BeeEdge

BeeEdge Co., Ltd. operated as a strategic venture established in March 2018, originating from a joint venture between Panasonic Corporation and the Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, Scrum Ventures. The firm was headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and led by representative Makoto Haruta. BeeEdge's core business was to identify and nurture promising business concepts from within Panasonic's extensive pool of ideas that, for various reasons such as business size, could not be commercialized internally.

The company's model focused on carving out these internal ventures into independent startups. BeeEdge provided essential investment and hands-on support at each stage of development, aiming to accelerate their path to market. This approach offered Panasonic employees with entrepreneurial ambitions a pathway to lead their own startups without immediately resigning from their positions. A significant milestone in BeeEdge's funding history was securing a maximum investment of JPY 1 billion from INCJ, a major Japanese investment firm, announced in November 2018 and followed by an additional investment in 2020.

Through this model, BeeEdge successfully launched three distinct operating companies. MITSUBACHI PRODUCTS Co., Ltd., established in September 2018, focused on developing and marketing a unique chocolate drink machine utilizing a steam blender mechanism. GIFMO Co., Ltd., founded in April 2019, was dedicated to designing and manufacturing food preparation solutions for individuals with swallowing difficulties. The third, COTOHO Inc., was established in June 2019 to develop and market gait rehabilitation equipment. These ventures all successfully reached the product launch phase, a critical hurdle for any startup. Notably, MITSUBACHI PRODUCTS gained recognition with the "Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy Award" at the 1st Japan Open Innovation Awards.

After fulfilling its initial objectives, which included one of its startups becoming independent via a management buyout (MITSUBACHI PRODUCTS) and another's operations being transferred back to Panasonic (COTOHO), BeeEdge determined its role was complete. Consequently, BeeEdge Co., Ltd. was dissolved on March 31, 2024.

Keywords: corporate venturing, open innovation, Panasonic, Scrum Ventures, startup accelerator, venture capital, internal ventures, commercialization support, technology transfer, Japanese startups, Makoto Haruta, INCJ, MITSUBACHI PRODUCTS, GIFMO, COTOHO, carve-out, corporate innovation, new business development, entrepreneurship support, consumer electronics spin-off