Japan-based internet-of-things (IoT) incubator AbbaLab has raised about ¥1.5bn ($13.7m) for its first dedicated fund, from backers including Hon Hai Precision Industry, the parent company of manufacturing services provider Foxconn, The Bridge reported on Monday.
The corporate, which invested through its Hon Hai Venture Capital Fund 2020, was joined by diversified conglomerate Sojitz, cloud services provider Sakura Internet, startup hub and venture capital fund Mistletoe, and undisclosed angel investors.
AbbaLab previously functioned through capital supplied by CEO Osamu Ogasahara, and had invested in nine companies, including virtual reality headset developer Fove. The fund, which will be redeemed over a 10-year period, is currently named AbbaLab IoE 1st Investment Limited Liability Partnership.
The company will use the fund to invest in IoT hardware developers as well as startups working on IoT-oriented products and services. It will invest from the pre-seed prototyping stage to series A.