Ricoh Company, Ltd. (Ricoh) announced the establishment of the RICOH Innovation Fund as a Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) fund.
Aiming to generate innovation in the Business-to-Business area, this Fund (¥5 billion ($33.08 million/ €30.86 million) executes strategic investments in start-ups that drive leading-edge digital services.
Over the years, Ricoh has advanced open innovation through management of industry-specific CVC funds and an accelerator program TRIBUS. Through this newly established Fund, Ricoh will work to accelerate business development through business partnerships, collaborations with external companies, and in-house R&D in the business and technology fields where markets and technologies are rapidly changing.
This in turn, the company believes, leads to accelerating Ricoh’s transition into a digital services company.
The Fund will mainly invest in start-ups with new technologies and services that support creative work at the frontlines and offices and realize the digital workplace. Ricoh will leverage its global customer base and customer-facing capabilities to support the growth of start-ups. Ricoh supports people’s creativity and contributes to a sustainable society by generating innovation and continuously transforming people’s work through collaboration and co-creation with start-ups.
Major investment areas
- Supporting creativity
Areas that support creative work that generates new ideas and value through communication and collaboration while harnessing the creativity of individuals and teams.
- Digital workplace
Areas that provide a digital workspace where people can work seamlessly anytime, anywhere in an environment that suits them, and be productive and creative.
- Digital inclusion
Areas that ensure that everyone, regardless of their background, can use all digital technologies safely and freely. - Zero-carbon, circular economy
Areas that accelerate the achievement of net-zero society by realizing and streamlining the tasks and mechanisms necessary for a society to achieve this goal.
The Fund executes investment in promising start-ups with SBI Investment Co., Ltd. (Chairman and President: Yoshitaka Kitao) as the General Partner, an unlimited liability partner who is responsible for the management of the Fund.
