Japan’s Marunouchi launches $1bn climate tech fund
Japan-based Marunouchi Innovation Partners (MIP), a private equity manager controlled by Mitsubishi Corporation, has hit a first close of USD 400m on a climate tech fund. The overall target is USD 1bn.
LPs include maritime logistics company NYK Line, a Mitsubishi affiliate that is investing via a recently launched decarbonisation brand NYK Green Earth. Mitsubishi described itself as the main sponsor.
It comes less than a month after Marunouchi Capital, a separate private equity entity under Mitsubishi, reached a first close of JPY 40.2bn (USD 294m) on an overall target of JPY 100bn for its third flagship fund.
Marunouchi Capital was founded in 2015 as a specialist in business successions and carve-outs from conglomerates. MIP was established in August last year as part of Mitsubishi’s “Roadmap to a Carbon Neutral Society” programme, which aims to bring the company to net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.
Both GPs were set up in partnership with MUFG Bank, which provided half the capital for Marunouchi Capital’s second vintage in 2018. MIP is 90.1% owned by Mitsubishi, with MUFG holding 4.9% and Korea-based Pavilion Private Equity holding 5%.
The Marunouchi Climate Tech Growth Fund will invest primarily in companies dedicated to achieving decarbonisation through energy and digital transformations. NYK said it would seek to co-create start-ups with the fund, introducing “epoch-making” ideas and technologies.
“The field of climate tech has raised expectations with respect to accelerated development and application of a wide range of cutting-edge, net-zero technologies and solutions,” Mitsubishi said in a statement. “With more funding crucial to meeting those expectations, the demand for climate tech investments is likely to grow over the medium to long term.”
Japan’s longstanding large-cap corporations, especially those in the traditional manufacturing space, are pivoting their business models toward more digital and advanced technologies.
The urgency to move toward digital is best represented by Toyota. Its transaction activity in recent years offers a clear narrative about the evolution of the equipment-based transportation industry into the more nebulous spheres of energy and mobility. Toyota launched a climate fund in 2021 with a corpus of USD 150m.
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