Hitachi Ventures establishes fourth CVC fund to invest in tech startups and new frontiers

Hitachi Ventures (HV), the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Hitachi, has announced the establishment of its fourth fund - HV Fund IV, to identify startups with the potential to create or disrupt large attractive markets, anticipate the next technological and social turning points, and generate future growth opportunities.

The fourth fund will have a size of $400 million, which is the largest CVC fund managed by Hitachi to date. The fund will make strategic investments in startups with cutting-edge digital technologies such as data centers, distributed energy systems, future of work and industrial AI, as well as startups in new frontiers including bio, quantum, nuclear fusion, life science, space and adjacent technologies. With the establishment of the fourth fund, Hitachi's investment in CVC will reach $1 billion Assets Under Management, a world-class investment scale which will further accelerate open innovation and contribute to the innovation ecosystem of startups globally.

Under the leadership of Toshiaki Tokunaga, who will be appointed as Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO in April, Hitachi aims to realize "True One Hitachi" with digital at its core and accelerate sustainable growth of Social Innovation Business. In the next Mid-term Management Plan, which is currently being formulated, Hitachi will enhance not only existing businesses but also efforts to explore new technologies and capture future growth opportunities.

The establishment of the fourth fund is intended to add on and further expand Hitachi’s investment in innovative startups to identify the next technology turning points and business model changes that will lead to business creation. To promote business creation under the new Mid-term Management Plan, this corporate venturing initiative will collaborate with “Strategic Social Innovation Business Unit,” which will be launched in April to mobilize company-wide resources and accelerate innovation.

Hitachi established Hitachi Ventures (HV) in June 2019, and now manages 3 CVC funds. HV has a startup portfolio of 38 companies, including newly born Unicorns that meet the criteria of "more than $1 billion in valuation" and "within 10 years of establishment." Additionally, about half of this portfolio has already begun collaborating with Hitachi’s business units and group companies and is making progress. These startups include: Makersite, the leader in product lifecycle intelligence software, which uses AI and data analysis to accelerate and enhance sustainable product and supply chain decision-making; Captura, which offers advanced engineered carbon dioxide removal technology; and Archetype AI, whose Physical AI foundation model, Newton, enables developers to rapidly build solutions with their real-world sensor data. These collaborations are contributing to accelerated implementation of cutting-edge technologies and business models.

By leveraging these achievements under a world-class CVC investment scale, combined with the development of cutting-edge technologies through its own R&D, Hitachi will anticipate the latest transitions in technology and society, linking them to business creation, thus achieving sustainable growth.

Keiji Kojima, President and CEO of Hitachi said, ''Hitachi's efforts in CVC, which began in 2019 with $150 million, have expanded to $1 billion in 5 years, driven in part by the disruptive innovation brought about by Generative AI. With technology trends shifting at an unprecedented speed, it is important to identify the next global change point while leveraging the external ecosystem in addition to developing cutting-edge technologies through R&D, for further growth of the Social Innovation Business. We hope that the establishment of the fourth fund will accelerate our quest for new growth opportunities.''

Stefan Gabriel, CEO and Managing Director of Hitachi Ventures said, ''We are very grateful for the trust and support from Hitachi’s Executives committing a fourth Hitachi Ventures fund. While topping up our Assets Under Management to $1 billion, Hitachi Ventures will be able to keep the speed of venture investing in future Unicorns of fast-changing growth markets in upcoming regions that create strategic and technical relevance for Hitachi’s businesses. With our minority investments we help to combine the agility, entrepreneurial spirit and speed of startups with the global industry reach, trusted expertise and financial strength of Hitachi. This will greatly accelerate the transition of Hitachi and its customers in their transformation journey and help build and grow businesses, collaborate and innovate with selected Unicorns of tomorrow.''

www.hitachi.co.jp
www.hitachi-ventures.com

Follow Marketing Report on LinkedIn