TDK Ventures

Identity

Fund name

TDK Ventures

Full name

TDK Ventures, Inc. Wholly owned corporate venture arm of TDK Corporation (Tokyo: 6762).

Type

Corporate venture capital, deep tech and hard tech, priced early stage equity.

Track

Strategic corporate venture. Thesis fit strong, structure fit weak.

Round

Round 1

Fund size and AUM

About 500 million dollars across four funds. David Delfassy sits on Fund EX1 (energy transition, 150 million dollars, multi LP anchored by ATL). Fund 3 (150 million dollars, 2025) has a named future of data centers pillar.

HQ

San Jose CA

Offices

Boston, London, Tokyo, Bengaluru, and a China presence.

Money

Typical ticket

100 thousand to 5 million dollars, sweet spot about 1.5 million. Seed to Series B. Leads or co leads in hard tech.

Stage focus

Seed to Series B.

Lead or follow

Leads or co leads in hard tech.

Reserves

Reserves for follow ons and helps raise the next round.

Structure appetite what they actually write

Thesis fit

Sectors

Component and materials technology for energy, power and data center systems.

Pattern

King of the Hill component and materials technology bets, not infrastructure roll ups. Seed to Series B.

Track record and key investments

A cluster directly adjacent to MicroLink: NovoLINC (data center thermal interface materials for liquid cooling), Amperesand (solid state transformers for data center power), Aston Power (rapid deploy private power grids for AI data centers, Delfassy quoted), C2i Semiconductors (grid to core power delivery), Peak Energy (sodium ion storage for AI data centers) and Rodatherm (closed loop geothermal, Delfassy on the board). Also Groq (AI inference, pending Nvidia asset deal) and Ascend Elements. 54 portfolio companies and four unicorns.

Exits

GenCell IPO (Tel Aviv 2020). SLD Laser to Kyocera. Origin to Stratasys. Groq pending Nvidia asset deal reported at about 20 billion dollars. Fund returns not public.

Transaction types

Priced equity, up to 5 million dollars, Seed to Series B, leads or co leads. Equity investor only, no debt, no project finance.

Stakeholders who sits behind the fund

Process

How they like to work

Priced equity only, no venture debt, no project finance. They write about project finance as other capital that founders should stack, not something they provide. Strategic strings: TDK Goodness, access to TDK R and D, manufacturing and supply chain, framed as an equal win with no public evidence of mandatory supply or exclusivity terms.

Diligence

Rigorous, technical and patient. A Diverse Advocate session where the team lists only reasons not to invest. A small IC of about 3 people reaches a decision on demand.

Fit for MicroLink

Strong thesis fit for the operating company equity: future of data centers is a named pillar and the Delfassy EX1 fund covers waste heat and efficiency. Poor structure fit for the 300MW Ohio project finance, which is out of mandate. Rodatherm is the template: venture equity in the tech company, megawatts financed separately. Frame the raise as company technology equity and separate the Ohio project finance explicitly.

Contractual posture

Board seat or observer when they lead. Pro rata, liquidation preference, ROFR and IP terms not public. High founder NPS and no reports of onerous terms.

Relationship

Intro source

David Delfassy replied by redirecting to the online application portal, a neutral default signal.

Current stage

Meeting booked

Next action

Submit the portal as a checkbox, then pursue a warm intro to Delfassy or Tosukhowong via an Aston Power, Rodatherm or NovoLINC founder or a shared co investor, with a technology forward framing.

Note

Thesis fit strong, structure fit weak. Reach via warm intro, not the portal.

Interaction log