Teijin Invests in Dutch Venture Elitac to Expand Total SafetySolutions

Tokyo (ots/PRNewswire) – The Teijin Group announced today that on
November 29 it acquired 25,000 shares, or 20 percent of the
outstanding shares of Elitac B.V., a startup company that develops
textiles and clothing integrated with wearable sensing devices,
located in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The shares were purchased
through Teijin Aramid B.V., the core company of the Teijin Group’s
aramid business, located in Arnhem, The Netherlands.

Gerben de Bree, leader of Teijin’s Total Safety Solution Provider
(TSSP) platform, was appointed as a member of Elitac’s board on
November 29.

The Teijin Group and Elitac aim to co-develop solutions that will
strengthen and evolve Teijin as a TSSP of initiatives for safety,
security and disaster mitigation. The investment fits into Teijin’s
TSSP platform and reflects Teijin’s strong belief in the value of
integrating new technologies into apparel for firefighters, police,
emergency personnel and other first responders who frequently work
under high stress and in hazardous conditions.

„The ability of Elitac to quickly develop ideas from concept to first
prototype by working closely with end users convinced us to deepen
our relationship by taking an equity stake in the company,“ said Ton
de Weijer, Director of Solution 2.0 in Teijin Limited’s New Business
Division.

„Teijin’s TSSP strategy perfectly fits with our aim to develop
wearables for professionals by integrating electronics and textiles.
The investment of Teijin enables us to professionalize and scale our
wearable development. It is the starting point of the Elitac Wearable
Innovation Lab for electronics in textile wearables,“ said Merijn
Klarenbeek, CEO and co-founder of Elitac.

Elitac is developing innovative smart textiles and clothing
integrated with technologies for tactile information, navigation and
wearable sensing devices.In 2017, the company developed the Sentaz
tactile navigation system through Sentaz B.V., a 50:50 joint venture
between Teijin Aramid and Elitac. Sentaz tactile navigation system,
translates visual and audio instructions from standard navigation
systems into gentle vibrations in the driving seats of
first-responder vehicles including fire engines, ambulances and
police cars. This reduces the response time and mental pressure of
first responder drivers in high-stress environments, allowing them to
focus better on the road. Multiple first responder vehicles in The
Netherlands arealready equipped with Sentaz tactile navigation.

Digital press kit: http://www.ots.at/pressemappe/PR133059/aom

Contact:
Peter van Coolen
T +31-70-312-1070
M +31-6-5259-4314
E pcoolen@webershandwick.com

OTS-ORIGINALTEXT PRESSEAUSSENDUNG UNTER AUSSCHLIESSLICHER INHALTLICHER VERANTWORTUNG DES AUSSENDERS. www.ots.at
© Copyright APA-OTS Originaltext-Service GmbH und der jeweilige Aussender