May 1, 2006 – Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) is forming a venture capital subsidiary to make “strategic seed and early stage investments” in companies in a wide range of technological areas.

TEL Venture Capital Inc. will be officially established on July 1, and set up with up to $10 million in annual funds, to identify, evaluate, and utilize technologies in a wide range of areas worldwide. Mitsuyuki Yamaguchi, currently senior manager of marketing at TEL, be president of the new firm, which will be based in California to leverage Silicon Valley’s VC community.

While TEL has R&D resources and links to various universities and research firms, “we realize that vast amounts of innovation occur beyond our purview,” stated Yamaguchi. “By identifying and utilizing promising technologies developed outside of TEL, we hope to reach early-stage development opportunities in our core business, as well as find new diversification opportunities.”