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AGC Ceramics

MaterialsTokyo, JapanFounded 2002· One of 1000 Materials companies tracked by AMPulse

Manufactures advanced ceramics and refractories for glass melting furnaces, leveraging over a century of material expertise.

CEO / Founder
Masaru Ota
Team Size
201-500
Stage
Active
Total Funding
$28M
Latest Round
Strategic Investment
Key Investors
AGC Inc.

Technology & Products

Key Products

Refractory bricks and ceramics for glass melting furnaces, incinerators, aluminum, and cement industries. BRIGHTORB™ ceramic material for 3D printers, used for investment casting cores and complex ceramic parts.

Technical position · AMPulse analysis

Deep historical expertise in refractory production since 1917, providing a foundational material advantage for high-temperature industrial applications.

Differentiation

Value Proposition

Provides high-performance refractory bricks and ceramics that enable self-sufficient, high-temperature glass production and industrial furnace longevity.

How They Differentiate

Utilizes 'Brightorb' binder jetting material which achieves high-definition, large-scale ceramic parts with near-zero shrinkage (<1%) compared to traditional ceramic sintering (10%+ shrinkage), enabling complex geometries like investment casting cores without distortion. Offers a wide range of refractory solutions for various high-temperature industrial applications.

Market & Competition

Target Customers

Glass, steel, and cement manufacturers

Industry Verticals

Glass manufacturing; Steel; Cement

Competitors

Vesuvius, RHI Magnesita

Growth & Milestones

Growth Metrics

Launched 3D printing business in 2017; established Chinese joint venture for 3D printing in 2022; expanded into 3D printed architecture via Serendix partnership in 2023.

Major Milestones

1917: Refractory production launch at Iho Plant; 2002-04-01: Established as spin-off from Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. (now AGC Inc.)

Notable Customers

Serendix, AMSKY Technology Co., Ltd., Roland DG Corporation, Jingdezhen Changnan New Area Zhongxi Investment Partnership

https://www.agcc.jp

AM patents

AM-relevant patents linked to this company.

Patents
2
Granted
0
Families
2

Leading domains: equipment (1), material (1), process (1)

Filings by year: 2020: 1 · 2017: 1

  1. MATERIAL FOR MOLDING, FUNCTIONAL AGENT, MOLDED PRODUCT, AND PRODUCT03626691 · EP
  2. MODELING LIQUID, MODELING MATERIAL SET, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING MODELING OBJECT2022131227 · WO

Funding rounds

  • Strategic Investment$28M2002-04Lead: AGC Inc. · Source: AGC Ceramics Company Profile - April 2002

Why this company matters

AMPulse analysis, not a company disclosure

AGC Ceramics, a spin-off from Asahi Glass Co. (now AGC Inc.), brings over 100 years of refractory production experience to the additive manufacturing market. The company's core business remains high-performance refractory bricks and ceramics for glass melting furnaces, incinerators, and the steel and cement industries. Its 3D printing division, launched in 2017, leverages this deep materials heritage to address a persistent challenge in ceramic AM: shrinkage during sintering.

The company's key AM product is Brightorb, a ceramic material developed for binder jetting technology (BJT) in partnership with voxeljet. Brightorb achieves near-zero shrinkage (<1%) during post-processing, compared to the 10%+ typical of traditional ceramic sintering. This enables the production of large, complex ceramic parts — such as investment casting cores — without distortion. AGC Ceramics also supplies specialized inorganic hardening agents and artificial ceramic beads to support the process.

Target customers include glass, steel, and cement manufacturers for traditional refractories, while the AM business serves foundries and precision casting operations. Notable partners include voxeljet for co-development of Brightorb-compatible printers, Serendix for 3D printed housing, and AMSKY Technology Co. A joint venture in Jiangnan, China, established in 2022, expands the company's AM footprint in Asia. Competitors include Vesuvius and RHI Magnesita in refractories, though Brightorb's low-shrinkage property differentiates it in the ceramic AM niche.

AGC Ceramics benefits from integration within AGC Inc.'s global materials portfolio, providing capital and R&D support. The company's long-standing refractory expertise creates a defensible position in high-temperature applications, but the AM market for ceramics remains small relative to metals and polymers. The open question is whether Brightorb can scale beyond investment casting into broader industrial ceramic production.