E- chem Search

What E- chem Search does

E-chemsearch (イーケムサーチ合同会社 / e-chemsearch G.K.) is a privately held Japanese limited liability company headquartered in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, operating a CAS-number-keyed chemical database that connects buyers of raw materials with chemical manufacturers, trading companies, and suppliers worldwide. The platform contains approximately 1.5 million chemical items and over 15,000 registered suppliers, with a stated specialization in raw materials and intermediates used in small molecule pharmaceutical manufacturing. Its core technology is a CAS Registry Number search engine paired with a verified peer-review system (up to 3 stars) and a free web-based quote request function, supporting both Japanese and English interfaces. The company generates revenue primarily through annual membership subscriptions paid by chemical manufacturers and trading companies seeking visibility to procurement teams searching by CAS number, supplemented by premium listing features such as priority ranking, banner placements, and product page customization. In November 2022, e-chemsearch extended its offering with e-ChemDrive, a chemical-specific online storage service that enables secure sharing of quotes, COA/SDS documents, and inquiry histories between buyers and suppliers under three configurable access permission models (Bidding/Quote, Project, and Company-only). The company is operationally lean, privately funded with no disclosed institutional capital, and grows its catalog primarily through trade show participation (CPHI Japan, CPHI SEA) and supplier onboarding, with a recent geographic sourcing expansion into India-origin raw materials in 2025.

Name

E- chem Search

Legal name

イーケムサーチ合同会社

Website

https://e-chemsearch.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

E-chemsearch (e-chemsearch G.K.) is a Japanese chemical database platform enabling CAS-number-based searches across 1.5 million+ items and 15,000+ suppliers worldwide, serving raw material procurement teams at chemical and small molecule pharmaceutical manufacturers through annual supplier subscriptions and the e-ChemDrive document-sharing add-on.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Chemical Supplier Marketplace

NAICS

Chemical and Allied Products Merchant Wholesalers (4246)

SIC

Wholesale-Chemicals & Allied Products (5160)

akta.pro primary industry

Chemicals, Ingredients & Raw Materials Marketplaces (CRAFAHAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Full-Line Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (HLAIAJAA)

Keywords

• Chemical supplier database
• CAS number search
• Pharmaceutical raw materials
• Chemical B2B marketplace
• Supplier sourcing platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Not specified

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Supplier Annual Membership: Annual membership fee paid by chemical manufacturers and trading companies (suppliers) to register and list their products on the e-chemsearch database. Provides visibility to global chemical and pharmaceutical companies actively searching by CAS number.
2. Premium Listing Features: Additional paid features for registered suppliers including homepage banner ads, priority CAS search ranking, highlighted display, contact information display, photo/logo uploads, PDF attachments, and product listing pages.
3. e-ChemDrive Storage Service: Online storage service for chemical industry documents enabling file sharing between buyers and suppliers with configurable access permissions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

e-chemsearch operates an online CAS-number-based database platform that helps chemical and pharmaceutical buyers locate manufacturers, suppliers, and trading companies worldwide. The catalog covers 1.5 million+ chemical items across 15,000+ suppliers, with vertical specialization in raw materials and intermediates for small-molecule pharmaceutical manufacturing. Revenue comes from paid annual supplier memberships, premium listing features, and the e-ChemDrive add-on document storage service, while buyer-side search, supplier reviews, and quote requests are free.

Product overview

e-chemsearch offers a unified database platform for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, combining a core CAS number search database with an integrated online storage module called e-ChemDrive. The main platform enables searches across 1.5 million+ chemical items and 15,000+ suppliers worldwide, while e-ChemDrive extends functionality by providing secure file sharing capabilities (quotations, COA, SDS) between companies and their suppliers with configurable access permissions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• e-ChemDrive: A chemical-specific online storage service for sharing quote information, inquiry history, and other files between companies and suppliers with customizable access permissions.

Products and services

• e-chemsearch Chemical Database Online CAS-number-keyed database for chemical and pharmaceutical buyers to locate manufacturers, suppliers, and trading companies worldwide, specializing in raw materials and intermediates for small-molecule pharmaceutical manufacturing. Includes a verified buyer review and star-rating system, free web quote-request functionality, supplier information PDFs, and search history sharing within company groups.
• e-ChemDrive Online Storage Service Online storage and file-sharing add-on for chemical-industry documents including COA, SDS, quotes, inquiry histories, and company information PDFs, with three access permission models: Bidding/Quote acquisition, Project-based, and Company-only modes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Database grew from 1 million+ items to 1.5 million+ items between 2021 and 2025
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• ChemNet (Cnw.com.cn): ChemNet is a long-established China-headquartered chemical B2B marketplace that catalogs chemical suppliers and products, comparable in business model but primarily serving the China/Asia market rather than competing head-on in Japan.

Direct peers

• ChemSources: ChemSources is a chemical supplier directory serving pharmaceutical and chemical buyers seeking manufacturers and trading companies — closely matching e-chemsearch's supplier-discovery and quote-request value proposition.
• LookChem: LookChem operates a CAS-keyed chemical product search and supplier directory used by procurement teams, directly comparable to e-chemsearch's CAS search and quote-request workflow.
• MOLBASE: MOLBASE is a China-based chemical sourcing and search platform combining CAS-number product search with supplier catalog data, competing for the same buyer-supplier matching workflow that e-chemsearch serves in Japan.
• ChemicalBook: ChemicalBook is a global chemical product directory and search platform that helps buyers find suppliers and product information by CAS number, overlapping directly with e-chemsearch's core buyer-supplier matching use case.

Emerging players

• PharmaCompass: PharmaCompass provides a directory of API and pharmaceutical ingredient suppliers with comparable buyer-discovery functionality, particularly relevant given e-chemsearch's focus on small-molecule pharma raw materials.

Broad incumbents

• ThomasNet: ThomasNet is a large North American industrial sourcing platform covering chemicals among many other categories. It serves the same supplier-discovery use case as e-chemsearch but as part of a much broader industrial marketplace.
• PubChem: PubChem is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public chemistry database offering CAS-keyed compound data. While not a paid supplier marketplace, it competes for attention from the same chemical procurement professionals and is a baseline alternative in the buyer's toolset.
• ChemSpider: ChemSpider is a free chemistry search engine providing compound data across multiple sources, comparable as a free CAS-keyed discovery tool that complements or substitutes for e-chemsearch's paid premium supplier listings.
• Alibaba 1688 (chemical categories): Alibaba's 1688 marketplace includes large chemical raw material categories with built-in supplier messaging and RFQ. It competes for the same international chemical procurement wallet but as part of a massive general B2B marketplace rather than a niche database.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about E- chem Search