The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are common global issues and have widely been embraced worldwide, accelerated by the global pandemic. In response, many startups have emerged to tackle these shared social challenges.
However, in Japan, the reality is that the number of businesses with the ambition and potential to reach unicorn-level valuations and achieve long-term sustainable growth is limited. This may be partly due to environmental factors, such as a lack of large-scale business development opportunities in a market with an aging demographic and a declining population. But the relative immaturity of Japan’s venture capital ecosystem also plays a role. While Japan’s stock market does a great job of supporting small-scale IPOs, there is little interest nor incentive for institutional investors with full-scale advisory capabilities to invest in and support the growth of these small-scale investments from the early stages. We believe these factors may inhibit the emergence of growth companies from this ecosystem.
In addition, if Japan hopes to grow as an investment-oriented country, its aging population and the overall reduction of its workforce present Japan with a unique challenge. Throughout Japan’s high-growth period, individuals and corporations focused on maintaining wealth. So, the challenge is shifting this mentality to one focused on investment. Therefore, we believe that there is a need in Japan for services that stand in these gaps and present a responsible selection of investment targets and support their growth.
We established Investment Lab to provide growth capital and essential financial advisory services to companies that can innovate and work to solve social problems while offering alternative funds that provide investors with important value- and theme-oriented investment and portfolio diversification opportunities.
The members of Investment Lab have drawn on our many years of financial industry experience, expertise, and deep domestic and international networks to support business growth. We have observed the processes behind companies growing their market caps from 1 billion Yen to 10 billion and then from 10 billion to 100 billion. Each member of the Investment Lab team is committed to making the most of our knowledge and experience to accompany and support the management of growing companies and to provide investors with carefully selected investment opportunities. Through the success of these businesses, we hope to refine the investment culture in Japan further to help create a healthy and smooth flow of funds, investment opportunities, and a long and perpetually expanding list of growth business.
Naohide Une
Investment Lab Co.,Ltd.
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