ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter "ITOCHU") announced today that ITOCHU Technology Ventures, Inc. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Suguru Yamaryo, President & CEO; hereinafter "ITV"), a subsidiary of ITOCHU that conducts a venture capital business, completed the establishment of Technology Ventures VI Venture Capital Investment Limited Partnership (hereinafter "TV6").
At 16.1 billion yen, the fund is the largest ever established by ITV ITOCHU will invest 2.5 billion yen in TV6, one-sixth of its total committed capital.

Recent remarkable advancements in generative AI and other technologies have drawn significant attention to startups in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), healthcare, decarbonization and space. Operating companies and corporate venture capital (CVC)* funds are actively investing in the IT and deep tech sectors, strengthening their collaboration with startups. Large companies and startups are harnessing their respective strengths and creating new value together. This open innovation is expected to continue to grow.

ITV was established in 2000, taking advantage of ITOCHU's expertise and its network of leading venture capitalists, particularly in Silicon Valley, which it has had since the 1980s. Based on its vision of "enabling society to evolve by creating new industries," ITV is actively investing in startups, particularly those in their early stages, with the cumulative investments in more than 180 companies via Funds I-V totaling more than 39 billion yen. Fund I was established in 2000 and Fund V was established in 2019. Some of the companies it has invested in have become leading listed companies, including Mercari, Inc., Raksul Inc., VRAIN Solution, Inc. and SentinelOne, Inc.
In addition, ITV's strengths include its support for startups' expansion of their businesses leveraging the ITOCHU Group's networks in all business areas in Japan and overseas. It also possesses knowledge and a proven track record as venture capital company independent from the Group for the past 25 years. It has established its own position in the industry.

ITOCHU has been investing in and collaborating with startups, taking advantage of its extensive network of startups in Japan and overseas, including ITV. Recently, ITOCHU invested in Sakana AI K.K., which combines multiple open source models to develop new AI models, Teamshares Inc., a US-based startup that supports employees who wish to take over businesses, and V, inc., which plans, produces and sells virtual items in the metaverse space. ITOCHU will continue seeking to help improve the earnings strength of its companies it has invested in and energize the economy as a whole by promoting collaboration with startups in various fields of business.