Development Bank of Japan (DBJ), Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Company (Mitsubishi UFJ Lease) and Fuyo General Lease (FGL) have committed to Airbus Ventures Fund III.
The move reflects Airbus Ventures’ success in local deals, such as Telexistence and Infostellar, in Japan under partner Lewis Pinault and adviser Yuichiro Hikosaka.
Through its Airbus Ventures investment, DBJ said it would “support the growth of ripple-effect technologies that develop in Japan as a result of the fund’s investment”, while Mitsubishi UFJ Lease aimed to expand its businesses into new fields and FGL has “aircraft” as one of its strategic domains.
Airbus Ventures has also clarified its management in the past two years since the departure of Francois Auque to Rexel leaving Thomas D’Halluin as sole managing partner.
Its strategy is to develop portfolio companies across an aerospace “ecosystem” it calls z-space, “advancing the future of autonomous transportation systems and electrification, new launch and satellite systems, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotic interfaces extending the human reach, and entertainment and educational companies that will take a million minds to space.
“In essence, we are investing in the system of systems that can rapidly accelerate humanity’s ascent of the vertical axis, from the ground to orbit, to deep space.”
This goal is expensive and with the covid-19 reduction in the economy, especially flights and airline purchases, having third-party limited partners makes sense. Airbus had previously committed to Seraphim Capital’s space-focused VC fund and now bringing in external LPs shows the increasingly intertwined nature of the venture ecosystem.
Others will follow from a host of different sectors.
