・Drive creationof new businesses that link global warming measures to growth for Society 5.0
・Invest in deep techfor decarbonization
・Build a decarbonizationstartup ecosystem
Tokyo, September 16, 2022 – Japan Investment Corporation (“JIC”) has announcedits decision to make an LP investment in EEI Fund 5 Innovation & ImpactInvestment Limited Partnership (“EEI5”), a fund managed by Energy &Environment Investment, Inc. (“EEI”).
JIC aims to stimulate a virtuous cycle ofrisk capital to support next-generation industries in Japan. To achieve this vision, JICpromotes open innovation as a means of supporting growth and enhancing the internationalcompetitiveness of businesses. JIC approaches these challenges by stimulating privatesector investments in open innovation together with JIC’s own investment, whilefostering investment professionals.
About LP investment in EEI5
JIC makes LP investments to private funds based on its investmentstrategies. JIC has signed an LP investment agreement committing to invest JPY3billion in EEI5.
1. Background
In JIC’s investment criteria*,“Driving the creation of new businesses for Society 5.0” is listed as an investmentfocus area. Specifically, the criteria stipulates that long-term andlarge-scale risk capital is needed for “social implementation of technologiesrelated to the fourth industrial revolution, such as AI, IoT, and robotics, aswell as business fields with competitive potential globally, such asbiotechnology, drug discovery, healthcare, mobility, space, raw materials, andelectronic devices.”
*※https://www.j-ic.co.jp/en/investment/criteria/
With more than 120 countries and regionsaiming to be carbon neutral by 2050, the Japanese government and corporationsare making bold investments based on this goal, and an international trend isaccelerating to address climate change issues as opportunities for growth. InJapan, the creation of groundbreaking innovations in the decarbonization areais essential to realize Society 5.0 and carbon neutrality by 2050, and this isexpected to create new businesses utilizing innovative Japanese technology.
2. About EEI5
EEI5 is a fund managed by EEI, which was founded in Japan as a fund managementcompany specializing in environmental energy.
EEI5 invests in startups with innovative business models and technologiesthat contribute to the realization of a sustainable society with a focus ondecarbonization in the three investment areas of Energy Transition, Mobility& Transportation, and Smart Society. EEI5 targets all stages of startupsfor investment, primarily investing in the seed/early stages, and will alsoactively pursue follow-on investments in the middle/later stages.
Through the LP investment in EEI5, JIC expects to: 1) promote the creationof new businesses that link global warming measures to growth for Society 5.0;2) supplement the lack of private investment funds for deep tech R&D in thedecarbonization area and its social implementation; and 3) encourage GPs,operating companies, and institutional investors in Japan to enter thedecarbonization area by helping form a startup ecosystem in the decarbonizationarea as an anchor investor, therebystimulating private investment.
Overview of EEI5
Name: EEI Fund 5 Innovation& Impact Investment Limited Partnership
Established: September 2022
Duration: 10 years (with apossible extension of 2 years)
GP: EEIGP5 Limited Liability Partnership
Overview of management company
Name: Energy & Environment Investment, Inc.
Established: March 2006
Address: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
President: Shuichiro Kawamura
(For reference)
JIC’s fund investment strategy
(For reference)
Objectives of JIC’s LP investments
1. Stimulate the supply of risk capital to helpcompanies grow and to enhance their competitiveness
JIC intends to provide capital to areas that areessential from the perspective of strengthening industrial competitiveness butlack private investment capital (investment strategies, sectors, stages,regions, etc.) with the aim of stimulating private investment capital in theshort term and medium-long term.
2. Create diverse investment teams, professionals, andstrategies to support a virtuous cycle of risk capital
1) Investmentteams
JIC promotes growth of the investee fundsas a leader in the intermediary of risk capital provided by institutionalinvestors (pension funds, foreign investors, etc.) towards the establishment offuture funds. This will be achieved by expanding experience and track recordsamong its fund investment team (management company) and by further improvingits ability to respond to institutional investors.
2) Investmentprofessionals
With the cooperation of industryorganizations such as JVCA, institutional investors, and investee managers, JICsupports the research and introduction of best practices of managers and thedevelopment of human resources serving as investment professionals.
3) Investmentstrategy
JIC will add diversity and depth to themarket by making an LP investment in funds even for those with strategies thatare not common in Japan yet, in response to their fund raising, including atthe time of its establishment.
About Japan Investment Corporation (JIC)
Japan InvestmentCorporation (“JIC”) was established on September 25, 2018 under the IndustrialCompetitiveness Enhancement Act. JIC’s investment focus areas are driving thecreation of new businesses for Society 5.0, creating "unicorn startups",leveraging promising untapped regional technologies and promoting businessconsolidation across industries and organizations. JIC provides risk capital tothese areas through funds independently established by JIC and LP investment inprivate funds to promote open innovation and contribute to strengthening thecompetitiveness of Japanese industries and expanding the investment ecosystem.
Press Contacts
Japan Investment Corporation
Corporate Planning, Communications Group:
Tokyo Toranomon Global Square 9F,
1-3-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0001
