AGC Ceramics
Manufactures advanced ceramics and refractories for glass melting furnaces, leveraging over a century of material expertise.
- CEO / Founder
- Masaru Ota
- Team Size
- 275 employees (as of May 2024)
- Stage
- Active
- Total Funding
- $23M
- Latest Round
- Subsidiary
- Key Investors
- AGC Inc.
Technology & Products
Key Products
Refractory bricks; Ceramics for glass furnaces; High-performance ceramics
Technological Advantage
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.
Market & Competition
Target Customers
Glass, steel, and cement manufacturers
Industry Verticals
Glass manufacturing; Steel; Cement
Competitors
Lithoz, 3D Systems, Desktop Metal (ExOne)
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