2026-08-21

NanoFrontier Selected for Sendai City's Southeast Asia Expansion Support Program 'STEP for GROWTH'

NanoFrontier Selected for Sendai City’s Southeast Asia Expansion Support Program “STEP for GROWTH”

NanoFrontier Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Sendai, Miyagi; Representative Director: Seiya Inoue; hereinafter “NanoFrontier”) is pleased to announce its selection for the STEP for GROWTH course of the FY2026 Sendai-Tohoku Expansion Program (STEP), administered by the City of Sendai. Through this program, NanoFrontier will work to validate its business hypotheses and develop partners in overseas markets—primarily Southeast Asia—across its business lines built on proprietary nanoparticle generation technology.

NanoFrontier STEP Selection

Background

Water pollution, energy storage, and data center waste heat are challenges that cannot be addressed within domestic markets alone. Southeast Asia in particular is seeing growing demand in both water treatment and energy. To take the data center market as one example, the Southeast Asian market is projected to expand from USD 13.71 billion in 2024 to USD 30.47 billion in 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.24% (Source: ResearchAndMarkets, “Southeast Asia Data Center Market Landscape 2025–2030”). This is a market where constraints around cooling, power, and water are emerging simultaneously—a domain with significant room for materials-based solutions.

NanoFrontier has placed addressing these challenges from the materials side at the core of its business, and has positioned overseas expansion as central to its growth strategy. At the same time, the company recognized that entering a market without a clear understanding of local regulatory environments and procurement practices would make it impossible to even begin validation. This program offers hands-on support in both market analysis and local networking, and NanoFrontier aims to clear that initial hurdle in a short timeframe.

Our Technology and Application Areas

NanoFrontier is a deep-tech startup originating from Tohoku University, built on proprietary nanoparticle generation technology. By reducing compounds to the nanoscale, the company unlocks new functional properties and is advancing applications in environmental and energy materials.

What We Will Pursue Through This Program

Through this program, NanoFrontier will undertake the following:

  1. Market analysis by target country and customer segment

    Focusing on the water treatment and energy sectors, the company will map regulatory trends, procurement structures, and prospective customers on a country-by-country basis.

  2. Building a local partner network

    Through individual meetings with local companies, research institutions, and government agencies, NanoFrontier will advance dialogue toward joint technology validation.

  3. Securing business opportunities

    By participating in international trade shows and exhibitions, the company will develop the capability to present its technology in a locally relevant context.

  4. Validating business hypotheses

    Through on-the-ground dialogue, NanoFrontier will determine which applications and which countries to prioritize, and establish the sequence for market entry.

This course includes in-country programs across six Southeast Asian nations.

Looking Ahead

NanoFrontier will leverage the insights and networks gained through this program to advance toward technology validation, co-development, and sales partnerships with local companies. The immediate priority is to build a track record in Southeast Asia, with a subsequent view toward expanding into Europe and North America from an Asian base. The company is committed to becoming a globally competitive deep-tech enterprise rooted in Tohoku.

Comment from the CEO

“I am deeply honored by this selection. Challenges such as water pollution, energy, and waste heat do not stop at national borders. What we are working on is addressing those challenges from the materials side—and we believe that work has no meaning unless it reaches the places where answers are needed. I believe that technology grounded in fundamental science, though it takes time, generates long-term value and sustained innovation. Through this program, we will see local challenges with our own eyes and steadily build the path to delivering technology from Tohoku to the world.”

Seiya Inoue, Representative Director

About the Sendai-Tohoku Expansion Program (STEP)

STEP is a hands-on support program for startups and other companies seeking to expand overseas, implemented by the City of Sendai in pursuit of its vision of “Sendai as a Global Startup City.” Operated as part of the Sendai Global Startup Hub initiative, the program consists of two courses: “STEP for ENTRY,” targeting companies in the early stages of overseas expansion, and “STEP for GROWTH,” targeting companies in a growth phase that are seeking to establish overseas sales channels and secure business deals. In FY2026, a total of 12 companies were selected.

Last updated: 2026-08-21

Company Profile

  • Company Name: NanoFrontier Co., Ltd.
  • Representative: Seiya Inoue, Representative Director
  • Address: Room 215, Material Solutions Center (MaSC), Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi Prefecture
  • Established: April 7, 2025
  • Business Activities:
    • R&D, manufacturing, and sales of reagents and functional materials using organic nanoparticle technologies
    • Contract manufacturing of organic nanoparticles and provision of related technologies
    • Technology licensing and consulting in the field of organic nanoparticle technologies
  • Website: https://nanofrontier.jp