JA Mitsui Leasing Backs Serendix to Scale 3D-Printed Construction Across Japan

From Prototypes to Production

Serendix, a Japanese company that claims to be the country's first 3D-printed housing manufacturer, has spent the past few years proving it can build homes with concrete 3D printers. The company printed its first house, the serendix10, in 2022. It delivered a two-family serendix50 model as a reconstruction housing project in Ishikawa Prefecture in 2024. Now Serendix is shifting from research and development to volume production, and it has lined up a financial partner to help it scale.

JA Mitsui Leasing, a major Japanese leasing and financing firm, signed a business alliance with Serendix on August 13. The partnership will use JA Mitsui Leasing's financing services to help Serendix's network of partner companies purchase construction 3D printers and related equipment. The two companies will also explore building lease services, allowing businesses and individuals to use 3D-printed facilities without buying them outright.

Why Japan Needs Construction 3D Printing Now

Japan's construction industry faces a perfect storm of demographic and economic pressure. The workforce is aging and shrinking. Labor shortages have pushed material costs higher and extended project timelines. At the same time, the country needs to replace or retrofit buildings and infrastructure constructed during the rapid economic growth period of the 1960s and 1970s. Earthquakes, typhoons, and heavy rain have also increased demand for disaster-resilient construction.

Serendix says its 3D printing method addresses all of these problems at once. The company claims its process reduces labor needs, shortens construction times, stabilizes quality, expands design freedom, and lowers environmental impact. Rather than owning all the printers itself, Serendix uses a horizontal division-of-labor model: partner companies across Japan own the printers and handle the actual construction work.

The Financing Gap

Construction 3D printers are not cheap. For small partner companies, the upfront capital required to buy a printer can be a barrier to joining Serendix's network. JA Mitsui Leasing's role is to close that gap. By offering leasing and financing for the printers and equipment, the partnership reduces the initial investment each partner needs to make. The hope is that this will accelerate the expansion of Serendix's construction network from its current base to a nationwide system capable of delivering hundreds of buildings per year.

Serendix has set ambitious targets. The company wants to complete over 100 cumulative buildings within one to two years and exceed 1,000 annual buildings within five years. It has also expanded beyond housing into infrastructure and industrial facilities, including a station building project with JR West Group and a reconstruction support project in Ukraine supervised by an architect who worked on NASA's Mars habitat studies.

What Comes Next

The alliance with JA Mitsui Leasing does not include disclosed financial terms. Serendix will continue to work with its partner companies on printer deployment while JA Mitsui Leasing develops the financing products and customer network to support them. Building lease services could open 3D-printed construction to customers who would never consider buying a structure outright, from commercial operators to local governments looking for temporary or permanent facilities.

Japan has watched construction 3D printing develop mostly through imported technology and domestic research projects. Serendix is attempting to build the first commercially scalable, locally operated system for 3D-printed buildings in the country. JA Mitsui Leasing's involvement signals that a major financial institution sees enough potential in that model to help fund it.

Bottom Line

3D-printed construction in Japan is moving from demonstration projects to business infrastructure. Serendix's partnership with JA Mitsui Leasing addresses the capital problem that has slowed deployment in every market: someone has to pay for the printers before anyone can print a house. If the financing model works, Japan could become one of the first large markets where 3D-printed buildings are financed and leased through the same channels as conventional construction.