Japan's largest power producer has overhauled its venture strategy to move faster, invest earlier and turn startup technologies into operating assets. For Takeshi Kodama, CVC is no longer about watching innovation unfold — it is about helping direct it.
For decades, energy utility company JERA built its reputation by delivering large-scale energy projects. But as the industry is reshaped by decarbonisation, digitalisation and geopolitical uncertainty, scale alone no longer guarantees competitive advantage. Increasingly, success depends on identifying emerging technologies before they become mainstream — and embedding them into the business before competitors do.
That realisation prompted a fundamental rethink of JERA's approach to venture investing.
"When we engaged with emerging technologies, it was often reactive and project-specific," says Takeshi Kodama, head and managing partner at JERA Ventures, the corporate VC arm of JERA. "We were accessing innovation only after technologies had matured, which limited our ability to shape innovation or capture early strategic advantages."
Rather than treating venture capital as a window into technological trends, Kodama has repositioned JERA Ventures as an "ambidextrous" organisation, balancing long-term technology exploration with near-term commercial integration. The goal is to create a systematic pipeline through which startups can become strategic partners and, ultimately, part of JERA's operating business.
The shift reflects a broader evolution in CVC. Energy companies once viewed venture investing largely as a way to monitor new technologies. Increasingly, however, corporate funds are expected to accelerate business transformation by bringing promising startups into core operations.
Governance built for venture speed
Achieving that ambition required more than changing investment priorities. It also meant changing how decisions were made.
Traditional corporate governance rarely matches the pace of venture investing, where funding rounds can close within days. Kodama believed JERA needed a faster process if it was to compete alongside specialist venture firms.
Within four months of joining the company, he reorganised the investment steering committee around a five-member majority-vote system and limited meetings to one hour.
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"This enables us to respond at the speed required in competitive startup funding rounds," he says.
The changes were designed to accelerate decision-making without weakening oversight. Committee members represent different parts of the business — including technology strategy, digital transformation, market intelligence and JERA's global power generation operations — ensuring investment decisions combine commercial, technical and strategic perspectives.
The result is an attempt to resolve one of CVC’s enduring tensions: moving quickly enough to remain competitive while maintaining the governance standards expected inside a major infrastructure business.
Balancing decarbonisation with energy security
That balancing act also shapes JERA Ventures' investment strategy.
As Japan's largest power producer, JERA must pursue global decarbonisation while supporting the country's energy security. Those priorities are not always aligned, particularly as geopolitical tensions continue to reshape fuel markets.
