-producing cells alongside target cells to emulate inter-organ interactions, letting the company generate serum components in-house and culture animal cells without fetal bovine serum or externally added growth factors. IntegriCulture released CELLAMENT, a cosmetics ingredient derived from cell culture supernatant, in April 2021 and sells it both as a raw ingredient and through OEM arrangements; it has developed bioreactors for cultured meat production with partner Hamano Manufacturing, and in 2021 founded the CulNet Consortium, an open innovation platform that launched with 12 member organisations. The company plans to accelerate cosmetics product development, extend a nationwide cellular agriculture implementation network through partnerships with regional financial institutions and operating companies, build out business-to-business sales, and strengthen in-house research. IntegriCulture is registered in Bunkyo, Tokyo, keeps its main office at Shonan Health Innovation Park in Fujisawa, Kanagawa, and is led by co-representative directors Yuki Hanyu (CEO) and Ikko Kawashima (CTO). Financially, the company had raised approximately ¥1.9 billion (about $16.4 million) in equity as of January 2022 across a 2018 seed round, a 2020 Series A, and a 2022 Series A' round, and has since taken ¥100 million bank loans from Tokyo Star Bank in November 2024 and Hokkoku Bank in August 2025 and completed a further equity round from seven investors in July 2026. The articles do not disclose the amount of the July 2026 round, current headcount, or a valuation.