Zurich, Switzerland / Tokyo, Japan – Emerald Technology Ventures (“Emerald”), a global venture capital firm, has entered into a strategic partnership with DIC Corporation (“DIC”), one of Japan’s leading chemical manufacturers, to accelerate startup investment and business creation in the rapidly growing Physical AI domain.
As part of the partnership, DIC has established a $62 million investment platform focused on emerging technologies across sensing, wearables, robotics, and automation. Emerald will act as DIC’s strategic venture partner, supporting the sourcing, evaluation, investment, and growth of startups across Europe and North America, drawing on its deep domain expertise and global innovation network.
To further strengthen its global venture activities, DIC plans to establish a startup investment management subsidiary in Zurich in spring 2026. Switzerland is widely recognized as one of Europe’s leading deep-tech innovation hubs, offering a dense ecosystem of startups, research institutions, and industrial partners across AI, robotics, and advanced materials. With its headquarters in Zurich and offices across Europe, North America, and Asia, Emerald is uniquely positioned to support DIC’s on-the-ground investment activities, provide local market intelligence, and facilitate collaboration with high-potential startups.
The Physical AI domain represents a fast-expanding market spanning multiple industries, encompassing technologies that sense, interpret, and respond to human movement and environmental conditions through intelligent systems, robotics, and algorithms. Solutions such as smart sensing, wearable devices, soft robotics, and automation technologies offer significant potential to enhance productivity and quality of life, while aligning closely with DIC’s long-standing strengths in materials science.
This collaboration also supports DIC’s “Direct to Society (D2S)” framework, which focuses on anticipating future societal challenges and translating innovative solutions into commercially viable businesses. Startup collaboration in Physical AI is a key pillar of this approach, enabling the development of new value propositions that address real-world needs.
Through the partnership, Emerald will leverage its extensive startup sourcing capabilities, cross-border investment experience, and post-investment growth support to help DIC build a diversified portfolio of several companies over the next five years. Together, Emerald and DIC aim to create new strategic options, accelerate innovation, and support the scalable growth of startups operating at the intersection of AI, hardware, and advanced materials.
By combining DIC’s industrial expertise and long-term strategic vision with Emerald’s venture capital platform and global networks, the partnership is designed to foster sustainable business creation and deliver both economic and societal value.
Takashi Ikeda, Representative Director, President and Group CEO, DIC Corporation stated, “For many years, DIC has been committed to addressing social imperatives by leveraging the power of materials. Our role is currently undergoing a significant transformation. The physical AI domain has the potential to reshape the relationship between people and technology, making it more natural and intuitive. Our partnership with Emerald represents a major step toward gaining world‑class expertise and networks in this field. By working together with pioneering startups, we aim to accelerate our efforts to deliver new value to society. In line with our Direct to Society business creation mechanism, we will continue working to secure indispensable technologies and to deliver experiences that will enrich the lives of people in the future.”
Gina Domanig, Managing Partner and CEO, Emerald Technology Ventures commented, “Partnering with DIC reflects a shared conviction that the next phase of innovation will be driven by technologies that seamlessly integrate human insight with intelligent systems. With physical AI, the real opportunity lies in technologies that work alongside people, enhancing human capability rather than replacing it. By supporting DIC in identifying, investing in and collaborating with advanced startups, we will help translate emerging AI innovations into practical, human-centered solutions that act as a catalyst for DIC’s long-term business evolution.”