JIC makes LP investment in Abies Ventures Fund II Investment Limited Partnership

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Driving the creation of new businesses in the Deep Tech field for Society 5.0
Supporting the global expansion of domestic startups to create unicorn startups
Expanding fundraising from institutional investors

Tokyo, August 22, 2024 – Japan Investment Corporation (“JIC”) has announced its decision
to make an LP investment of JPY1.5 billion in Abies Ventures Fund II Investment LimitedPartnership (“AVF II”), which is managed by Abies Ventures, Inc. (“Abies”), a venture capital
firm that invests in deep-tech startups.
JIC aims to stimulate a virtuous cycle of risk capital to support next-generation industries inJapan. To achieve this vision, JIC promotes open innovation as a means for supporting growthand enhancing the international competitiveness of businesses. JIC approaches thesechallenges by stimulating private sector investments in open innovation together with JIC’s own
investment, while fostering investment professionals.
To achieve its mission, JIC invests in policy-relevant strategic business areas through LP
investments in funds under JIC’s umbrella and in private funds.

About LP investment in AVF II(1) JIC investment criteria
JIC’s investment criteria* identifies “Driving the creation of new businesses for Society 5.0” and“Creating unicorn startups” as two of its investment focus areas. Specifically, JIC believes that
it is necessary to provide long-term, large-scale risk capital for social implementation oftechnologies related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as AI, IoT, and robotics, as wellas business fields that can be globally competitive, such as biotechnology, drug discovery,
healthcare, mobility, space, materials, and electronic devices, as well as for the creation ofunicorns—defined as privately held companies with an enterprise value of USD1 billion ormore—that can grow their business sustainably with competitive global economic strength.
*https://www.j-ic.co.jp/en/investment/criteria/(2) Current status of investment market
To realize Society 5.0, it is critically important to support startups working on deep tech, atechnology that has the potential to have a significant impact on solving social issues byleveraging discontinuous innovation based on physical technology that also makes use ofdigital technology and which requires a long-term and large-scale supply of capital from theresearch and development stage through to market launch. Due to the declining birthrate andaging population, the size of the Japanese domestic market is shrinking relative to the globalmarket, and while expanding into the global market is important for many startups, they arerequired to deal with a variety of challenges including different regulations, business practices,1

cultures and languages in each country or region, and it is desirable to receive support from aVC with a wealth of knowledge.
(3) About AVF II
Abies has accumulated expertise and know-how by identifying investment sectors in the four
deep tech areas of 1) robotics/mobility, 2) advanced information processing/communication
technology, 3) new materials/environmental technology, and 4) space. Abies plans to focus on
deep tech investments in the same areas for AVF II. Through the investment in AVF II, JIC
expects to contribute to the creation of new businesses and new industries for Society 5.0 by
expanding the supply of risk capital in the deep tech sector where private capital is inadequate,
and accelerating the implementation of deep tech in society.
Abies’ strength lies in its ability to support the overseas business development of its investees
and their fundraising from overseas investors by leveraging its global network of key members.
JIC expects that its LP investment in AVF II will promote the global expansion of domestic
deep-tech startups to create unicorn startups.
JIC also expects to expand fundraising from institutional investors and stimulate inflow ofmedium- to long-term risk capital for the deep tech sector by providing funding andmanagement support for the fund managed by Abies which has competitive knowledge and arobust network in the deep tech field.
Overview of AVF II
Name:
Established:
Duration:GP:

Abies Ventures Fund II Investment Limited Partnership2024
10 years (with a possible extension of 2 years)
Abies Ventures GP II LLP

Overview of Abies
Name:
Established:
Address:
Representative:

Abies Ventures, Inc.
2017
Tokyo
Fuyuki Yamaguchi

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(For reference)
JIC’s fund investment strategy(For reference)
Objectives of JIC’s LP investments
1. Stimulate the supply of risk capital to help companies grow and to enhance their competitiveness
JIC intends to provide capital to areas that are essential from the perspective of strengthening industrial
competitiveness but lack private investment capital (investment strategies, sectors, stages, regions, etc.)with the aim of stimulating private investment capital in the short term and medium-long term.
2. Create diverse investment teams, professionals, and strategies to support a virtuous cycle of risk capital
1) Investment teams
JIC promotes growth of the investee funds as a leader in the intermediary of risk capital provided byinstitutional investors (pension funds, foreign investors, etc.) towards the establishment of future funds. This
will be achieved by expanding experience and track records among its fund investment team (managementcompany) and by further improving its ability to respond to institutional investors.
2) Investment professionals
With the cooperation of industry organizations such as JVCA, institutional investors, and investee
managers, JIC supports the research and introduction of best practices of managers and the developmentof human resources serving as investment professionals.
3) Investment strategy

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JIC will add diversity and depth to the market by making an LP investment in funds even for those withstrategies that are not common in Japan yet, in response to their fund raising, including at the time of its
establishment.

About Japan Investment Corporation (JIC)
Japan Investment Corporation (“JIC”) was established on September 25, 2018 under theIndustrial Competitiveness 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 business consolidation across industries andorganizations. JIC provides risk capital to these areas through funds independently established
by JIC and LP investment in private funds to promote open innovation and contribute tostrengthening the competitiveness of Japanese industries and expanding the investment
ecosystem.
URL: https://www.j-ic.co.jp/en/

Press Contacts
Japan Investment Corporation
Corporate Planning, Communications Group:
Okumura (070-3960-3640), Nonomiya (080-1339-5207)
Tokyo Toranomon Global Square 9F,
1-3-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0001

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