Investment in ArchiTek Co., Ltd.

NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Inc. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO, Toshiki Nakayama; hereinafter referred to as “DOCOMO Ventures”), through its fund, has invested in ArchiTek Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan; CEO, Shuichi Takada; hereinafter referred to as “ArchiTek”), a company that specializes in semiconductor circuit and software design for AI and image processing.

1. Outline of the investment
DOCOMO Ventures, through its fund, has acquired the stocks of ArchiTek, which implemented third-party allocation.

2. Background of the investment
The proliferation of IoT applications and solutions has led to a significant increase in the volume of large unstructured data (such as images). It is considered that the resulting increase in energy consumption for processing such data will be problematic.

ArchiTek’s technology features an IP core* and LSI design utilizing a small-sized LSI to enable high-speed, low-power AI processing for sophisticated image analytics and deep learning. This technology could be utilized in various areas, including edge computing (such as IoT devices) for which NTT Group has high expectations.

Going forward, NTT Group will work on creating optimum IoT solutions for its clients, combining our technologies and services.

*IP (intellectual property) core: function-based circuit information organized for configuring LSI