Japan-based diversified trading group Sojitz has partnered venture capital firm Fenox Venture Capital to launch a $33m corporate venturing fund.
Fenox will manage the fund, which will invest in global startups that bolster Sojitz’s existing areas of business as well as creating new ones. Sojitz is also establishing an investment framework in the city of Tokyo to work with startups.
The existence of the fund was disclosed by the firms late last month, and Anis Uzzaman, founding partner and CEO of Fenox, revealed the size of the partnership in a Facebook post.
Sojitz is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and has approximately 400 subsidiaries and affiliates in range of industries including transport, energy, mineral resources, chemicals, agricultural resources, consumer goods and industrial operations.
Uzzaman said in the post: “We are very happy to announce that top Japanese trading company Sojitz just opened a $33m fund that will be managed by our Fenox VC team. Sojitz’s goal is to target and invest in startups using Fenox’s global network.”
Fenox invests between $250,000 and $10m a time in developers of IT, healthcare software, artificial intelligence, internet-of-things, robotics, big data, virtual reality, augmented reality and financial technology.
The firm launched a $20m fund in partnership with Japan-headquartered entertainment group Sega Sammy in October 2018, having formed a $50m vehicle with Japan-based automotive components manufacturer Aisin Group seven months earlier.