JIC makes LP investment in Transpose Platform BOV II, L.P.

・  Creating global unicorns from Japan with thesupport of global accelerators

・   Increasingthe number of domestic startups pursuing global expansion from the early stage

・   StrengtheningJapan’s startup ecosystem by sharing knowledge of the global market, etc.

Tokyo, May 24, 2024 –Japan Investment Corporation (“JIC”) has announced its decision to make an LPinvestment of USD30 million in Transpose Platform BOV II, L.P. (“BOV II”),which is managed by Transpose Platform Management, LLC (“Transpose”). Transposewas established in the United States and manages a global formation-focusedfund that invests directly in startups and VC firms.

JICseeks to stimulate a virtuous cycle of risk capital to support next-generationindustries in Japan. To achieve this vision, JIC promotes open innovation as a means for supportinggrowthand enhancing the international competitiveness of businesses. JIC approachesthesechallenges by stimulating private sector investments in open innovationtogether with JIC’s own investment, while fostering investment professionals.

Toachieve its mission, JIC invests in policy-relevant strategic business areasthrough LP investments in funds under JIC’s umbrella and in private funds.

About LP investment in BOV II

(1) JIC investment criteria

JIC’sinvestment criteria* identifies “Creating unicorn startups” as a focus area. Along-term, large-scale supply of risk capital is required for “creatingunicorns aspiring to grow their businesses sustainably and competitively on aglobal level.”

*https://www.j-ic.co.jp/en/investment/criteria/

(2) Current status of investment market

Asthe domestic market shrinks in relative terms due to the declining birthrateand aging population, it is important for startups that aspire to grow intounicorns and startups with enterprise values exceeding those of unicorns toexpand into the global market. Overseas startup studios and acceleratorsprovide educational programs and access to networking opportunities toentrepreneurs and early-stage startups, helping to create global startups withenterprise values beyond those of unicorns.

Webelieve that obtaining early-stage support from notable startup studios andaccelerators operating globally in respect to developing products, services,and business models while looking to expanding overseas, adopting capitalpolicies in line with global standards, and building organizational structuresis an effective way for domestic startups to grow into global unicorns, and itis necessary to increase opportunities for Japanese startups to obtain suchsupport.

(3) About BOV II

Transpose,including funds in which it has invested, has helped to  create numerous unicorns and decacorns. BOVII invests in funds managed by Y Combinator (“YC”), one of the world's leadingaccelerators, and has developed a deep relationship with YC. YC has made phasedinvestments in companies participating in its educational program for startupsand has invested in more than 4,000 investments to date. It has also producednumerous global unicorns by providing a variety of support through itseducational programs, sharing its knowledge of successful entrepreneurialpractices and utilizing its network of leading VC firms and global investors.Given Japan's wealth of technological talent and research institutionsincluding universities, Transpose aims to leverage its relationship with YC andothers to help revitalize the Japanese startup market.

JIChas been committed to investing in overseas VCs to strengthen ties betweendomestic VCs and startups and overseas VCs, which pursues “Go Global” as one ofthe priority investment areas for the development of Japan's startup ecosystem.

Throughthe investment in BOV II that will invest in funds managed by YC, JIC expectsthat Transpose will work with YC to organize educational programs andnetworking events in Japan to provide an opportunity for Japanese entrepreneursand early-stage startups which are applied to/entitled to the activities toreceive feedback. JIC also expects that these initiatives will lead to theincrease of domestic startups that will be invested by YC in the future. JICfurther expects that increasing the number of high-quality early-stage startupslooking to global expansion and enabling them to raise funds from globalinvestors will lead to the creation of global unicorns from Japan. In addition,JIC expects that the knowledge of global accelerators about the creation ofunicorns and global practices will be shared with entrepreneurs, startups andVCs to contribute to strengthening the domestic startup ecosystem.

Overview of BOV II

Name:                       Transpose Platform BOV II, L.P.

Established:             2024

Duration:                  12 years (with a possible extension of 2 years)

GP:                            Transpose Platform BOV II GP, LLC

Overview of Transpose

Name:                      Transpose Platform Management, LLC

Established:            2015

Address:                  Texas, U.S.

Co-Founder& General Partner: Alex Bangash, Trang Nguyen

(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 "unicornstartups", leveraging promising untapped regional technologies andpromoting business consolidation across industries and organizations. JICprovides risk capital to these areas through funds independently established byJIC and LP investment in private funds to promote open innovation andcontribute to strengthening the competitiveness of Japanese industries andexpanding the investment ecosystem.