Real Tech Holdings appointed as Co-Investment Partner for Startup Venture Fund

Realtech Holdings, Inc. (Sumida-ku, Tokyo; Representative: Yukihiro Maru, Akihiko Nagata; hereinafter “the Company”) is pleased to announce that it has been approved as a co-investment partner (CIP) of Startup Venture Fund (Location: Philippines; General Manager: Anton Mauricio; hereinafter “SVF”), a government-affiliated fund in the Phillipines. This partnership is the first of its kind for the government, and together with the four other accredited VC firms, we are committed to pioneering and developing the deep tech ecosystem in the Philippines.

RTHD Singapore Director Kumamoto (third from left) at the accreditation ceremony

Following our appointment as a co-investment partner of SEEDs Capital, a Singaporean government-affiliated fund in 2021, and the appointment of two local directors in the Singapore subsidiary, this partnership with SVF will accelerate Real Tech Fund’s investment execution and support for portfolio companies throughout Southeast Asia.

SVF is a fund established by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) under the Innovative Startup Act, a law supporting startups enacted in the Philippines in April 2019. In the Philippines, total investments in startups have exceeded USD 1B for two consecutive years and have grown 27-fold over the past 12 years. The share of investments into startups in the Philippines accounted for 2% of total investments within Southeast Asia in 2020 and 5% in 2021, and 9% in 2022, indicating its increasing presence from both domestic and foreign investors. (Reference: Philippine Venture Capital Report 2023）

This partnership was established for the first time this year with the aim of discovering and nurturing startups that represent the Philippines through a public-private partnership. Advancing forward, SVF IC, chaired by NDC with government and technical experts from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the Department of Finance (DOF), and the private sector, continuously evaluates more potential CIPs and actively searches for the future tech giants in the country. Through this co-investment scheme, Real Tech Holdings will start investment activities into the deep-tech space in the Philippines and accelerate their market entry into Japan.

■ About Real Tech Holdings

RTH is a global VC firm investing in deep tech startups aiming to solve global issues. The firm is a joint venture of two Japanese companies, Euglena, a biotech startup listed on TSE, and Leave a Nest, a company with expertise in corporate R&D and startup incubation.

It has raised over 22 billion JPY and invested in over 80 startups within Japan and Southeast Asia with a strong emphasis on early engagement and hands-on support. In 2021, RTH became the first deep tech investment firm within Japan to establish a social impact investment fund.