Panasonic Decides to Invest in DayBreak, a Provider of Special Freezing Solutions, through the Panasonic Kurashi Visionary Fund

Osaka, Japan - Panasonic Corporation (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Masahiro Shinada; hereinafter referred to as Panasonic) today announced that it has decided to invest in DayBreak Co., Ltd. (Head office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Masayuki Kinoshita; hereinafter referred to as DayBreak), a solution provider focusing on special freezing technology, through a corporate venture capital fund, commonly known as the Panasonic Kurashi Visionary Fund, jointly managed by Panasonic and SBI Investment Co., Ltd.

With a mission to Create a Better Future from Producers to Consumers, DayBreak aims to solve labor shortages, food loss, freshness preservation, and other food-related challenges for ensuring a better future through its special freezing solutions. In addition to selling special freezing equipment developed by the company, it also operates a food laboratory that provides comprehensive support to customers entering the frozen food business by offering recipe development assistance and consulting services to improve manufacturing operations. DayBreak has also established an open innovation community known as the Frozen Business Family Association to study the next generation of frozen business with its customers. Through the sharing of knowledge, the association aims to improve the overall quality of frozen food.

Panasonic offers a wide range of products related to food infrastructure, including cooking appliances as well as B2B cold-chain-related products such as commercial freezing and refrigeration display cases mainly for the Japanese and US markets. Panasonic will strive to create a cold chain that adds value for both food producers and consumers by exploring how it can create synergies with DayBreak to transform the frozen food distribution system.

With a mission to contribute to the wellbeing of people, society, and the planet, Panasonic aims to be the best partner to support people's lives with human-centric technology and innovation. The company will continue to strengthen its open innovation initiatives based on strong partnerships by investing in promising startups both in Japan and overseas that are competitive in areas closely related to people's lives, such as energy, food infrastructure, spatial infrastructure, and lifestyle.