Vision / Mission
Mission: We provide products/services to help people lead active and fulfilling lives.
Vision: "By extending the capabilities of the human body, eliminating constraints on activities caused by illness, injury, aging, or the surrounding environment."
CEO’s address
I have been working in the toilet industry for many years, addressing the challenges of excretion from a global perspective.
The catalyst for starting my business was when my father developed dementia and had to enter a care facility. From witnessing my father being taken care of, I strongly realized for the first time the inability to use the toilet at the end of life, as well as the significant pain associated with excretion care for both the individual and the caregiver. At that moment, the challenges related to excretion that I had been working on all connected, like connecting the dots.
Japan is a global leader in aging population. Solving the challenges of an aging society is not only an expectation placed on Japan by the world but also a mission for the Japanese industrial sector.
"Food" and "excretion" are intimately connected and form a fundamental pair for life. While discussions about food are common, excretion is a topic that is rarely brought to the forefront. Nevertheless, excretion is a significant issue that relates to human dignity. Once troubles in this aspect arise, they can bring substantial mental and physical distress.
Entering the era of a 100-year life, even in one's 40s and 50s, it's still considered the midpoint of life. It's common to experience some decline in bodily functions as one reaches middle and older age.
We first focus on the most fundamental and distressing aspect of life, "excretion," and design, develop, and provide products based on the concept of ”Kakucho-Body" to maintain the same Quality of Life (QoL) as before.
We believe that our products can make a significant contribution to various social issues, including human health and the environment, and support the achievement of SDGs. We aim to expand globally as quickly as possible.
Shigeo Imai, co-founder & CEO
Management Team
Shigeo Imai
co-founder & CEO, Ph.D.,
Profile
Dr. Imai is a biologist and entrepreneur in the area of sanitation and personal care products/services. Prior to launching Intron Space Inc., as an intrapreneur, he led many projects at LIXIL/INAX includingUNHABITATand;UNEP related ones. He often visited to developing/emerging countries such as Kenya, Indonesia, Philippine, etc., in order to understand what solutions are necessary to adapt the local infrastructures and people’s lifestyle.
He also made outstanding contribution to the international standardization of “antimicrobe”, and received METI Minister’s Prize. He was a chairman of “the Society of Industrial Technology for Antimicrobial Articles(SIAA)”.
As a visiting scholar of University Tokyo, he was involved in vital-sensor projects for smart toilet system.
He has deep insight into not only antimicrobe, sanitation and personal care products/services, but its infrastructures such as water and sewage, garbage incineration facility, moreover public health and Global environmental related issues.
Koji Tanabe
co-founder & Director, Ph.D.,
Profile
Dr. Tanabe is a professor emeritus of Tokyo Institute of Technology, and adjunct professor at Waseda University. He is an authority of Management of Innovation. He serves a board member of Japan Asia Group Limited, board member of Business Model Association.
Until 2003, he held various positions at METI such as Chief(“Kyoku-cho”) of Chugoku Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, Director(“Bu-cho”) of Research and Statistics Department, etc.
He wrote “Tokodai Tanabe Kenkyu-shitsu – Tanin jitsugen no hasso kara” and “Network jidai no Chikyu Shimin no Ikikata (Koji Tanabe, et al.)”, and translated several books including “Strategic Management (Clayton M. Christensen, et al.)” and “The Productive Edge (Richard K. Lester)”.
Taka Kondo
co-founder & Director, Ph.D.,
Profile
Dr. Kondo is a founder and CEO of I-Commission, which encourages entrepreneurs who are trying to solve the problems of aging and declining population. He is building an innovation ecosystem across startups, seniors’ organizations(NPOs), universities / research institutions and industries.
Prior to launching I-Commission, over a decade in Silicon Valley in California, he launched a few startups as a co-founder, led open innovation project for a big company, providing business consulting for startups and established companies.
He has a wide background including applied artificial intelligence, information security, etc., and his recent interest includes management of innovation and practical marketing. His recent works are published on his web site, FromBayArea.com (“Chikafuji, Ryu” is his pen name).
Company Overview
Intron Space Inc. is a fabless company that engages in the research and development, planning, design, sales, and related services of personal care and healthcare products using ultra-soft and highly stretchable materials.
Founded: Oct. 3, 2019
Headquarters:
8-5-7 Minamisenju, Shirahige Nishi R&D Center Room 301
Arakawa-ku, Tokyo 116-0003, Japan