NTT DOCOMO Ventures Invests in METRON - NTT FACILITIES’ energy management business for industrial facilities enhanced -

NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Inc. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO, Takayuki Inagawa, hereinafter called “NTT DOCOMO Ventures”) has invested, through the funds of the NTT Group it manages, in METRON (headquartered in France; CEO, Vincent Sciandra, hereinafter called “METRON”), that has developed METRON-EVA*1 Factory, an energy optimization solution for office buildings, factories, and other industrial facilities.
The investment enables NTT FACILITIES, INC. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO, Atsushi Ichihoshi, hereinafter called “NTT FACILITIES”), an NTT Group company engaged in energy management business for industrial facilities, to accelerate demonstrations of the solution at office buildings, hospitals, plants, and other facilities in collaboration with METRON with a view to offer the solution widely in the Japanese market.

1．Background of the investment
NTT DOCOMO Ventures is committed to expanding NTT Group’s global operations and the B2B2X businesses by investing in startups around the world with technologies and knowhow of high growth potential and, by so doing, speeding up the service and technological innovations of the NTT Group independently and in collaboration with partners.
The solution of METRON has been introduced to many plants in the food, automotive, iron and steel, chemical, glass, and other industries and garnering high praise by the clients. Moreover, the solution can be useful for virtual power plants, mobility, and microgrids, covering the entire spectrum of energy optimization markets. Strong growths are expected through further extensions of the market fields and through collaboration with partner service providers.
With the investment in METRON, NTT DOCOMO Ventures looks forward to promoting the METRON solution in the Japanese market to strengthen NTT FACILITIES’ energy management business for industrial facilities and to provide impetus for further growth by promoting a new smart energy business of the NTT Group.

2．METRON-EVA Factory
The platform connects to real-time operation data of all machines in the plant and external data such as temperature, humidity, production volume, and human know-how, and converts them into database according to the ontology technology*2. Then, its advanced machine learning engine analyzes the optimum scenario for the entire production process and provides seamless optimization of the operational controls. Besides such a cutting-edge information management, METRO-EVA is capable of automatic control of the production processes and provides integrated management of the power supply side and the demand side. Accordingly, a high level of collaborative management is anticipated.

3．Demonstrations of METRON-EVA Factory
For the development of METRON’s solution in Japan, NTT FACILITIES conducted a series of demonstrative tests by installing equipment at its R&D center (NTT Facilities Shin-Ohashi Building) to check connectivity with equipment in the building and to validate basic functionalities. To further validate the energy optimization benefits, pilot studies are planned in the Shin-Ohashi Building and in a number of selected sites (office buildings, hospitals, plants, etc.) to improve the accuracy of the demonstrations and detect any rooms for improvement prior to commercial implementation.

4．Future development
By commonly sharing the outcomes of the demonstrative tests with METRON, NTT FACILITIES will work to make the solution commercially available to clients in Japan at an early date and in this way contribute to carbon-free operations of the Group’s valued clients for further promotion of Sustainable Development Goals and environmental, social, and governance factors.

5．About
METRON:
METRON aims to transform energy into a profit centre in the industrial sector. METRON, an international technology company founded in 2013 in France, has developed an energy intelligence AI driven platform dedicated to the industrial sector. The METRON-EVA Factory (Energy Virtual Assistant) platform leverages the multiple data sources already available in plants and takes advantage of advanced technologies to proactively identify energy optimization opportunities and connect to decentralized energy assets. More than 80 energy experts, data scientists and specialized engineers are currently working in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. They support manufacturers in all sectors of activity to maximize the value of their data and enable them to take control of their energy management

NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Inc.:
NTT DOCOMO Ventures, the NTT Group’s corporate venture capital firm, aims to accelerate innovation for creation of new services, disruptive technologies and innovative processes serving as a primary channel for startup companies and venture communities on behalf of the NTT Group, Japan’s leading ICT service provider. We proactively enhance cooperation with exceptional entrepreneurs on a worldwide scale by providing capital from our corporate venture funds and vast business development opportunities with the NTT Group companies.

NTT FACILITIES, INC.:
NTT FACILITIES has long supported the information communication world of Japan through the implementation of energy conservation measures and risk management focused on the building and communications equipment of the NTT Group. By fully leveraging the technology combining elements of ICT, energy, and building technologies that has been cultivated in the process, the company contributes to the creation of a sustainable society through promotion of renewable energies and energy efficiency measures and networking of local energy production for local consumption.

References
*1　METRON-EVA
　　METRON-EVA and METRON are trademarks of METRON SAS.

*2　Ontology technology
　　Ontology technology refers to the data hierarchy technology that links and structures multiple layer data.