Capital and Business Partnership with GROOVE X

Chubu Electric Power Company (hereinafter "Chuden") has announced that it has reached an agreement with GROOVE X, Inc. (CEO Kaname Hayashi; hereinafter "GROOVE X") to enter into a business partnership in developing new services in the area of customer security and monitoring. Chuden has also acquired a stake in GROOVE X by subscribing to some of the shares the company offered in a third-party allocation.

The latest move marks the first investment made by Chuden Community Support Fund, i.e. Chuden's in-house corporate venture capital, established in April 2019 to enable swift investments in the venture businesses and venture investment funds with cutting-edge technology or innovative business model.

In the "Chubu Electric Power Group Management Vision," Chuden lists "Provision of New Community" as a field of new business growth to complement the energy business. Accordingly, the company established the Business Creation Headquarters in April 2019 to accelerate the deployment of services that contribute to the Vision, implementing various initiatives that make active use of AI / IoT technologies and external resources.

GROOVE X is a venture business that is developing the companion-type robot called "LOVOT" under the vision of "building trust between humanity and robots to create companions for more enriched and secure living."

The two companies will work together to develop and deploy various security and monitoring services for safe and secure living as a solution for the social issue of aging population and dwindling fertility rate. An example of such services is a monitoring service for senior citizens, an area where customer demands are expected to grow further in the future.

[Reference] Overview of GROOVE X, Inc. (as of the end of May 2019)