The gas utility will back startups in food and agriculture, wellness, real estate and tourism as it seeks to use corporate VC to expand its business.
Japanese gas utility Toho Gas launched its first corporate venture capital fund yesterday with ¥5bn ($33m) that will be targeted at what it views as new infrastructure areas.
Shin Infrastructure Fund is being managed by Ignition Point Venture Partners, the VC offshoot of consulting firm Ignition Point, and is targeting four overarching sectors: food and agriculture, wellness and well-being, real estate and tourism.
The fund will invest in domestic startups in those fields from seed stage onwards. Toho is seeking to forge partnerships with them in the hope the corporate can create new businesses extending beyond gas provision.
Japan is the world’s largest liquid natural gas importer, but consumption peaked a decade ago and is trending downwards as renewable energy makes up more of the grid. Imports have also become less reliable due to geopolitical turmoil in areas like Russia.
Although announced this week, the fund has been operational since December last year. Toho took part in a series D round for Terra Charge, creator of a payment system for electric vehicle charging, and invested in solar project developer Shira Solar.
