Japan Investment Corporation (JIC) has announced a limited partner (LP) investment of ¥3.5 billion (about $22.5 million) in Genesia Venture Fund IV, managed by Genesia Ventures, Inc.
In a statement last Friday, JIC said it will use this fund to focus on pre-seed and seed-stage startups. The goal is to support Genesia’s investments and help grow Japan’s startup ecosystem, especially in building global unicorns.
In Southeast Asia and India, JIC plans to strengthen partnerships between Japanese companies and local startups to help Japanese firms create new businesses and expand into new markets.
JIC also aims to support startups that use digital technology to solve problems in Japanese industries, helping to promote digital transformation (DX).
By supporting Genesia in managing this fund, JIC hopes to attract more long-term investment from institutions and increase the flow of capital into startups.
JIC said it wants to create a positive cycle of risk capital that supports the growth of new domestic industries. They plan to do this by providing funds that help companies grow stronger and more competitive through open innovation, encouraging private investments, and training investment professionals.
To reach this goal, JIC invests in important business areas through limited partner investments in funds it manages and in private funds.
Genesia mainly invests in digital businesses and some advanced technology companies. Over 80% of its investments in Japan are at the early stages, like pre-seed and seed.
Even though Genesia is a Japanese venture capital firm, it is well-known for supporting partnerships between startups in Southeast Asia and Japanese companies. It also helps Japanese companies work with local startups and has expanded its activities into India.
According to the statement, the creation of global unicorns—defined as privately held companies with an enterprise value of $1 billion or more—requires long-term, large-scale risk capital investment in the seed and pre-seed stages to expand the pool of promising startups.
Japanese companies are expected to stay competitive internationally in certain business sectors and in areas where demand is likely to grow both in Japan and around the world over the medium to long term.
In these sectors, Japanese companies will use the advanced digital technologies and innovative business models of startups in Southeast Asia and India—regions where digital transformation (DX) is progressing rapidly—to create new businesses.
Furthermore, it is anticipated that Japanese companies will be able to participate in local supply chains in Southeast Asia and India, where the digitalization of supply chains is progressing rapidly.
As such, promoting open innovation and building partnerships with the promising local startups that will be leading the digitalization push from the early stages of their growth will be crucial to achieving these outcomes, said the statement.
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