The Ajinomoto Group initiative for Open Innovation promotes to combine our research technologies and scientific knowledge to create new value that will contribute to the future.
Pursuing partnerships that pave the future to co-create new value
"The Ajinomoto Group is actively promoting open innovation, and we regard it as an important program to create unprecedented new value by linking with companies and research institutes in Japan and overseas. We know that when researchers combine their technologies and ideas with each other, something completely new can be created. That is why the Ajinomoto Group values meeting and creating business partners, regardless of field, who can work together to open up new possibilities for the future and contribute to society on a global scale."
Our Strength
Since it was founded, the Ajinomoto Group has explored the functions of amino acids, and improved and evolved its diverse and unique technological assets. We will create social value through our various businesses with technology to design deliciousness and improve nutrition, high-quality and precision manufacturing, environmentally friendly production, and capabilities to find high-performance compositions and create substances that are beneficial for the body.
Global Strategic Bases
In 2023 we established the Innovation Strategy Team to achieve the growth strategy in our medium-term ASV initiatives and strengthen our intelligence functions (i.e., Search, Access, and Partnering) that allow us to directly access global markets, customers, and innovation activities, and quickly examine and make decisions on alliances and partnerships. The Innovation Strategy Team will serve as a global strategic base for open innovation, and has already started activities in Japan and North America. Going forward it will carry out activities under the following global scheme.
Corporate Venture Capital: CVC
CVC invests in startups in the growth areas and in venture capital (VC). It also works in collaboration with the Innovation Strategy Team.
North American Research & Innovation Center: NARIC
NARIC is a strategic hub for global research and development in the Ajinomoto Group. It supports the activities of the Group and other companies and organizations in the Open Innovation program worldwide with a focus on North America and Europe. NARIC works in collaboration with the Innovation Strategy Team in North America.
CIC generates research projects through discussions with business partners, and works with them to create new initiatives that can help resolve social issues. It features a Technology Space that presents 37 representative technologies in 14 categories from the Ajinomoto Group’s Food Science and Bio ＆ Fine Chemical businesses, and a Digital Ideation Space that showcases cutting-edge ICT.
