Dentsu Inc. (Tokyo: 4324; ISIN: JP3551520004; President & CEO: Toshihiro Yamamoto; Head Office: Tokyo; Capital: 74,609.81 million yen) announced today that Dentsu Ventures Global Fund I (hereinafter "Dentsu Ventures"), the Company's corporate venture capital fund, has made an investment in uBiome, Inc. (Head Office: San Francisco, California; CEO: Jessica Richman), a provider of microbiome* testing services in the U.S.

At present, uBiome provides testing kits prescribed by medical institutions as well as microbiome testing kits for consumers and is building one of the world's largest microbiome databases.

Going forward, the company plans to utilize the database it is building to develop business in a wide range of domains, including testing services and drug discovery.

Dentsu Ventures will connect uBiome with a variety of other companies and promote the development of new businesses and products leveraging the company's microbiome analysis technologies and database to support uBiome's business growth.

* The microbiome is the ecosystem of microorganisms present in the interior and on the surface of the human body. It has a variety of functions, including digestion and the synthesis of vitamins, and also affects the mood, behavior and health condition of human beings.

Profiles of uBiome and Dentsu Ventures are provided below.

Profile of uBiome
Name: uBiome, Inc.
Location: San Francisco, California, the United States
Representative: Jessica Richman, CEO
Line of Business: Provides microbiome analysis services, builds databases
URL: https://ubiome.com/

Profile of Dentsu Ventures
Name: Dentsu Ventures Global Fund I
Total Fund Capital: 10 billion yen
Date of Establishment: April 2015
Period of Operation: Ten-year period from April 2015 until March 2025
Investment Regions: Global investments with a focus on the U.S.A., Europe, Japan and Asia
Investment Stages: Balanced, wide-ranging investments with the focus on seed and early stage investments, but also including mid-stage and later-stage investments
Investment Areas: (1) Areas that can change the marketing and communication business in a broad sense (2) New areas other than the above that have a high potential for innovation
URL: http://dentsu-v.com/

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