YJ Capital (YJC), a subsidiary of Z Holdings Corporation, has announced a merger with LINE Ventures to form Z Venture Capital Corporation (ZVC).
By joining forces, ZVC looks to launch a JPY$30-billion (US$271 million) “Investment Partnership fund I” that will focus on opportunities in Japan, Southeast Asia, South Korea, the US, and China.
“Today, the CVCs (corporate venture capital) of Yahoo! JAPAN, and LINE have become one,” Shinichiro Hori, CEO of ZVC, said. “By providing growth capital to startup companies and access to ZHD’s ecosystem, we look forward to working together with companies to evolve our services and make tomorrow’s society better.”
For global investments, ZVC will adopt a sector-agnostic approach but with a strategic focus on sectors like consumer internet, e-commerce, fintech, and O2O mobility.
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At the same time, in advanced markets like the US, the VC firm will analyse the fields of AI, robotics, deep-tech, and blockchain. It will provide startups with global expansion support, product implementation/marketing support, partnership opportunities, and knowledge-sharing opportunities.
Z Holdings, itself a joint venture between SoftBank and Yahoo!, is one of Japan’s largest internet service companies.
LINE Ventures is the CVC arm of Line Corporation, the creator of the mobile messaging app LINE. It focuses on providing funding, industry knowledge, and operational support to its portfolio companies across the globe.
LINE had also joined ZHD in another merger on March 1, 2021.
Southeast Asia is becoming an increasingly strategic region for global investors. As of 2020, there are 61 VC funds in the market to raise capital for the region, of which 49 are by VCs headquartered in Singapore.
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Image Credit: Echelon Thailand, May 2017
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