By Yuma Ikeshita / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd. has established a 5-billion-yen fund that will focus on investing in startups with stable management poised for stock market listings or sales, according to the company.

It will invest up to 500 million yen per startup. The bank will also provide support in financing and training financial executives to facilitate large-scale initial public offerings (IPOs) and other activities.

The fund was established on Oct. 23. It does not target specific industries, aiming instead to channel funds into promising companies preparing for an IPO to underpin their growth.

The initiative seeks to foster "unicorns" -- unlisted companies valued at over 1 billion dollars (approximately 150 billion yen) -- while also providing the financial advice needed around the time of its listing. Another goal is to form a relationship with a potential client, who will then use the bank for future financing after their company is listed.

In Japan's startup ecosystem, investments tend to be concentrated on companies that have just been founded or those that are just getting on track.

One challenge is said that, in the late growth stage, when the possibility of an IPO is in sight, the capital needed for business expansion significantly increases, while the number of investors capable of providing large-scale funding decreases.

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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October 31, 2025 03:29 ET (07:29 GMT)

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