Japanese financial services giant SBI Holdings is set to launch a venture capital fund by the end of this year, with a scale of up to 100 billion Japanese yen (approximately 663 million US dollars). The fund will invest in Japanese startups in the fields of Web3, AI, metaverse, and other areas. SBI Holdings is also partnering with SC Ventures, the venture capital arm of Standard Chartered, to establish a 100 million US dollar joint venture digital asset investment company in the United Arab Emirates.
According to CoinPost, SBI Holdings will launch a fund to invest in Japanese startups in the fields of Web3, AI, metaverse, and other areas by the end of this year. The investment amount per investment is expected to range from several hundred million to several billion Japanese yen, with a total of 150 to 200 invested companies. The overall fund is expected to reach a maximum scale of 100 billion Japanese yen (approximately 663 million US dollars).
It is reported that the fund will be supported by major Japanese banks and regional banks. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Nippon Life Insurance, and Daiwa Securities Group have decided to invest over 50 billion Japanese yen in the fund.
An SBI representative stated that the financial strength of investors is crucial for nurturing startups that can compete on the global stage. Currently, Japan is facing challenges in fostering new startups, and compared to the United States and Europe, there are still fewer unicorn companies with a market value of over 100 billion Japanese yen.
The government of Fumio Kishida launched a “5-year plan” for Japanese startups in November last year, setting the investment amount for startups. The goal is to expand the scale of investment in startups from 800 billion Japanese yen last year to over 10 trillion Japanese yen (reaching 10 times) by 2027. The public and private sectors will work together to achieve this goal.
In addition to financial support, improvements in the environment are also needed. The report mentioned that one of the biggest challenges in conducting Web3 business in Japan is the tax system. The Japanese government admits that the tax system related to Web3 companies needs to be revised, and the tax reform outline that the Japanese Tax Commission is expected to finalize will be announced in mid-December.
Meanwhile, SC Ventures, the venture capital arm of Standard Chartered, announced in a press release today that it is partnering with SBI Holdings to establish a 100 million US dollar joint venture digital asset investment company in the United Arab Emirates. The focus will be on investing in companies in the digital asset field, including market infrastructure, risk and compliance tools, DeFi, tokenization, consumer payments, and metaverse.
The venture aims to make investments globally, covering seed to Series C financing rounds.
Alex Manson, CEO of SC Ventures, stated:
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