JIC makes LP investment in Kepple Liquidity Fund 2

Tokyo, October29, 2025 – Japan Investment Corporation (“JIC”) has announced its decision to makean LP investment of JPY3 billion in Kepple Liquidity Fund 2 (“Kepple LF2”), whichis managed by Kepple Group, Inc. (“Kepple”).

JIC’s mission is to create a virtuouscycle of risk capital that supports the next generation of domestic industriesby providing funds to help companies grow and strengthen their competitivenessthrough open innovation, promotion of private investment, and the developmentof investment professionals. To achieve its mission, JIC invests inpolicy-relevant strategic business areas through LP investments in funds underJIC’s umbrella and in private funds.

About LP investment in Kepple LF2

(1) Current status of investmentmarket

The Japanese marketis expected to see an increase in the number of domestic VC funds reachingtheir maturity dates, and startups that have received investment from thesefunds are expected to face growing pressure to exit.

In addition to IPO,VCs have several options for exiting from their startup investments, includingM&A and secondary transactions, in which a VC transfers their investment toanother investor. However, the number of secondary players—whose role is to acquireequity stakes from VCs—remains limited in Japan. Moreover, the supply ofprivate risk capital to secondary funds is also limited, which is one of thereasons why VC funds are forced to pursue relatively small IPOs before theirportfolio startups have fully matured and scaled in order to recover their investmentswithin the fund’s lifespan. Consequently, creating secondary players has been anurgent priority for fostering growth opportunities for startups.

(2) About Kepple LF2

Kepple focuses ondirect secondary investments, a segment within secondary investment strategieswhere private capital is particularly scarce. Kepple LF2 targets mid- to late-stagestartups and pursues a strategy of acquiring existing shareholder stakesdirectly through secondary transactions. Kepple LF2 is expected to function asa vehicle for further boosting the growth curve of startups that werepreviously forced into smaller exits, such as small IPOs.

Through thisinvestment, JIC aims to strengthen investment activities in mid- to late-stagestartups through secondary transactions, thereby creating opportunities fordomestic startups to achieve sufficient growth and, ultimately, contribute tothe creation of unicorns. Development of the secondary market is also expectedto contribute to growth of the domestic ecosystem by facilitating thecirculation of risk capital, including the creation of new investmentopportunities for startups through pre-IPO recovery of funds. Furthermore,through various forms of support for Kepple, including fund managementassistance, JIC expects to generate spillover effects in terms of attractingprivate investment capital and expanded fundraising by institutional investors,thereby contributing to Kepple’s growth as a GP.

Overview of Kepple LF2

Name:                               Kepple LiquidityFund 2

Established:                     June 2025

Duration:                          7.5 years (with apossible extension of 2 years)  

GP:                                    KeppleLiquidity Fund 2 Limited Liability Partnership

Overview of management company

Name:                               Kepple Group,Inc.

Established:                     May 2023

Address:                           Minato-ku, Tokyo

Representative:   Representative Director, CEO, General PartnerTakahiro Kanzaki

(Reference) JIC fund investment strategy

(For reference)

Objectives of JIC’s LPinvestments

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 in September 2018 under the IndustrialCompetitiveness Enhancement Act. JIC’s investment focus areas are creating avirtuous cycle of domestic investment and innovation; creating and fosteringstartups; leveraging promising untapped management resources lying dormant inlocal areas, including startups from academia and medium-sized companies; andpromoting business restructuring in response to changes in market and businessenvironments. JIC provides risk capital to these areas through fundsindependently established by JIC and LP investment in private funds to promoteopen innovation in Japan, strengthen the competitiveness of Japanese industries,and contribute to expansion of Japan’s investment ecosystem.