Morus Inc. (CEO: Ryo Sato; Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; “Morus”), a company guided by the vision “Crafting through tradition. Thriving with nutrition.,” announced today that Yukihiro Maru, Representative Director and Group CEO of Leave a Nest Co., Ltd., has been appointed as Technical Advisor. Dr. Maru has spent more than 20 years launching and nurturing research-driven ventures. Drawing on his expertise, Morus will strengthen its efforts to bring the research results of its silkworm-derived ingredient, MorSilk®, to society as foods and ingredients.
On October 1, 2026, Morus established its first research facility, Morus Bio-Research Center (tentative name), within the Okinawa Health Biotechnology Research and Development Center (“OHBIC”) in Uruma City, Okinawa Prefecture. Since then, working with local companies and analytical institutions, the company has begun research on functionality and on manufacturing and processing at the center, and is laying the foundation for future silkworm rearing plans and production systems.
However, applying sericulture, one of Japan’s traditional resources, to the fields of nutrition and health requires more than continued research. It also requires the ability to turn research results into products and businesses. For this reason, Morus has welcomed Dr. Maru, who has brought numerous resources and technologies to commercialization, as its Technical Advisor.
Dr. Maru will provide advice in the following areas:
Representative Director and Group CEO, Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. / Managing Director, UntroD Capital Asia Pte. Ltd. Dr. Maru completed his doctoral program at the Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, and holds a Ph.D. in Agriculture. In 2002, while still a graduate student, he founded Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. with a team made up entirely of science and engineering students. As a technical advisor to Euglena Co., Ltd. since its founding, he supported the establishment of mass-cultivation technology for the microalga Euglena and its commercialization, and he has been involved in launching and nurturing many other research-driven ventures. Today, through Singapore-based UntroD Capital Asia, he also invests in and nurtures deep-tech ventures in Southeast Asia. He advocates the concept of “knowledge manufacturing,” which creates new knowledge by combining expertise and technologies across different fields and industries, and aims to solve global challenges through the social implementation of research.
“A major reason for my decision to join is that Morus has established a research base in Okinawa and is fully committing to research and development. For about 20 years, I have been involved in the technology development and commercialization of Euglena. I believe I can apply that experience to Morus’s challenge of deepening its research in Okinawa and delivering it to society as products. I was also drawn to Morus’s approach, as it is already selling products in Southeast Asia. With Okinawa as our R&D base, I look forward to working together to deliver new value born from Japan’s sericulture resources to the world.”
Drawing on Dr. Maru’s expertise, Morus will deepen its collaboration with businesses and research institutions in Okinawa Prefecture, apply its research results to building production systems and developing products, and explore new functionalities of MorSilk®. Morus will continue its research on MorSilk® and the development of domestic production systems, and will share updates as progress is made.
