MPower Partners announces its growth investment in Teamshares

July 31, 2024; Tokyo, Japan: MPower Partners Fund, Japan’s first ESG-focused global venture
capital fund, has invested in Teamshares (headquartered in New York, NY and operating inJapan; founders Michael Brown, Alex Eu, and Kevin Shiiba), an employee ownership platform
for small businesses. Teamshares recently expanded its employee ownership succession modelto Japan and anticipates having its first employee-owned business in Japan this year.
Small business succession is becoming a major socio-economic problem in many developed
countries, putting jobs and local economies at risk. In particular, Japan and the U.S. sharesimilar issues where family-based small business succession has become very rare, and sellinga small business remains challenging. The result is an overall supply-demand imbalance
between sellers and buyers, leading business owners to work late into retirement age and insome cases, shut down operations entirely.
Founded in 2019, Teamshares is on a mission to make employee ownership the future of small
business by creating a network of 10,000 employee-owned companies and $10 billion in stock
wealth for employees. Teamshares buys successful small businesses from retiring owners andtransitions them to 80% employee ownership within 20 years. The result is a network offinancially durable, permanently employee-owned companies that will never be sold again—to
the benefit of retiring owners, employee shareholders, companies, and local communities alike.
Teamshares has acquired over 90 U.S. small businesses to date, representing 31 states, 42
industries, and more than 2,600 new employee owners, and it expects to establish its first
employee-owned business in Japan this year.
MPower Partners has made a growth equity investment in Teamshares. It aligns perfectly withthe fund’s vision of integrating ESG principles into the core strategies of market-leading
startups. Teamshares is a business that is good for small business owners, their employees,
local economies, and Teamshares shareholders, and very much a ‘Sanpo Yoshi’ businessmodel. We are excited to help support and catalyze Teamshares’ Japan expansion, joining otherlocal partners, MUFG Innovation Partners and Nomura Holdings.

Comments from Teamshares“Teamshares is very grateful for the opportunity to partner with MPower. As we expand ouremployee ownership succession model to Japan, we are building relationships with leading
institutions that can help accelerate our progress and help us earn the trust of local
stakeholders. Our goal is to authentically adapt the Teamshares model to align with the specificcharacteristics and needs of Japan's economy,” said Kevin Shiiba, Founder, CTO, and Head ofJapan for Teamshares.
About Teamshares
Teamshares is an employee ownership platform for small businesses, driven by proprietary
software, education, and financial products. Its mission is to make employee ownership thefuture of small business—creating $10 billion in new stock wealth for wage workers along theway. Teamshares buys traditional small businesses from retiring owners and transitions them to80% employee ownership within 20 years, providing new leadership and ongoing access tofinancial education, equity management software, and other specialized products. The company
has acquired over 90 U.S. small businesses to date, representing more than 2,600 employee
owners. Founded in 2019, Teamshares has 125 employees across North America and Japan.

Learn more at https://teamshares.com/ and https://www.teamshares.co.jp/

About MPower Partners
MPower Partners Fund is Japan’s first ESG-integrated global venture capital fund that aims tosupport entrepreneurs providing solutions to societal challenges through the power oftechnology, and to promote sustainable growth by incorporating ESG (Environment, Social,Governance) into their core business strategies. The founding team draws on their extensive
experience in the financial industry and ESG matters to support the global expansion of startups
and strives to infuse ESG elements into the ecosystem.
Fund website: https://www.mpower-partners.com
For inquiries, please contact: info@mpower-partners.com
This press release has been prepared for the purpose of providing information to qualified
institutional investors and potential portfolio companies of the Fund, and is not a disclosure
document pursuant to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, and does not constitute a
solicitation or recommendation to purchase the Fund.