Sojitz Corporation has signed a contract to invest in - ‘Continuum I’, a venture fund operated by venture capital firm 3one4 Capital Advisors.

Through this investment in 3one4’s venture fund, Sojitz plans to obtain a broad range of information on market trends and promising start-ups with innovative AI and IoT technologies.

Sojitz plans to use this information to create new business in some of the industries in which it is already involved, using Sojitz’s wide-ranging network and broad knowledge base. Additionally, Sojitz also aspires to use information from Continuum I to enter unexplored business areas as well, to create new value.

Investing in India’s innovation

At the same time, Sojitz plans to open a Bengaluru office in Karnataka, India by April 2019.

“Bengaluru has become a hub for start-ups thanks to its high population of IT professionals and the many companies with global strategy offices and research development centres based in the city. Sojitz will partner with some of these start-ups to create new business geared towards the Indian and overseas markets,” said a senior Sojitz executive.

Welcoming the investment, Consul-General of Japan in Bengaluru Takayuki Kitagawa said “This is the first successful case ever since the Ministry of Economy along with JETRO started the Indo-Japan Start-up Hub last May in Bengaluru.”

“Sojitsu, one of the major trading companies in Japan, has now invested in Bengaluru exclusively for the purpose of start-up initiatives. This trend will accelerate other Japanese investors to invest in Bengaluru. This will further be facilitated by the new direct flight from Tokyo to Bengaluru that has been announced recently. The business set-up is now ready to take-off. Even though Japan has been a late comer, we are now catching up fast,” he added.

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