Chrysalix Welcomes Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. As A New Investor In The Chrysalix RoboValley Fund

Chrysalix announces a new investment in the Chrysalix RoboValley Fund from Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (“Hitachi Construction Machinery”), a world leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment. Hitachi Construction Machinery joins an established cluster of mining and metals investors in the fund and will leverage Chrysalix’s extensive network in the mining field to strengthen open innovation by connecting with startups that possess the latest technologies for mining in areas such as robotic systems, IoT, AI and data analytics.

“Chrysalix has made step-change innovations in the metals and mining, manufacturing and machinery industries, through digital solutions and advanced robotics technologies, a major theme of our fund and we are delighted to welcome Hitachi Construction Machinery to the Chrysalix RoboValley Fund,” said Alicia Lenis, Vice President at Chrysalix Venture Capital.

“We identified Chrysalix as having a valuable network of startups in its global innovation ecosystem, and a unique window on innovation opportunities in the mining industry,” said Naoyoshi Yamada, Chief Strategy Officer at Hitachi Construction Machinery. “With the trends toward digitalization, the autonomous operation and electrification of mining machinery, as well as the growing need for solutions to streamline and optimize not only mining machinery but also overall mining operations, many startups offer novel technologies and services and our investment in the Chrysalix RoboValley Fund will enable Hitachi Construction Machinery to tap into these new breakthroughs.”

The Chrysalix RoboValley Fund seeks to achieve significant returns for its investors by enabling resource intensive industries, including energy, mining, construction, infrastructure and mobility, to tap into innovation from high growth startups. Investors in the fund include Fortune 500 companies, leading corporates, financial institutions, family offices and universities, and a notable cluster of metals and mining players, such as South32 and Mitsubishi Corporation. For more information about Chrysalix, please visit www.chrysalix.com.

About Hitachi Construction Machinery Group’s Mining Business
In addition to mining machinery (ultra-large hydraulic excavators and dump trucks), the Hitachi Construction Machinery Group’s mining business also develops and provides dump truck autonomous haulage system (AHS) and fleet management system (FMS). In order to improve the safety and productivity of customer work sites and reduce life-cycle costs, the Group plans to carry out verification tests of autonomous ultra-large hydraulic excavators and start offering ConSite® Mine to perform predictive detection of mining machinery failures through remote monitoring in fiscal 2021.

Trademark Notice
“ConSite” is a registered trademark of Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.