JGC Holdings and JGC Invest in BALLAS, a Startup Providing a Construction Material Procurement Platform, via CVC Fund

JGC Holdings Corporation (Chairman & CEO: Masayuki Sato) and JGC Corporation (President & Representative Director: Yasuharu Yamaguchi) jointly announce that their Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) fund, 'JGC MIRAI Innovation Fund,' has invested in BALLAS Inc. (President: Masayuki Kimura), a startup company providing a procurement platform for construction materials in plant construction sites. In recent years, the supply chain in domestic plant construction has faced challenges such as decreased productivity and restrictions on overtime due to a shortage of skilled labor and working hour limitations. Particularly, components like equipment, piping, and auxiliary structures have varying specifications for each project, leading to lengthy lead times from specification finalization to site delivery. There is a growing demand for timely delivery management and lead time reduction through digital technologies that organize and standardize design information and production processes for components. BALLAS provides a digital platform that unifies and visualizes the entire process from component manufacturing design to partner selection, quality, and delivery management, thereby streamlining the often-complicated design, procurement, and manufacturing processes. The company excels in the design, procurement, and manufacturing of auxiliary components such as equipment racks and pipe supports, contributing to improved operational efficiency in various construction sites. Through this investment, JGC will promote the internal deployment of BALLAS's strengths in knowledge and know-how, and consider collaborations to achieve shorter delivery times and improved operational efficiency in the auxiliary component domain for plants. In the future, by combining JGC's accumulated engineering capabilities with BALLAS's technological prowess, they aim to jointly expand the range of applicable components and contribute to strengthening the supply chain for plant materials.