BaltCap, JBIC launch $113m Europe-Japan VC fund
Estonian private equity firm BaltCap and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) have launched a EUR100 million ($113 million) Europe-Asia cross-border VC fund with a focus on Japan.
The fund, known as NordicNinja, will be managed by JB Nordic Ventures, a 50-50 joint venture between BaltCap and JBIC IG Partners, which is itself a joint venture between JBIC and Japan’s Industrial Growth Platform. LPs include Honda Motor, Omron Corporation, and Panasonic Corporation.
NordicNinja, which will be based in Finland, will make investments of EUR2-4 million in Nordic and Baltic technology start-ups looking to enter Japan and Asian markets. Focus areas will include autonomous mobility, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, big data analysis, and the internet-of-things.
“Participation by JBIC enables us to connect new Nordic scale-ups with not only the main companies investing but also the entire Japanese industrial ecosystem, partially because of government participation that gives us unique neutrality,” Shinichi Nikkuni, a managing partner at NordicNinja, said. “Our goal is to be the first of many that bring together the Nordics, Baltics, and Japan.”
Nikkuni will work alongside fellow managing partners Marek Kiisa, a growth fund partner at BaltCap and member of global VC network Kauffman Fellows; and Tomosaku Sohara, who worked in the Nordic ecosystem as a deputy director for clean energy at JBIC. Claes Mikko Nilsen, a veteran of various Nordic angel networks, will act as investment director.
JBIC is an active participant in PE and VC funds, having backed vehicles by the likes of KKR, CVC Capital Partners, Tata Capital Private Equity, Dream Incubator, and cleantech-focused Tsing Capital. Last year, the firm contributed $50 million to a fund raised by Advantage Partners targeting small to medium-sized enterprises across Asia, ex-Japan.
BaltCap positions itself as the largest PE firm in the Baltic region, focusing on small and mid-market buyout, expansion capital and infrastructure investments. The firm claims to have raised more than EUR400 million since 1995 and backed more than 70 companies. In addition to Estonia, it maintains bases in Latvia and Lithuania.
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