Japanese conglomerate TDK Corporation launched its third corporate venture fund with a $150 million commitment. TDK Ventures’ Fund 3 will invest in seed to Series B rounds of “deep tech” companies advancing digital transformation and the energy transition, the two main mega trends that form the fund’s thesis. That includes next-generation materials, recycling and reuse, climate tech, e-mobility and emerging economy decarbonization.
Challenger tech
TDK Ventures, which is based in San Jose, Calif. and invests globally, sees an opportunity for what it calls challenger technologies that can thrive in a de-globalized world.
“If you have unrestricted material flows, then established technologies like solar PV and lithium ion batteries are probably the best bet,” Tina Tosukhowong, investment director at TDK Ventures, told ImpactAlpha.
But when global trade barriers are erected, alternative technologies that don’t rely on imports suddenly look more economical, she says. That includes technology such as sodium ion batteries, which rely on abundant soda ash, precious metal recycling and other solutions.
Tariffs, she added, are an opportunity to “pause and think about how we might make all of the portfolio companies future-proofed and advance things like recycling.”
