Shinsei Bank to invest in Fukushima Growth Industry Development Fund

Shinsei Bank announced Friday that it will join a consortium of investors that includes NEC Capital Solutions to invest in the Fukushima Growth Industry Development Fund, a limited liability investment business partnership established on Oct 3 by Venture Labo Co Ltd.

The fund aims to support growth industries, including unlisted companies, in Fukushima Prefecture, one of the areas in Japan that was impacted by the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The fund will focus specifically on attracting small- and medium-sized enterprises to Fukushima Prefecture, and supporting their development by providing growth funding (equity investment) to companies and other organizations that establish new facilities in the prefecture.

In addition to investing in the fund, Shinsei Bank said it intends to help generate employment opportunities and contribute to industrial development in Fukushima through offering not only financing, but also practical support to target companies in cooperation with Venture Labo Group. The bank aims to expedite the post-disaster recovery process in Fukushima, and contribute to the prefecture’s ongoing economic development.

In alignment with Fukushima’s recovery and industrial policy, the fund will focus on the sustainable energy and medical fields as primary investment targets, and strive to generate synergies with the prefecture’s own efforts in these areas.

In March, Shinsei established a VBI (Venture Banking Initiative) Promotion Division as part of a new strategy for its institutional business, and is now actively providing business incubation services (development of new business domains and regional revitalization). In this business, the bank offers multi-faceted management solutions, focusing on companies whose technologies or business model possess latent growth potential, development of new business domains, and businesses that will lead to regional revitalization, in order to support and nurture growth industries.

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