 The CEOs of Virtus and USC see their collaboration as key to serving the Japanese market for inertial sensors. (Photo: Businesswire) |
Mar. 19, 2007 — Virtus Advanced Sensors (VAS), a US company commercializing MEMS-based multi-axis inertial sensors, has established a wholly-owned subsidiary in Tokyo, Japan, Virtus Japan Kabushiki Kaisha (K.K.), to help the company develop a long-term presence in Asia. Virtus Japan K.K. will pursue advanced R&D and new product development activities with local Japanese companies, including affiliated firm Wacoh Research.
Virtus says it launched the Japanese subsidiary to work jointly with applications providers and customers to integrate its patent portfolio in multi-axis inertial sensor technology into consumer-electronics and related products. Almost simultaneous with the launch, Virtus signed a collaboration agreement with USC Corporation of Japan, the largest trading company of Sony Corp., which will work with Virtus on design-in projects for USC customers based in Japan and Asia. USC will make an undisclosed direct investment into Virtus including support for Virtus Japan K.K.
MEMS and nanotechnology venture capital group Innovation Engine has committed at least $1m to Virtus and will be the lead VC in Japan for the subsidiary in its current funding round. Mutsunori Sano, President & CEO of Innovation Engine, says his company “expects VAS to be one of the leading MEMS technology venture companies in the world.”
According to Louis Ross, President & CEO of Virtus, the collaboration agreement with USC, “will provide the type of sales, marketing and distribution support we will be needing in the near future in Japan and the Asia Pacific region. For a US-based MEMS venture company, it’s certainly a first in terms of the scope of the partnership which goes well beyond the typical hands off distribution agreement and includes co-development activities and a significant investment commitment by USC. Such partnerships in Japan are critical in order to engage in direct design-in.”
Haruo Kadosaka, CEO & COO of USC, believes that `Virtus has cutting-edge technology for the development of MEMS sensors, an area of deep interest to our customer base.”
Japan is seen as a “first-mover” market for new technologies in consumer electronics, and is a leader in robotics, wireless devices, and gaming, three applications expected to be significant consumers of MEMS enabled inertial sensor components and subsystems.