Dentsu Inc. Ventures invests in U.S.-based ClearLab, a provider of cutting-edge food genetic analysis services.

The text of the Dentsu Inc. news release distributed on November 7 is as follows.

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November 7, 2018

Dentsu Ventures 1 Global Fund (hereinafter "Dentsu Ventures"), a corporate venture capital fund operated by Dentsu Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Toshihiro Yamamoto), has invested in Clear Labs, Inc. (Headquarters: Menlo Park, California; Co-Founder & CEO: Sasan Amini, hereinafter "Clear Labs")

Amid heightened awareness of food safety and increasingly stringent food inspection regulations, Clear Labs provides highly accurate, automated, cutting-edge food genetic analysis services. This is achieved using next-generation sequencing technology (which precisely determines the sequence of DNA components) and a proprietary database of genetic markers for food and fungi.

Moving forward, ClearLab plans to expand beyond food inspection services into advanced analysis services and new business areas, including food quality risk prediction and freshness assessment.

Meanwhile, Dentsu Inc. Ventures will support Clear Lab's business growth by connecting the company with various enterprises and promoting new business development and product creation utilizing its food genetic analysis technology and food genetic database.

Clear Lab and Dentsu Inc. Ventures are outlined below.

＜Overview of Clear Labs, Inc.＞
Company Name: Clear Labs, Inc.
Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, USA
Date Established: January 2014
Representative: Sasan Amini (Co-Founder & CEO)
Business Description: Provision of proprietary food genetic analysis services utilizing next-generation sequencing
URL:https://www.clearlabs.com/

<OVERVIEW of Dentsu Ventures>
Name: Dentsu Ventures Global Fund I
Total Fund Size: ¥10 billion
Fund Formation Date: April 2015
Operation Period: Planned for 10 years until March 2025
Investment Regions: Global investments including the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Asia
Investment Stage: Primarily seed/early stage, while also including mid/late stage for a broad, balanced investment approach
Investment Areas:
(1) Sectors capable of transforming broad marketing/communication businesses (2) Innovative, high-potential new domains, even if not fitting the above
URL:http://dentsu-v.com/

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