JAPAN CVC SUMMIT 2024: Reviewing the JAPAN CVC SURVEY 2024 <Session Report>

At the first session of JAPAN CVC SUMMIT 2024, Professor Yaichi Aoshima from the Innovation Research Center at Hitotsubashi University presented the results of the comprehensive survey on domestic CVC activities, the "JAPAN CVC Survey 2023."

The discussion on the challenges and current status of CVC was held with the following guests, based on data from various perspectives:

・Yuya Hashimoto, Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd.
・Tadashi Uchida, TOPPAN Holdings Co., Ltd.
・Takuya Sakamoto, MOL PLUS Co., Ltd.
・Atsushi Sakamoto, JGC Corporation
・Tetsuya Hayashiguchi, Monoful Venture Partners

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Increasing CVC Investments

The "JAPAN CVC Survey" is the largest CVC survey in Japan, jointly conducted by FIRST CVC Inc. and the Innovation Research Center at Hitotsubashi University. In FY 2023, 127 companies responded to the survey, showcasing a diverse range of industries, sales distributions, and fund budgets. Professor Aoshima evaluated it as "a well-balanced survey."

The total number of investments by surveyed companies in 2023 was 616, indicating a rising trend in CVC investments when compared to the numbers from 2018 to 2022. The most common investment objective was a "hybrid model" targeting both strategic returns and financial returns. Over 80% of respondents planned to continue or increase their investments as originally planned.

Professor Aoshima mentioned that they plan to analyze the characteristics of successful CVCs by comparing the top 20% of companies ("leading CVCs") with other "general CVCs" and "beginner CVCs" based on six criteria, including investment duration, number of deals, returns, and organizational support systems.

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Collaboration with Business Units: The Key is "Steady Efforts"

The first theme was "Collaboration with Business Units." Professor Aoshima presented a graph on internal communication efforts, which showed that leading CVCs focus more on steady efforts compared to general CVCs. Hashimoto-san introduced Mitsubishi Estate’s startup investments that began in 2016, with full-scale CVC activities starting in March 2022. The company does not seek short-term business synergies but makes investments with an eye on future collaborations.

Sakamoto-san emphasized the importance of "continuity" in MOL PLUS’s efforts, focusing on internal and external events and maintaining repeated communication with business units.

Supporting Startup Growth through Employee Transfers and JV Establishments

The next theme was "Supporting Startups." Uchida-san mentioned that TOPPAN makes both investment and business partnership contracts at the same time to build a relationship of trust.

Hayashiguchi-san emphasized the importance of contributing to sales, noting that joint ventures for launching businesses are one way to support startup growth.

Management Commitment and Informal Communication

The third theme was "Management Commitment." Professor Aoshima pointed out that leading CVCs prioritize informal communication with top management and asked the panelists for their thoughts on this point.

Sakamoto-san discussed the importance of discussing investment activities even in casual conversations, while Sakamoto-san noted that irregular reports are often more effective than regular reports.

Building an Organization That Leverages the Strengths of CVC

The final theme was "Sourcing and Evaluating Startups." Professor Aoshima noted that leading CVCs tend to hire external professionals while having internal candidates serve as representatives.

Uchida-san recommended learning from funds through LP investments, while Sakamoto-san argued that CVCs should leverage their technical expertise in evaluating startups. Hayashiguchi-san concluded that creating a reproducible organization is essential and that designing the right organizational structure is crucial for CVCs.

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