Equity Finance Group

Leading the creative transformation of Japanese industry through the promotion of innovation

The international community has entered an age of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Coupled with rising geopolitical risks, the environment surrounding companies is changing at an unprecedented pace. Under these circumstances, Japanese companies must promote GX and DX, which are essential for creating innovations leading to sustainable growth.

Accordingly, Japanese companies seeking to acquire advanced technologies or develop new business models are increasingly making use of equity and other forms of risk capital in various scenarios, including M&A and overseas expansion. The Equity Finance Group is striving to enhance its investment operations to meet the needs of Japanese companies.

In collaboration with JBIC IG, established in June 2017, we have launched five funds. JBIC and JBIC IG, as also the JBIC Group, will continue to support structuring projects and Japanese companies’ overseas businesses by utilizing our equity investment functions.

Further, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation Act was amended in FY2023 to strengthen our startup support function. We will continue to enhance our efforts to support the innovation.

To further strengthen Japan’s economy, it is extremely important to both expand into overseas markets utilizing the technologies and track records of Japanese companies, as well as to incorporate innovative technologies from a global perspective and achieve breakthroughs.

JBIC remains a partner to Japanese companies and contributes to achieving the innovative transformation of Japanese industry. This it does not only through its financing functions, such as providing risk capital, but also by leveraging its know-how, networks, and brand power to support its portfolio companies, overseas joint venture partner companies, and the host countries themselves.

YONEYAMA Yasuaki
Managing Executive Director
Global Head of Equity Finance Group

Group Outline

The Equity Finance Group is engaged in operations related to equity investment and securitization to support Japanese industry by supplying risk capital. We handle the following:

• Operations related to equity investment and securitization
• Equity investments supporting M&A activities by Japanese companies and business alliances with overseas companies
• Equity investments through funds managed by JBIC IG Partners (JBIC IG) under the collaboration with JBIC
• Equity investment commitments over the past five years: approximately ¥170 billion (of which ¥140 billion was in the environment and renewable energy sectors)

Business Environment: Risks and Opportunities

The “Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2023,” formulated by the Japanese government in June 2023, calls for the promotion of GX, DX, and startups, as well as for a shift to a new industrial structure and the promotion of economic security policies to make Japan’s economy more resilient.
To this end, the government will strengthen its use of relevant government agencies to promote international economic cooperation, including the realization of the Asia Zero Emission Community initiative. Further, it will also encourage companies that possess both technologies and ambition to pursue overseas expansion.
In line with the Japanese government’s basic policy is recognition of the need to strengthen support for Japanese companies that aim to acquire new advanced technologies and develop new business models. Meanwhile, if these aims are to be achieved, it is becoming increasingly necessary to provide risk capital.
With regard to startup promotion, the “Startup Development Five-year Plan,” formulated by the Japanese government in November 2022, aims to cultivate a startup ecosystem in Japan. It hopes to make Japan the largest startup hub in Asia and, eventually, one of the world’s leading global locations for startups. JBIC already is developing capabilities to meet these new needs, including the use of Special Operations.

Group Strategy

Ⅰ. Realize a sustainable future

We will provide risk capital for strategic initiatives by Japanese companies that aim to enter two kinds of business. First, next-generation energy businesses (such as those related to hydrogen and storage batteries) in developed countries where framework development is ahead of schedule; and, second, renewable energy and basic infrastructure businesses in developing countries.

Ⅱ. Strengthen resilience of Japanese industry and support creative innovation

We will provide risk capital to Japanese companies engaged in projects aimed at strengthening global value and supply chains, as well as to M&A projects targeting innovative technologies and businesses.
With regard to investment in startups, the JBIC Group, including JBIC IG, is working to accumulate specific investment projects designed to help Japan’s startups enter global startup ecosystems. Meanwhile, the Group is globalizing the startup ecosystem in Japan.

Ⅲ. Provide JBIC’s own unique solutions by strategically functioning as an international financial institution

In working to structure new investment projects related to Key Focus Areas I and II, JBIC will leverage its functions in the areas of multilateral cooperation and collaboration with international organizations. It aims, thereby, to help construct and implement Japan’s foreign economic policies.

Overview of JBIC IG Partners (JBIC IG)

JBIC IG is an investment advisory firm established in June 2017, by JBIC and Industrial Growth Platform, Inc. (IGPI). JBIC IG applies the respective strengths of JBIC and IGPI as follows: JBIC has knowledge and experience of financing international projects as Japanese policy-based financial institution; IGPI has the knowledge of investments and broad experience in providing companies with hands-on support for long-term, sustainable growth in corporate and business value. JBIC IG aims to create long-term, sustainable value for Japanese investors and industries through the development of global business opportunities and a disciplined investment approach.

About JBIC IG

JBIC IG business model

Through investment advisory services to overseas funds, JBIC IG invests in overseas projects by partnering with foreign investment managers. The investments aim to promote Japanese companies' joint investments or provide opportunities for Japanese companies to collaborate with overseas companies.
Among several noteworthy achievements, one occurred in January 2019, when JBIC IG established the JB Nordic (also known as NordicNinja) venture capital fund. The fund, designed to invest in startups in the Nordic and Baltic regions, made a total of 20 investments. In March 2023, JBIC IG launched successor fund NordicNinja II, and is expanding its investment target areas to cover all Northern Europe.
In May 2023, JBIC IG collaborated with New York-based ff Venture Capital, which has a proven track record for forming funds in the U.S. and Poland. Together, the two enterprises have set up ff Red & White, a new venture capital fund that will invest in startups in Central and Eastern Europe.
Then in August 2023, JBIC IG launched the India–Japan Fund in collaboration with the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited, an Indian government-affiliated organization.
JBIC IG has brought together investee companies from the above funds with Japanese companies, and is engaged in activities to promote collaboration. It will continue to provide added value for Japanese industry through the creation of new investment funds.

Investment structure

Project Highlight

Investment in the India-Japan Fund

Signing ceremony

In August 2023, JBIC committed to making an equity investment in the Japan–India Fund, which is managed by the NIIFL, an Indian government-affiliated fund management firm, in collaboration with JBIC IG. The fund invests in Indian renewable energy, electric vehicles, waste management, water treatment, and other businesses related to environmental conservation. It also invests in local companies and projects that collaborate with Japanese companies, with a view to promoting collaboration between Japanese and Indian enterprises.
At the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) held in November 2021, the Indian government stated that it plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070. It is, thus, promoting measures to address climate change, including the introduction of renewable energy and the promotion of electric vehicles. Additionally, through initiatives such as Clean India, announced in 2014, the country is working to improve domestic sanitation, including waste disposal and water treatment.
At a time when many Japanese companies are facing disruptions to their supply chains as a result of unstable global conditions, India has been attracting attention. Given its remarkable recent economic growth and its huge market size, it has great appeal as a destination for the relocation of production bases and for new investment. Through its fund initiatives, JBIC will contribute to environmental conservation in India, as well as to maintaining and improving the international competitiveness of Japanese companies.