News
Kuraray Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Fumio Ito) has completed a strategic investment and launched a strategic alliance with Vitriflex, Inc. (Headquarters: San Jose, California, USA; President & CEO: David R. Parker), which develops ultra-barrier films for use in solar and display applications.
Under its Long-Term Corporate Vision of becoming a “specialty chemical company with a global presence,” Kuraray is accelerating the global expansion in its core businesses. We are simultaneously developing next generation businesses including aqua and environment, energy, and optics and electronics.
To this end, the Company established a business location in California's Silicon Valley in 2011 with the aim of bolstering its ability to discover promising new technologies in future growth fields. Kuraray has been actively exchanging technologies with ventures and other companies that possess technologies having synergy with Kuraray.
Vitriflex, Inc. has developed a proprietary technology for transparent ultra-barrier films that have the world's highest level of barrier performance, with a water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of just 10-6g/㎡ per day. Most electronic devices currently use glass to protect against moisture and oxygen. The use of barrier films, however, makes it possible to produce lightweight, flexible devices, an advance that will be key to the creation of next-generation electronic products.
As continued development of this technology aligns with Kuraray's business policy of placing greater importance on the field of “optics and electronics,” the Company was pleased to make its investment in Vitriflex. The funds will be used to accelerate Vitriflex’s production scale-up.
About Vitriflex Inc.
Vitriflex is a leading developer of high-performance barrier films for flexible electronics, founded in 2010, and based in Silicon Valley in California. Vitriflex ultra-barrier encapsulation provides cost-effective protection from moisture and oxygen, improves lifetime and reliability, and has the added benefits of being flexible, thin, lightweight, and shatterproof. Vitriflex enables exciting new categories of flexible solar modules, next generation OLED and LCD displays, and solid state lighting.
