Investment Allowance of 10 Billion Yen Set for Active Investment in Venture Firms in Japan and Overseas

Shimizu Corporation (President: Kazuyuki Inoue) has set an investment allowance with a maximum cap of 10 billion yen（US$94 million）to invest in venture firms and venture funds in Japan and overseas. The purpose of such investment is to strengthen R&D and expand business domains. In conjunction with this, the Emerging Frontiers Division has also established a Venture Business Department to evaluate and select investment candidates and monitor the ventures after investment and a Venture Investment Committee to make swift decisions on whether or not to invest.

The investment allowance set is based on the key strategy of “Invest in next-generation construction technology and global-scale solutions” in Mid-Term Management Plan (2019－2023). By investing mainly in (early stage) venture firms engaged in R&D and commercialization and in venture funds, Shimizu aims to collaborate with promising venture firms, introduce construction ICT technology, robots, AI, and other advanced technologies through open innovation, build a business model in new business domains, and enter technical and business alliances with the ventures.

The first investment will be in PicoCELA Inc. (President: Hiroshi Furukawa; Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo), which is drawing interest as a venture that is developing high-performance wireless communications technology. We will work to create more advanced ICT infrastructure at construction sites through R&D performed in collaboration with PicoCELA Inc.

In the future, Shimizu will engage in agile investment through the Venture Business Department and the Shimizu Silicon Valley Innovation Center (a representative office) located in Silicon Valley, which will invest directly, or via venture funds, in promising venture firms in Japan and overseas that will contribute to Shimizu’s business and will expand strategic open innovation activities to verify technologies and create new business models.