Masayuki Omoto’s Post

The entrepreneurial spirit that creates worthwhile differences is characterized by a relentless pursuit of innovation, consistent and meticulous actions focused on the details, and an unwavering belief in the mission and impact of one’s business. After speaking with Taavi Madiberk, the CEO of Skeleton Technologies—an Estonian company with which Marubeni Corporation has had a capital and business partnership since 2019—I have once again found myself reflecting on these thoughts. With super-capacitors as its core business, Skeleton has become a leading next-generation company in Estonia, a country known for producing numerous unicorns (start-up companies valued at one billion dollars or more). Its technology, which can deliver high power instantaneously, is known to have caught the attention of Elon Musk during his student days. Through steady research and development, Skeleton has evolved and commercialized its technology, steadily growing its revenue through applications such as solutions for energy-efficient data center, stable power transmission line, and commercial vehicle starting systems. In particular, President Taavi explained to me that energy-efficient solutions for data centers lead to improved GPU performance and significant reductions in lifecycle costs, and that there is great potential for substantially reducing capital expenditure for data centers. He also noted that the steady and patient application development being carried out jointly with Marubeni is now translating into business opportunities for AI data centers. I am convinced that Skeleton’s belief in the difference super-capacitors can make will further expand its business, and I look forward to seeing its rapid growth moving forward.   「違い」を生み出す起業家精神とは、貪欲な革新性の追求、細部にこだわる地道なアクションの積み上げ、そして事業のミッション・インパクトを信じ続ける信念です。丸紅が2019年より資本業務提携をしているエストニアのSkeleton TechnologiesのTaavi社長との対話を経て、改めてこのことに思いを馳せています。 Skeleton社はスーパーキャパシタを軸とし、数々のユニコーンを生み出すエストニアを代表する新たな次世代企業となっています。瞬時に大電力を供給できるテクノロジーで、イーロン・マスク氏が学生時代に注目していたことも知られています。Skeleton社は地道な研究開発で技術を進化・商業化し、データセンター向け省電力運用、送電線安定運用、商用車のエンジン始動などで売上を確実に伸ばしつつあります。 特にデータセンター向け省電力運用はGPUのパーフォマンス向上・ライフサイクルコストの大幅削減に繋がり、データセンター向けCAPEXを大きく削減していく可能性が見出されていることをTaavi社長より今回伺いました。そして、丸紅と共同で進めている地道な忍耐を伴うアプリケーション開発が現在のAIデータセンター向けの商機に繋がっているとの言葉を頂いています。 スーパーキャパシタが生み出す違いを信じる信念は、Skeleton社の業容を更に大きくしていくものと確信しています。Skeleton社のここからの飛躍的な成長に期待をしています。