Growth Partners Co., Ltd. (“Growth Partners” or “we”) announces that Growth Partners Investment Partnership, a fund managed by Growth Partners, has agreed to subscribe for stock acquisition rights (warrants) to be issued by Kuramoto Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (the “Company”) through a third-party allotment. We also entered into a business alliance agreement (the “Agreement”) under which we will support the Company in planning and executing various initiatives to drive further growth.
Since its founding in 1980, the Company has focused on glass substrate processing and thin-film deposition for liquid crystal displays (LCDs). As major manufacturers have exited the domestic LCD market and the market has continued to contract, the Company launched new businesses in 2022 leveraging its ultra-precision surface processing know-how, including quartz glass processing and SiC (silicon carbide) processing for semiconductor manufacturing equipment components. In 2024, under a new management structure, the Company initiated a fundamental business transformation and commenced new businesses such as (i) sales partnership for the DX tool Lark, (ii) surface inspection using high-speed AI cameras, and (iii) perovskite solar cells. The Company has also been active in M&A: in October 2024, it acquired, via a company split (absorption-type split) from UNO Quartz Co., Ltd., a flame-processing (fire-processing) business for quartz parts used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment; and in November 2024, it made Aiwiths Robotics Co., Ltd., which develops fully automated commercial cleaning robots utilizing AI, a wholly owned subsidiary through a share exchange, thereby accelerating business restructuring. In 2025, the Company is further advancing new initiatives in e-commerce, electrochromic solutions, and photovoltaic recycling.
To successfully scale these new businesses, the Company recognizes the need to address a wide range of priorities—developing and executing effective marketing strategies, achieving early monetization in each business, optimizing resource allocation, and improving productivity. In this context, the Company decided to form a business alliance with us, given our specialized know-how in the priority domains.
Through the Agreement, the Company and Growth Partners will work to secure competitiveness in existing businesses while improving profitability and productivity, and to drive business growth with an investor’s perspective to address management challenges. By leveraging our accumulated hands-on experience, we will contribute to further enhancing the Company’s corporate value.
Overview of Kuramoto Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
・Company name: Kuramoto Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
・Representative: Toshiyuki Watanabe, President & CEO
・Head office: 1-1 Hanamizusaki, Wakayanagi-Takeyari, Kurihara-shi, Miyagi, Japan
・Business:
Glass substrate processing
Cutting, corner-cutting, chamfering for FPD (flat panel display) substrates
After-cut for color-filter substrates
Glass substrate polishing
Si wafers; FPD substrates
Scratch removal; film stripping; surface polishing
Planarization/polishing of smooth ITO films for OLED
Thin-film deposition on FPD substrates
ITO transparent conductive films; smooth ITO for OLED; metal films
High-flatness sapphire substrates (polishing, cleaning, inspection, packaging)
SiC wafer reclaim (film removal and restoration)
Processing and sales of parts for semiconductor manufacturing equipment
DX Lark partner services
Other related businesses
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