The rest of the 100 (in alphabetical order): Maria Peterson, JSR Micro
Maria Peterson, head of corporate venturing and innovation at electronics company JSR Micro, has been “seeking new enabling technologies and exploring new market opportunities in semiconductor, energy storage and display to augment JSR core technology, with a vision to the future interconnected world”.
It is a broad remit, but since joining the Japan-based company in 2004 it is one she has accomplished with deals including US-based 3D printing technology developer Carbon, which expanded its series C round to $81m from corporate and undisclosed existing investors including JSR. Founded in 2013 as Carbon3D, Carbon has built a 3D prototyping machine that can print parts with mechanical properties and finish comparable to injection-moulded plastics.
JSR was also among the corporate backers when Canada-based venture capital firm Pangaea Ventures raised about half of the C$105m ($80m) target set for its fourth fund.
However, her team suffered a blow when Yosuke Yamamoto left to join Japan-based venture capital firm Universal Materials Incubator (UMI), which is centred on investment in materials startups and carve-outs.
Peterson, who was part of the GCV delegation to Canada for last month’s Canadian Corporate Innovation conference, has also helped push JSR Micro into healthcare, with a fund commitment to life sciences investor Burrill & Co.
