JIC and Atomico hold event to promote development of Japan’s startup ecosystem: “Innovation Summit ~Learnings from the European tech ecosystem~”

・European VC co-host shared insights from the European startupecosystem

・Expressed expectations for growing entrepreneurship in Japan whilehighlighting the importance of the Japanese market

・Introduced Atomico's advanced support program for portfoliocompanies, which focuses on entrepreneurs

Tokyo, November15, 2024 – JapanInvestment Corporation (“JIC”) has announced that on November 7, 2024, itco-hosted an event to promote the development of Japan’s startup ecosystem, “InnovationSummit ~Learnings from the European tech ecosystem~”, together with Atomico(UK) Partners LLP (“Atomico”), a venture capital firm investing mainly in theEuropean tech sector. In February 2024, JIC announced that it had made limitedpartner investments in funds managed by Atomico*, and that relationship madethis event possible.

■ About the event

Participants in the event included NiklasZennström, Atomico founder and CEO, and Tom Wehmeier, an Atomico partner withdeep knowledge of the European tech sector. The agenda included a discussion ofthe evolution of the European startup ecosystem and the support measures thatAtomico provides to portfolio companies as well as the role that VCs shouldplay in the development of the Japanese startup ecosystem and the kind ofsupport that should be provided to portfolio companies. Approximately 70 JapaneseVC and government officials attended the event, sharing knowledge and buildingrelationships.

In a fireside chat between Zennström andJIC CIO Toshiyuki Kumura, Zennström sought to encourage Japanese VCs by explainingthat it took a while for the startup ecosystem in Europe to develop andunicorns to emerge, so Japan also needs to be patient and wait for successstories of its own. Emphasizing the importance of the Japanese market, he notedthat the number of entrepreneurs in Japan with outstanding entrepreneurialspirit continues to increase and that several notable companies have begun toemerge.

He also cited the importance of governmentand public-private funds for the sustainable growth of Japan's startupecosystem, explaining that the European Investment Fund has played a major rolein the growth of the European startup ecosystem.

The event also introduced the advancedmeasures that Atomico has adopted to support its portfolio companies, includingthe “Growth Acceleration Program” under which experts with specialist knowledgeof funding, recruitment, internal and external communication, and businessdevelopment provide support to portfolio companies, and the “Conscious Scaling”program, which utilizes dialogue with entrepreneurs to identify ESG factorsrelated to the portfolio company’s business, embed ESG and DE&I policiesinto the company’s business model from the initial stage and achieve bothlong-term profitability improvement and a positive impact on society.

■ About JIC initiatives

JIC’s mission is to create a virtuouscycle of risk money that supports Japan's next-generation industries. JICpromotes private investment and develops human resources for investment byproviding funds that allow companies to grow and strengthen their competitivenessthrough open innovation. To achieve its mission, JIC will continue to focus notonly on LP investments in private funds and investments in companies by fundsunder its umbrella, but also on creating opportunities, like this event, forsharing advanced knowledge from overseas and networking activities.

As a public-private fund, JIC is also focusingon promoting DE&I, and when reviewing potential investments in the futureis considering confirming whether or not they are implementing measures toprevent harassment, conducting post-investment monitoring and providing supportwhen needed. Based on the insights gained from this event, JIC has reaffirmedthe need to embed DE&I into the startup ecosystem, and will continue toactively incorporate DE&I perspectives into JIC's investment activities whileworking with companies and VCs to continue to improve the environment.

Event overview

* JIC makes LP investments inAtomico Venture VI SCSp and Atomico Growth VI SCSp (February 29, 2024)

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.