September 20, 2016
Tohoku University
Ball Wave Inc.
Press Release

Ball Wave Inc., a startup venture based on Tohoku University research, isofficially launched with funding from public and private investors
Research and development efforts focusing on the ball surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor—arevolutionary new sensor developed by Professor Kazushi Yamanaka and collaborators atTohoku University’s New Industry Creation Hatchery Center—have begun in earnest withsupport from the Program for Creating STart-ups from Advanced Research and Technology(START Program) initiative of Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology (MEXT). [The topic selected in fiscal year 2014 was “Using ball-SAW sensors tocommercialize small, high-speed, high-sensitivity trace-moisture analyzer1 units,” with project
promoter Tsukuba Technology Seed Co., Ltd. (now Japan Strategic Capital Co., Ltd.). Since
fiscal year 2015, the START program has been operated by the Japan Science and Technology
Agency.]Now, Ball Wave Inc., a company founded on the fruits of this research, announces its official
launch, with funding from public and private investors.
The international roadmap of the semiconductor industry, following rapidly-moving trends indevice miniaturization and high-density integration, requires that the residual water content ofmaterial gases used in manufacturing processes have dew points 2 of –100°C or below. However,
the only existing trace-moisture analyzers with the sensitivity to detect such small quantities ofwater are optical instruments, which are large and expensive, prohibiting their installation on
manufacturing lines. This has created strong demand for small, high-sensitivity micro-moisture
analyzers.
Ball-SAW sensors are high-speed, high-sensitivity gas sensors that exploit a phenomenon thatseems to defy the laws of physics: long-distance propagation of SAWs on a spherical object.
Trace-moisture analyzers employing these sensors are capable of detecting moisture content at adew point of –100°C and are small enough (3 mm in diameter) to be installed on manufacturinglines. Ball Wave Inc. will meet the needs of the semiconductor and gas manufacturing industries
by developing these unique sensors as commercial products. The company also expects theseproducts to be of use in preventing damage to instruments caused by dew condensation in thenatural-gas liquefaction process. Ball Wave Inc. also plans market launches for hydrogen gas
sensors and palm-sized portable gas chromatographs developed with support from MEXT’s
Special Coordination Funds for the Promotion of Science and Technology and JST’s Strategic
Basic Research Programs (CREST), helping to usher in the hydrogen-based society of the future
and contribute to environmental safety and protection.
Ball Wave Inc.’s business plans and future promise have been assessed favorably, and to date thecompany has raised a total of 230 million yen from several investors, including Tohoku
University Venture Partners Co., Ltd.—established under the Public/Private Innovation Program
created by the “Emergency Economic Measures for the Revitalization of the Japanese Economy”
initiative approved by the Japanese Cabinet on January 11, 2013—as well as from Daiwa
Corporate Investment Co., Ltd., 77 Capital, and SMBC Venture Capital.
Ball Wave’s first product shipments are targeted for the first period of fiscal year 2017. Withannual sales projections of roughly 1 billion yen for fiscal year 2019, the company expects to be
profitable within a single fiscal year.
Glossary of terms1.
2.

A trace-moisture analyzer is an instrument capable of measuring the moisture content in gas
samples at concentrations of approximately 1 ppm (1 part per million) or below.
The dew point is the temperature at which a moisture-containing gas, cooled at atmosphericpressure, first exhibits dew condensation. The dew point of a gas decreases as the gas dries.
A dew point of –100°C corresponds to a moisture content of 14 ppb (14 parts per billion).

For questions regarding this statement, please contact:
Shingo Akao, Ph. D.
President & CEO
Ball Wave Inc.
Tohoku University Business Incubator T-Biz 501, 6-6-40, Aza Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba, Sendai,
Miyagi 980-8579, JAPAN
Telephone: +81-22-302-6659
Email: akao@ballwave.jp
http://www.ballwave.jp