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SYMP-2016-46-Magazine-Euglena-Who-Natasha-R-Silva

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Mitsuru Izumo was inspired to help address malnutrition after witnessing its effects during a university trip to Bangladesh in 1998. He realized the nutritional benefits of euglena, a microorganism rich in nutrients, and started a company called Euglena Co. in 2005 to mass produce euglena on an industrial scale and make it available as a supplement. While the company has been very successful financially, Izumo continues to invest profits into charitable programs providing euglena-fortified foods to malnourished children in Bangladesh, as per his original social mission. He believes that through innovative technology and balancing business goals with social impact, entrepreneurs can achieve eco-friendly and socially responsible capitalism.

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Can something smaller than the thickness of a human hair be the answer to a prob- lem as big as hunger? In Mitsuru Izumos opinion, yes. The Founder and President of Euglena Co saw the horrible effects of malnutrition during a trip to Bangladesh in 1998. Izumo was just 18 at the time, a student focusing on international de- velopment at the University of Tokyo. He was touched by the poverty he saw in the South Asian country. In Bangladesh there was food. People ate a lot of rice and car- bohydrates. But they didnt have access to any food that was really nutritional, he says. The problem there was not starva- tion, it was malnutrition. Two years later, when he was home in Japan again, Izumo was introduced to the health benefits of euglena: a type of tiny microorganism that contains a lot of po- tential. Euglena is an algae that has char- acteristics of both plants and animals. It can be found in fresh water and is a source of nutrients for many other microorga- nisms. Realising its great nutritional and car- bon capture capabilities, Izumo immedi- ately saw his opportunity to help the mal- nourished children he saw in Bangladesh and started his own business at the same time. I joined a special research and de- velopment programme at my university to try and cultivate euglena massively, Izumo says. His main goal was to find a way to produce this kind of microalgae at an industrial scale and make it available in the form of a powder that can be used as a supplement for people who truly needed it. It was not an easy path, though. It was only in 2005 that Izumo successfully de- veloped a technology that allowed him to cultivate euglena cheaply enough to make the final product accessible. In August 2005, Euglena Co was born. Research con- tinued, but it took a while for the founder of the company to get clients that be- lieved in his project. Theres one thing I said from the start: This is a business. I want to make profit in Japan and Europe, but, I want to invest most of that profit in doing social business in developing coun- tries,says Izumo. In time, Euglena Co caught the eye of in- vestors, going from a struggling business to a huge hit. In 2012, the company went GREEN GOLD EUGLENA WHO? Mitsuru Izumo believes in eco-friendly capitalism. He hopes to use a tiny, single-celled creature to make it a reality. NATASHA R. SILVA (TEXT), ANDREW CURRY (PHOTO) 9090
public in a JPY 10 billion (USD 81 million) stock market launch and has been grow- ing around 30 per cent each year since. However, the success of the company did not distract its founder from his initial goals. The ideology that was born during that trip in 1998 is still with Izumo and af- fects every decision he makes. Right now, he continues making a profit, but invests a lot of it in charity pro- grammes that offer school lunches eu- glena cookies included, of course for kids in Bangladesh. In these times of greedy capitalism, almost all my shareholders push me to make more profit,says Izumo. That fact does not seem to make Izumo nervous, though. For him, there is no need to draw a line between business and his beliefs. I have a special technology to cul- tivate euglena and no one else has it, he says. So I can decide what the priorities are. If young social entrepreneurs develop proper and innovative technology, we can make eco-friendly, social and public inter- est capitalism really happen.u Euglena are single-celled organisms that combine characteristics of plants and animals. They're also nutritious. EUGLENAWHO? 91

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SYMP-2016-46-Magazine-Euglena-Who-Natasha-R-Silva

  • 1. Can something smaller than the thickness of a human hair be the answer to a prob- lem as big as hunger? In Mitsuru Izumos opinion, yes. The Founder and President of Euglena Co saw the horrible effects of malnutrition during a trip to Bangladesh in 1998. Izumo was just 18 at the time, a student focusing on international de- velopment at the University of Tokyo. He was touched by the poverty he saw in the South Asian country. In Bangladesh there was food. People ate a lot of rice and car- bohydrates. But they didnt have access to any food that was really nutritional, he says. The problem there was not starva- tion, it was malnutrition. Two years later, when he was home in Japan again, Izumo was introduced to the health benefits of euglena: a type of tiny microorganism that contains a lot of po- tential. Euglena is an algae that has char- acteristics of both plants and animals. It can be found in fresh water and is a source of nutrients for many other microorga- nisms. Realising its great nutritional and car- bon capture capabilities, Izumo immedi- ately saw his opportunity to help the mal- nourished children he saw in Bangladesh and started his own business at the same time. I joined a special research and de- velopment programme at my university to try and cultivate euglena massively, Izumo says. His main goal was to find a way to produce this kind of microalgae at an industrial scale and make it available in the form of a powder that can be used as a supplement for people who truly needed it. It was not an easy path, though. It was only in 2005 that Izumo successfully de- veloped a technology that allowed him to cultivate euglena cheaply enough to make the final product accessible. In August 2005, Euglena Co was born. Research con- tinued, but it took a while for the founder of the company to get clients that be- lieved in his project. Theres one thing I said from the start: This is a business. I want to make profit in Japan and Europe, but, I want to invest most of that profit in doing social business in developing coun- tries,says Izumo. In time, Euglena Co caught the eye of in- vestors, going from a struggling business to a huge hit. In 2012, the company went GREEN GOLD EUGLENA WHO? Mitsuru Izumo believes in eco-friendly capitalism. He hopes to use a tiny, single-celled creature to make it a reality. NATASHA R. SILVA (TEXT), ANDREW CURRY (PHOTO) 9090
  • 2. public in a JPY 10 billion (USD 81 million) stock market launch and has been grow- ing around 30 per cent each year since. However, the success of the company did not distract its founder from his initial goals. The ideology that was born during that trip in 1998 is still with Izumo and af- fects every decision he makes. Right now, he continues making a profit, but invests a lot of it in charity pro- grammes that offer school lunches eu- glena cookies included, of course for kids in Bangladesh. In these times of greedy capitalism, almost all my shareholders push me to make more profit,says Izumo. That fact does not seem to make Izumo nervous, though. For him, there is no need to draw a line between business and his beliefs. I have a special technology to cul- tivate euglena and no one else has it, he says. So I can decide what the priorities are. If young social entrepreneurs develop proper and innovative technology, we can make eco-friendly, social and public inter- est capitalism really happen.u Euglena are single-celled organisms that combine characteristics of plants and animals. They're also nutritious. EUGLENAWHO? 91